Facilities managers and business leaders are increasingly jumping on the energy efficiency bandwagon but not necessarily as a nod to Mother Earth.

The Business Journal of Milwaukee reports that among North American facilities management execs, cost savings trumps environmentalism.

Fifty-two percent of the executives surveyed say costs savings as either entirely or somewhat the driver for their decision to invest in energy efficiency measures. Thirty-five percent say cost savings and environmental responsibility are equal motivators, while only 13 percent cite environmental concern as the greater motivator.

Why should it matter to IT folk? In data centers, the power and cooling requirements of the physical structure are closely linked to those of the servers, storage systems and infrastructure devices housed within. And as you can guess, they are collectively responsible for a big chunk of the electric bill.