Sustainability in IT training: how virtual labs save energy and waste

In 2026, sustainability is as important to IT as to every other aspect of business. Find out the role virtual labs can play.

These days, sustainability is no longer a niche concern. Every organisation of every kind needs to consider the impact it's making on the environment and look for ways to mitigate it.

Virtual labs are increasingly used for IT training. They provide safe, secure sandboxes where developers, system administrators and other IT professionals can deepen their skills, knowledge and expertise.

They're also a key component in sustainable IT. This is because they use far fewer resources than their traditional, physical-hardware-based counterparts.

They enable course providers, lab hosts and even students to reduce their carbon footprint, energy consumption and electronic waste.

This should come as no surprise to those of you already familiar with the environmental benefits of cloud computing. Lancaster University reports that "customers consume 77% fewer servers, 84% less power and reduce carbon emissions by 88% by using the cloud".

Of course, virtual labs alone can't turn an environmentally unfriendly organisation into a green pioneer. They work best when paired with other sustainable habits and practices, such as paperless teaching materials.

Here at Ascend Cloud Solutions, we provide highly reliable and highly available lab environments for VMware Education Delivery Partner (VEDP) courses. We're proud to think that our services can help course providers cut their carbon output.

How virtual labs save energy for lab providers

On-site data centres have a problem. They require constant power and constant cooling.

Virtual labs, of course, are powered by these data centres. Nevertheless, a class full of students accessing cloud-based labs are using fewer resources than a class full of students accessing software run on a private server.

This is partly because cloud data centres often utilise more efficient cooling systems than individual physical labs. This elimination of HVAC makes virtual labs a more sustainable option for course providers.

It's not just that virtual labs require less on-site computational power. They also require less infrastructure, drastically cutting the number of computers, cables and other components in an educational institution.

This is what's known as "dematerialisation". Physical products are replaced with their virtual equivalents.

Dematerialisation is an investment in the future. You're not just reducing your reliance on physical hardware in the here and now. You're also creating a future in which you don't need to purchase, repair or dispose of hardware.

If you're a course provider offering virtual labs, you're harnessing specialised cloud hardware. These typically use less power than traditional, older equipment.

And because all that computing is outsourced to the cloud, user devices such as laptops and PCs can last longer. All they need is a decent internet connection and they're good to access learning from pretty much any course provider.

How virtual labs save energy and waste for educators

It's not just lab providers who save energy and waste through using virtual labs. It's educators, too.

This is in large part because virtual labs sweep away the endless piles of paper that tend to clutter up learning centres. Those mounds of manuals and handouts might eventually be recycled, but they used up resources being created in the first place.

On top of this, moving training to the cloud can save huge amounts of electricity. As Lancaster University reports:

"Research funded by Google and conducted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in conjunction with Northwestern University revealed that moving business software such as email, CRM and more (on a national scale) to the cloud would lower the total energy consumption of these software applications by 87% – enough electricity to power Los Angeles for 12 months."

That's a lot of electricity. If you're a course provider looking for a greener educational offering, virtual labs could play a positive role in your paradigm shift.

How virtual labs save energy and waste for students

Learners, too, can cut their carbon footprint by using virtual labs.

This is because cloud-based training can be accessed anywhere. In the case of IT training, it can take place in an educational establishment, at home, on the train or up a tree.

This eradication of commuting means fewer carbon emissions. At the same time, its flexibility helps learners balance their training with other life and work commitments.

And because virtual labs require less infrastructure, course providers can charge less for their services. This isn't always the case – but in some instances, it can translate into savings for the student.

What are the other benefits of virtual labs for training?

As well as saving energy and waste, virtual training has a whole host of other advantages for course providers and learners. In our view, there are four key benefits:

1. They're risk-free

Virtual labs may be virtual – but the skills they teach have real-world consequences. Labs allow students to break things safely, deepening skills that can then be applied on the job.

2. They're flexible

Virtual labs can be accessed remotely, encouraging flexibility and enabling students to balance life, work and training more successfully.

3. They improve learner retention

"Active learning", "learning through doing", "hands-on learning"… These are all ways of describing the kind of learning enabled by virtual labs – and it's a kind of learning that can improve learner engagement and retention.

4. They provide real-time teacher feedback and tech support

One of the great advantages of virtual labs is that course instructors can quickly hop into a session to troubleshoot a problem. No matter where in the world the instructor is, they can provide hands-on assistance to learners as quickly as a driving instructor with her dual controls.

The same goes for behind-the-scenes tech support. If you work with the right lab hosting service, you can get speedy troubleshooting to ensure learner continuity – something that's good for course providers, teachers and learners alike.

Are you looking for lab hosting for VEDP courses? Here at Ascend Cloud Solutions, we provide reliable, scalable, cloud-hosted lab environments for course providers across the globe. Don't hesitate to get in touch with our experts to discuss your needs.