In honor of Earth Day 2023, rAVe [PUBS] has partnered with Commercial Integrator to explore sustainability in ProAV. We sat down with Richard Jonker of NETGEAR to discuss the company’s sustainability efforts in 2023.

rAVe: Tell us why your company is passionate about sustainability.

RICHARD JONKER: NETGEAR is committed to providing our customers with high-quality products that are environmentally sound, and to conducting our operations in a responsible manner.

rAVe: Can you give us an example of concrete efforts your company is making to be more sustainable?

RJ: As stewards of the environment, we consider and plan for the recycling, reuse or reclamation of our products and packaging. NETGEAR continues to work proactively to reduce or eliminate hazardous materials in our products, helping to protect the health and safety of our employees, our customers, our manufacturing partners, the environment and our communities. These commitments continue to be a driving force at NETGEAR and reflect principles deeply ingrained in our values.

The technology we produce and market is focused on replacing legacy ProAV tech with modern, software defined, AV-over-IP infrastructure. Thanks to reduced size and lower energy consumption, the over-all carbon footprint of the AV-over-IP products is lower than previous generations of ProAV connectivity. We promote PoE as a better energy source than decentralized AC/DC power supplies and help integrators design networks and AV systems with the lowest possible energy consumption. We help to connect every single AV device so that with remote control, these devices can be switched off when not in use.

The AV-over-IP technology is an integral part of a hybrid working strategy that can lower emissions and energy use for today’s companies and workforce. By moving on-premises AV/IT software to the cloud, lower carbon emissions can be achieved thanks to the better design of centralized datacenters.

rAVe: What sustainability efforts are you planning to implement in the next year?

RJ: NETGEAR will be publishing an AV Sustainability report this month, explaining AV-over-IP and PoE as innovative technologies to enhance sustainable ProAV system designs. We will continue to do so, with new products also reaching into the broadcast part of the AV market. We will also refresh our Sustainability in AV report with the latest insights.

rAVe: Can you give a long-term overview of your sustainability plan?

RJ: In our view, the world of AV and IT will converge for a part; the elements of cloud, IoT and smart buildings will help design a more sustainable AV environment for each organization.

This sponsored content was created as part of a paid partnership with NETGEAR. The contents of this article are entirely independent and solely reflect the opinion of NETGEAR. In lieu of payment to rAVe or Commercial Integrator, NETGEAR made a $2,000 donation to SAVe AV.