The IT industry has only recently embarked upon the
learning curve of green computing. Helen Beckett looks at what
suppliers and users are doing to help meet the green
challenge
The IT industry is digesting the unpalatable fact that it is not
as green as its public image, at the same time as business is
finally getting interested in greener computing. A survey published
by Greenpeace in August named and shamed PC and laptop suppliers
who scored poorly on their manufacturing processes. And
environmental agencies report increasing interest from businesses
stung into action, less by concerns about climate change than the
spiralling cost of energy.
Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics ranked the top 14 PC
and laptop producers on their use of harmful chemicals and waste
recycling. Not one PC manufacturer gained a green ranking, while
Apple and HP products contained the highest levels of toxins,
according to Greenpeace.
"The IT industry is believed to be about making our lives easier
and better, and yet even the best performers were all in the 'could
do better' bracket," says Zeina Alhajj, Greenpeace international
toxics campaigner.
While green debate had been largely confined to lobbyists,
scientists and the politicians, the roasting temperatures of the
summer pushed it onto the radar of IT suppliers and directors.
Many companies experienced the "brown out" across London as the
National Grid collapsed under the high demand for energy to cool
offices and computer rooms. Even a technical computing consultancy
admitted to Computer Weekly that its computer room overheated in
the summer.
The Carbon Trust, a non-profit organisation funded by the UK
government, estimates that office equipment now accounts for about
15% of total energy use in the UK. The figure is set to rise to 30%
by 2020, with PC monitors and system units accounting for about 65%
of consumption.
Chris Grant, head of datacentre services at data, voice and
managed service provider Colt Telecom, says that reducing carbon
emissions is a learning curve that the industry has only recently
embarked on.
Colt Telecom has more or less hit the capacity buffers and wants
to build the next generation of datacentres. "We went to designers
of datacentres and asked them about the most efficient methods of
cooling: air, water or whether to run them at a slightly higher
temperature. No one knew the answer," says Grant, who has since set
up his own study group.
Demand for green computing from business is not high either,
although IT is getting more clued up about greener methods of
delivering processing power.
The main motivation for companies to start "greening" their IT
operations is to reduce the energy bill. "The chief financial
officer is being asked to scrutinise every line item in the
budget," says Richard Edwards, senior research analyst at Butler
Group.
"If the chief financial officer investigates and discovers
recent IT purchases then that is an immediate escalator for any
operation because IT represents a double jeopardy. It is not only
the power required to run the equipment, but the power needed to
cool it too," says Edwards.
Also, the density of IT equipment per cubic metre is 20 to 50
times what it was 50 years ago, and IT is more power hungry. "Chips
are running at faster and hotter rates," says Edwards.
The combination of the rising cost of energy and the global
environmental debate are converging to create a green consciousness
in the IT department, according to Edwards.
But knowing where to start the greening of the IT department is
a tough call for the IT director: the green agenda is so often
discussed at the macro or the micro level, with not a lot in
between. If a CIO is not reading up on climate change and
calculating how to offset the department's carbon emissions, should
he instead be running around switching off lights?
Chris Hope, author of one of the climate change models used in
the government report the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate
Change, believes that the world is moving towards a position where
businesses will not have to worry about their individual carbon
emissions. "Businesses will not have to do incredibly complex sums
to work out their carbon footprint." Instead, predicts Hope, a
climate change tax will ensure green thinking is factored into
everyday business decisions.
There are legal obligations on recycling that IT directors need
to know which become law in January 2007. The Waste Electrical and
Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive places obligations on
manufacturers and retailers to recycle products they sell, and this
could put up to 5% on the price tag of goods. Crucially, in the
business-to-business realm, a supplier is able to pass their
recycling obligations on to the business customer.
"An IT director needs to read the small print of procurement
contracts very carefully next year," says Jane Southworth, senior
associate with law firm Eversheds.
"If the supplier keeps the obligation, it will be factored into
the price. But if the supplier goes out of business before the end
of the product life, the company will have to pick up the tab and
effectively pays twice." IT directors may choose to take
responsibility for recycling and have this reflected in the
purchase price.
There is no shortage of advice for IT directors on green
practice around the use of IT. Global Action Plan, a charity
providing practical environmental advice, has worked with 60
organisations from a variety of sectors, including schools and
investment banks.
The charity trains staff to conduct their own carbon audit,
benchmarks this against other firms and then works with employees
to create change. The audit examines the amount of carbon consumed
over a 12-month period, a 24-hour period and when a building is
supposed to be shut down.
Director of Global Action Plan, Trewin Restorick, says that
tackling energy hotspots is an easy win for any company. "Often it
is very simple things that happen in all organisations, like
leaving PCs and monitors switched on when they are not being
used."
Companies that Global Action Plan work with reduce their energy
consumption by on average 12% and their waste by 38%.
Restorick also spends time exposing IT myths such as the need to
leave PCs on overnight so software can be patched or updated. "In
fact the updates occur when the PC is switched back on," he
says.
While most people would support these environmentally friendlier
uses of IT, changing behaviour to act on them is something else.
Restorick invites staff to think of non-intimidating ways of naming
and shaming staff that leave their monitors on over lunch, such as
tying balloons to culprits' desks.
According to Restorick, however, the best wake-up call is the
exercise bike the charity harnesses to various electronic devices.
Users have to cycle in order to power the devices. "The one that
gets them every time is the normal light bulb compared to the
long-life one," he says.
Aberdeen Council's IT department decided to take matters out of
end-users' hands as part of its Sustainability Charter. Neil
Foster, head of IT, says, "Something we have pushed hard on for the
past five years is powering PCs down when they are not in use. We
build settings into PCs that shuts the hard drive down after 10
minutes and puts PCs into a 'soft sleep' mode after 15. It is
inconvenient for users who have to switch it back on and log in
again."
For IT directors wanting to think bigger about how to implement
a greener IT infrastructure, there is valuable advice coming out of
the construction industry.
Rajesh Sinha, technical director for bespoke IT systems supplier
Bailey Teswaine, advocates a centralised IT model as the most
energy efficient and environmentally friendly. "Thin client devices
require a fraction of the power of PCs, and the lack of moving
parts extends the lifespan from two to three years to more than
five," he says.
Convergence is another tool for reducing the energy bill and
promoting a more pleasant office environment. Combining voice,
data, audio visual and other applications to a single network
brings cost and energy savings. "Do not stop doing the little
things," says Sinha.
He also points out the benefit of embracing an environmental
management system. "If there is a broad policy in place, over time
you will be able to make fundamental changes."
While most people are starting to do their bit for the planet,
there are plenty of old-fashioned energy consumers about. Edwards
cites the investment bank that replaced its CRT monitors with more
environmentally friendly flat screen monitors, only for the IT
manager to see it as an opportunity to instate more traders on the
floor.
The Stern Review >>
The WEEE directive >>
The Carbon
Trust >>
Global Action
Plan >>
Turn green
or see red, says Gartner >>
What are the carbon hotspots in the IT
department?
Items such as servers, PCs, printers and photocopiers, which
tend to be left on even when not being used. PC monitors use 50% of
the energy requirement.
How to reduce carbon hotspots:
● An easy way of reducing power consumption is by turning
devices off when they are not in use, and not just switching them
to standby mode.
● IT departments can also configure PCs to shut down after a
period of inactivity.
● The best and easiest way to reduce carbon emissions is to
switch electricity provider to one that supplies energy from
renewable sources.
Source: Carbon Footprint