F5 Networks, Ltd.
Climate Impact & Sustainability Data (2013-2014, 2020)
Reporting Period: 2013-2014
Environmental Metrics
Total Carbon Emissions:33,730,168 lbs CO2e (2013); 31,452,013 lbs CO2e (2014)
Scope 1 Emissions:62 metric tons (2013); 61 metric tons (2014)
Scope 2 Emissions:8,090 metric tons (2013); 7,523 metric tons (2014)
Scope 3 Emissions:7,146 metric tons (2013); 6,681 metric tons (2014)
Total Energy Consumption:26,974,714 kWh (2013); 26,280,725 kWh (2014)
Waste Generated:191.0 tons (2013); 199.7 tons (2014) (Seattle HQ)
ESG Focus Areas
- Environmental Integrity
- Employee Success
- Community Engagement
- Governance
- Customer Loyalty
- Profitable Growth
Environmental Achievements
- New products handle more than 15 times the traffic per watt than previous versions (reducing cooling needs in data centers)
- Nominal energy use decreased despite growing headcount and data center expansion (through initiatives like automatic light switches, HVAC optimization, and hot/cold aisle separation)
- 110.6 tons of waste diverted from landfill in 2013, 113 tons in 2014 (Seattle HQ)
- Recycling rate of 58% in 2013, 56% in 2014 (Seattle HQ)
Social Achievements
- Launched F5 Connects Women initiative to develop the roles of women at F5
- Employee engagement score of 80.3% (79.6% response rate)
- Ranked #4 out of 316 for Best Place to Work (King 5 News)
- Corporate donations totaling $164,500 in 2013 and $185,500 in 2014
- F5 Connects employee giving and matching program totaling $288,800 in 2013 and $298,944 in 2014
Governance Achievements
- Separation of CEO and Chairman roles
- High standards of corporate governance, ethics policies, and board committee charters available on website
- Compliance with Dodd-Frank Act Section 1502 conflict minerals reporting requirements
Climate Goals & Targets
Short-term Goals:
- Improved energy data gathering
- Reductions to toxic chemicals in products
- Improved transparency of environmental efforts and product declarations
- Development of an environmental management system
Environmental Challenges
- Data gaps in international energy and carbon data collection
- Challenges in gathering complete datasets from international facilities
- Difficulty quantifying liquid rack cooling in data centers
- Varied lease agreements affecting utility data availability
Mitigation Strategies
- Established an internal team to improve data gathering
- Working with facilities to improve data access for future reports
- Developing comprehensive data gathering agreements with building owners
- Adding labor, environmental management systems, and EICC code of conduct questions to supplier questionnaires
Supply Chain Management
Responsible Procurement
- Gathering material declarations, labor statements, and conflict mineral disclosures from suppliers
Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities
Reporting Standards
Frameworks Used: GRI G3.1
Sustainable Products & Innovation
- More energy-efficient hardware products
Awards & Recognition
- Numerous awards listed in the report (2013 and 2014)
Reporting Period: 2020
Environmental Metrics
ESG Focus Areas
- Modern Slavery
- Human Trafficking
- Supply Chain Due Diligence
Social Achievements
- No conclusive evidence of human trafficking found in the supply chain during 2020. All F5 employees completed annual training on the F5 Code of Conduct. Flex (manufacturing partner) provides training to all employees covering forced labor and human trafficking.
Governance Achievements
- Implemented a supplier compliance program with yearly scoring based on environmental and social compliance criteria, including risk assessment for human trafficking. Uses Slavery and Trafficking Risk Template (STRT) for annual supplier self-assessment.
Climate Goals & Targets
Short-term Goals:
- Increase the number of suppliers responding to the STRT.
Environmental Challenges
- Significant data gaps exist due to incomplete supplier self-assessments.
- Risk of forced labor, debt bondage, excessive recruitment fees, and document withholding in the supply chain due to complex nature and lax laws/oversight in some countries.
- Limited visibility into risks beyond direct suppliers.
Mitigation Strategies
- Focus on improving supplier response rate to STRT requests.
- Improving internal risk assessment of suppliers.
- Strengthening contractual requirements for suppliers.
- Keeping policies and practices up-to-date and expanding communication to employees and business partners.
Supply Chain Management
Responsible Procurement
- RBA Code of Conduct requirements included in purchasing agreements with Flex and direct suppliers.
Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities
Reporting Standards
Frameworks Used: UK Modern Slavery Act of 2015, California Transparency in Supply Chain Act of 2012