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Choose a cloud provider by comparing environmental evidence for the regions and services you will actually use—not by picking the provider with the lowest headline PUE or the most prominent renewable-energy claim. Check how energy, water and emissions are measured; what facilities and periods are covered; whether customer-level estimates are available and independently assured; and how your workload can be designed to avoid unnecessary use.
Start with the regions and workload you need
Before comparing providers, list the regions where your application must run, the services it will use, and any requirements for availability, latency or data location. A company-wide average can help with an initial screen, but it cannot establish the impact of a workload in a particular facility or region. The reviewed provider disclosures do not offer a consistent, independently verified comparison for every buyer’s intended regions.
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Ask each provider for evidence that matches your planned locations and services. Where it cannot provide that level of detail, treat the gap as uncertainty—not as proof of either good or poor local performance.
Compare energy efficiency only when the numbers align
Understand what PUE measures
Power usage effectiveness (PUE) is total data-centre facility energy divided by energy used for computing. A lower PUE means less facility energy overhead relative to IT energy; it does not, by itself, prove lower total emissions. Electricity sources, workload characteristics, reporting scope and location still matter. Microsoft’s efficiency disclosure explains its definition.
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Read provider averages as screening figures
The companies report the following global or fleet-wide averages. Each is provider-reported, and the reporting periods and facility scopes are not identical.
| Provider | Reported PUE | Scope and period stated by provider |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | 1.17 | FY25 (July 1, 2024–June 30, 2025); data centres fully owned and controlled by Microsoft that had operated for 12 months at calculation time. Source. |
| AWS | 1.14 | Global average for 2025. Source. |
| 1.09 | Fleet-wide average for 2025. Source. |
Do not treat this as a ranked comparison: the disclosures do not establish matching facility coverage and calculation scope. Ask whether a figure is global, fleet-wide, regional or facility-specific; what reporting period it covers; which facilities are included; and whether the figure is an average. Compare only when those details and the definition align.
Check water metrics alongside local water conditions
Ask whether the figure is withdrawal or consumption
Water usage effectiveness (WUE) is commonly expressed as water use relative to IT energy, but providers may describe the water component differently. Microsoft defines its WUE as annual water used for humidification and cooling divided by annual energy used by IT equipment, measured in liters per kWh. AWS describes its figure as water withdrawn per kWh of IT load. These distinctions mean the reported figures should not be directly ranked without checking definitions, scope and period.
| Provider | Reported WUE | Definition and period stated by provider |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | 0.27 L/kWh | Global FY25 figure; water for humidification and cooling relative to IT-equipment energy. Source. |
| AWS | 0.12 liters withdrawn per kWh of IT load | Global 2025 figure; withdrawal metric. Source. |
For your intended regions, ask which water sources and facilities are included, whether the reported amount is withdrawn or consumed, and whether local water availability or watershed conditions are addressed. A global average can conceal differences between locations.
Consider the cooling trade-off
Cooling choices can shift impacts between energy and water. Google says water cooling can reduce energy use and related carbon emissions compared with air-based cooling, while potentially increasing water footprint; see its data-centre sustainability information. Ask what cooling approach applies in the regions you plan to use and assess it alongside local water conditions, rather than judging it on energy efficiency alone.
Ask how electricity and emissions claims are calculated
A corporate renewable-electricity or carbon-free-energy claim does not automatically show which electricity served a particular workload at every hour. Request the provider’s methodology and ask:
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- Are electricity claims matched to the location and time of consumption, or reported on another basis?
- Which emissions scopes and emissions factors are included?
- Can the provider give data relevant to the regions and services you will use?
- What assumptions or exclusions affect the reported result?
Use the answers to distinguish a broad corporate commitment from evidence about the energy and emissions associated with your deployment.
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Find out what customer-level impact reporting covers
Some providers offer estimates associated with customer usage, but the result depends on the allocation method and which services are counted. AWS describes its environmental impact estimates and explains that its methodology can evolve in its methodology documentation.
Ask whether estimates cover the services you use, how energy, water and emissions are allocated to your account, which lifecycle stages are included, and when the methodology was last updated. Keep the report version and its assumptions with your own records so a later change in method is not mistaken for a change in workload impact.
Check independent assurance claim by claim
Do not assume that one assurance statement validates every environmental figure a provider publishes. Ask which metric was assured, for what period and facilities, under which calculation method, and with what exclusions. AWS’s sustainability resources identify an independent assurance letter for its water-withdrawal calculation approach; that does not establish equivalent assurance for every metric or for other providers’ claims.
Give more weight to evidence whose assurance scope matches the claim you are using. If the scope, sites or calculation method are unclear, record that limitation in your comparison.
Include workload design in the decision
Provider infrastructure is only part of the picture. Google describes sustainability responsibility as shared between provider and customer in its Cloud Well-Architected Framework. Microsoft recommends right-sizing, effective autoscaling, and removing idle or redundant resources in its Azure sustainability guidance.
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When assessing a provider, check whether your architecture can scale down unused capacity, avoid over-provisioning, and schedule flexible workloads where appropriate. These are customer-side design decisions, not benefits established by a provider’s facility average.
Use a consistent comparison checklist
| Decision area | Ask for | How to use the answer |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | PUE definition, reporting period, facility coverage, geography, and whether the number is an average or location-specific. | Compare only figures with aligned definitions, periods and scopes; do not use PUE alone as an emissions measure. |
| Water | WUE definition; withdrawal versus consumption; included sources, facilities and locations. | Check methodology and intended-region water conditions; a provider-wide figure is not a local assessment. |
| Electricity and emissions | How renewable or carbon-free claims are calculated, time and location matching, emissions factors, and scopes. | Separate corporate claims from customer- and region-relevant evidence. |
| Customer accounting | Included services and lifecycle stages, allocation assumptions, and methodology update date. | Retain the version and assumptions when tracking results over time. |
| Regional impact | Evidence about grid, water and community conditions in intended regions. | Use provider disclosures together with relevant local information; averages do not answer local questions. |
| Assurance | Metrics, periods, sites, methods and exclusions covered by independent assurance. | Match assurance scope to the specific claim; do not generalize it across claims. |
| Customer control | Whether the workload can be right-sized, scaled down when idle, and scheduled flexibly. | Include architecture choices in the impact assessment, not only provider infrastructure. |
A useful comparison record should preserve each provider’s answer, its source and reporting date, plus any scope or methodology caveat. That makes later updates comparable without implying greater precision than the underlying evidence supports.
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