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Editor’s note: More and more, organizations around the globe recognize their responsibility to protect and sustain the environment. This article describes the benefits of and first steps toward a green computing strategy. Read “HP & the Environment” to learn what HP is doing to reduce its environmental footprint.
Faced with the stark realities of global warming and rising energy costs, government agencies and private firms worldwide are examining ways to protect the environment. To address what is increasingly being perceived as a crisis, there is a growing global movement to implement more environmentally friendly computing
“Green computing” is the name attached to this movement, which represents an environmentally responsible way to reduce power and environmental waste.
Toward this goal, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program has developed compliance requirements for computer equipment. The U.S. House of Representatives Resolution 5646, passed in July 2006, calls for the EPA’s Energy Star program to research:
- The amount of power consumed by corporate and federal data centers
- Industry measures to develop energy-efficient servers
- Possible incentives to convince businesses to use energy-saving technologies
In Europe, government agencies have set up a number of environmental regulations addressing waste management, recycling, disposal of certain types of waste, industrial emissions and pollution control. The European Union is also setting up a system that encourages business to voluntarily develop their own environmental standards and practices.
Energy Star estimates that activating power management can result in cost savings of as much as $100 per computer, a significant figure when multiplied by the number of computers in a typical organization. These power management practices can help you achieve estimated annual savings of:
- $10 to $30 per monitor by placing inactive monitors into a low-power sleep mode
- $15 to $45 per desktop computer by placing inactive computers (CPU, hard drive, etc.) into a low-power sleep mode
“The energy used by data centers, federal and private, is a function of two main components: processing power and cooling. Each contributes roughly 50 percent to the overall energy use by the data center,” says John Frey, manager, Corporate Environmental Strategies, HP. “As this fact becomes better understood in the federal government, I predict that there will be an increased focus in both areas for better cost containment while maintaining or increasing the processing abilities of the data center.”
Five Simple Steps to Green Computing
As of Oct. 20, there are new performance requirements to qualify for the Energy Star rating for desktop and notebook computers, workstations, integrated computers, desktop-derived servers and game consoles. These specifications go into effect on July 20.
But businesses don’t have to wait until then to initiate more environmentally-friendly computing practices. Here are five first steps you can take toward a green computing strategy.
1. Develop a sustainable green computing plan. Discuss with your business leaders the elements that should be factored into such a plan, including organizational policies and checklists. Such a plan should include recycling policies, recommendations for disposal of used equipment, government guidelines and recommendations for purchasing green computer equipment.
Green computing best practices and policies should cover power usage, reduction of paper consumption, as well as recommendations for new equipment and recycling old machines. Organizational policies should include communication and implementation.
2. Recycle. Discard used or unwanted electronic equipment in a convenient and environmentally responsible manner.
Computers have toxin metals and pollutants that can emit harmful emissions into the environment. Never discard computers in a landfill. Recycle them instead through manufacturer programs such as HP's Planet Partners recycling service or recycling facilities in your community. Or donate still-working computers to a nonprofit agency.
3. Make environmentally sound purchase decisions. Purchase Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool registered products. EPEAT is a procurement tool promoted by the nonprofit Green Electronics Council to:
- Help institutional purchasers evaluate, compare and select desktop computers, notebooks and monitors based on environmental attributes
- Provide a clear, consistent set of performance criteria for the design of products
- Recognize manufacturer efforts to reduce the environmental impact of products by reducing or eliminating environmentally sensitive materials, designing for longevity and reducing packaging materials
All EPEAT-registered products must meet minimum requirements in eight areas of environmental impact and be energy efficient to reduce emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases. To demonstrate corporate social and environmental performance, manufacturers must offer safe end-of-life management and recycling options when products become unusable.
"Developing environmentally sound products has long been a priority for HP's design and engineering teams," says Jeri Callaway, vice president and general manager, Americas Commercial Solutions, Personal Systems Group, HP. "We're particularly proud that our business-class products already meet, and in some cases exceed, the basic EPEAT standards without any alteration to their existing design.”
4. Reduce Paper Consumption. There are many easy, obvious ways to reduce paper consumption: e-mail, electronic archiving, use the “track changes” feature in electronic documents, rather than red-line corrections on paper. When you do print out documents, make sure to use both sides of the paper, recycle regularly, use smaller fonts and margins, and selectively print required pages.
5. Conserve energy. Turn off your computer when you know you won’t use it for an extended period of time. Turn on power management features during shorter periods of inactivity.
Power management allows monitors and computers to enter low-power states when sitting idle. By simply hitting the keyboard or moving the mouse, the computer or monitors awakens from its low-power sleep mode in seconds. Power management tactics can save energy and help protect the environment.
Sustaining the Future
“The greatest challenges for businesses trying to be eco-responsible are really understanding what that really means, then making changes that are sustainable over time, while adding business value,” explains Frey. “Another challenge is balancing the needs of various stakeholders who each have different ideas of what changes should be made.”
Some environmental non-governmental organizations would like certain flame retardants removed from electronic products, while the fire safety community is concerned about removing or changing flame retardants in electronics. One problem is that the substitute replacement must be assessed to ensure that environmental and health impacts are lower than the original material; however, since most replacements are fairly new, they have not been necessarily assessed with the same rigor applied to the original materials.
Green computing represents a responsible way to address the issue of global warming. By adopting green computing practices, business leaders can contribute positively to environmental stewardship—and protect the environment while also reducing energy and paper costs.
Facts about Business Computing
Some facts you may not know about business computing:
- Simply leaving a computer running consumes electricity and adds to computing costs.
- The use of screen savers does not save energy.
- It is estimated that a typical desktop PC with a 17-inch flat panel LCD monitor requires about 100 watts—65 watts for the computer and 35 watts for the monitor.
- If left on 24x7 for one year, this same system will consume 874 kilowatt hours of electricity—enough to release 750 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and the equivalent of driving 820 miles in an average car.
- According to the Columbia University Guide to Green Computing, if the paper used each year for personal computing were laid end to end, it would circle the Earth more than 800 times
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