Stats, Tips and Best Practice
Techniques to Accelerate Energy Conservation
Here are some of the latest
statistics, tips and techniques government organizations can use to
help bolster their green IT efforts, or at least some of the arguments
for “going green.”
Measure the current level of power consumption. Using the
EPA’s energy calculator (see below) federal agencies and
departments can estimate the energy that could be saved by turning on
the power management features on agency computers.
See the Low Carbon IT Savings calculator
at:
www.climate
saverscomputing.org/images/calculators/LowCarbon-IT Savings-Calc.xls The number of federal facilities that have initiated implementation of
environmental management systems (EMS) increased from 180 in 2001 to
2,378 in 2006. Executive Order 13423 calls for a 30% improvement in
energy efficiency government-wide in the next ten years.
–
Source: Environmental Executive's 2004-2006 Report, April 2008.
The Gartner Group estimates that global Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) usage accounts for approximately 2 percent of all
global carbon dioxide (Co2) emissions. This is equivalent to all Co2
emissions caused by aviation, and Gartner believes this is
unsustainable.
–
Source: Gartner Group, Stamford, Conn.
Electricity demand is predicted to increase by 40 percent by 2030
which, absent significant changes to business-as-usual, will raise
prices, add to the demands placed on our energy infrastructure and
increase
greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing the use of power-efficient
personal computers and servers will help to stem the surge in
electricity demand and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
–
Source: CSCI.
The average desktop PC wastes nearly half of the energy it consumes as
heat. This wasted electricity translates to higher electricity bills
and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Users can make simple changes
to a computer’s power management settings with a few mouse
clicks, so that the computer can be set to automatically go to
“sleep” when it’s not in use. Using power
management features can save nearly half a ton of Co2 and more than $60
a year in energy costs.
–
Source: CSCI.
The FEC is a
partnership program that encourages federal facilities and agencies to
purchase greener electronic products, reduce impacts of electronic
products during use and manage obsolete electronics in an
environmentally safe way. The FEC assists federal facilities and
agencies to become leaders and face the challenges posed by lifecycle
management of electronics. The two Gold Level Award recipients, the
Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security
Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency’s
Region 8, each completed mandatory activities in all three of the
FEC’s electronics lifecycle phases (acquisition and
procurement, operation and maintenance, and end-of-life management).
They each also completed nine additional optional activities and
mentored other federal facilities or agencies on electronics issues.
