green it at the desktop

Green IT: How Individuals Can Reduce Energy Costs & Protect the

Envionment

John Thompson, PhDBuffalo State College

Why Use Power Management?•Save money.

▫Gartner, Inc. - well-managed 2,500-PC organization uses 43% less power per year than unmanaged one - saving $43,300/year

▫DOE – save $50/computer/year

•U.S. federal government has almost 7 million civilian employees – do the math.

2

Dr. John Thompson

Power Management

• Turn off computers & printers if not in use▫ Search on “PC shutdown software” for solutions

▫ E.g., BigFix Power Management, Faronics Power Save & NightWatchman

• Use low power "sleep" mode ▫ Can still download & install updates & perform

maintenance tasks

▫ Wake on LAN (WoL) Dr. John Thompson

3

When not in use,

turn off the juice.

Power Management

•Reduce time before entering sleep mode

•Disable screen saver

•Replace CRT monitor with an LCD monitor

Dr. John Thompson

4

Power Management• Turn off components at end of day

▫ Prevent “vampire power" or “phantom load”

• Connect system to a power strip & turn off strip after shutting down components

• Plug laptop’s AC adapter into power strip

• Use a smart power strip

Dr. John Thompson

5

PrintingConsiderations

Econo/Draft mode

MarginsFont size Black & white

E-mail orUSB driveor cloud

Edit on screen

Recyclecartridges

More than one page per sheet

InternetSites

6

Why Worry About Printing?•Federal employees print 30 pages each work

day•92% of employees print more than they need•Workers discard 35%of the paper they print

out ▫Federal government spends nearly $1.3

billion annually on employee printing▫So federal government spends $440.4

million each year on unnecessary printing

Dr. John Thompson

7

Source: http://www.governmentprintingreport.com/

More Printing Savings• Use print preview and “shrink to fit”

• Only print the selection you need

• Switch to draft mode to increase printing speed

• Duplex printing (both sides)

• Use http://www.greenpdf.com/

• Track your savings with GreenPrintDr. John Thompson

8

Inkjet Printers•Use 80-90% less energy than laser printers

Example: HP 4V laser printer Printer power consumption

HP 4V – 28-110 watts standby, 380 watts printing HP 4315 Officejet All-in-One – 18 watts maximum

vs.

Dr. John Thompson

9

Other Suggestions•Purchase green – Design RFPs & purchasing

practices favoring/requiring energy-efficient (Energy Star & Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool - EPEAT) technology▫Federal agencies required to purchase at least

95% of EPEAT registered products in all relevant electronic product categories

• Join ENERGY STAR Low Carbon IT Campaign•Participate in Power IT Down Day in 2010

Dr. John Thompson

10

More Suggestions •Change your subscriptions to online – not

paper – use SnagIt or SnipIt type programs to grab/save info

•Optimize computer performance•Decrease screen brightness•Change from XP to Vista…to Windows 7?•Use laptops instead of desktops• Install energy monitoring software – e.g.,

Edison•Have a professional energy assessment

Dr. John Thompson

11

Online

• Increase use of the Internet and your Web site▫Put information on Web pages, wikis & blogs

instead of making paper copies

•Online courses consume nearly 90% less energy & produce 85% fewer CO2 emissions – 2005 report▫Use less paper than traditional classroom ▫Assign online texts or Internet sites▫Use course management systems

Dr. John Thompson

12

Online

•Use desktop Web conferencing to reduce trips ▫Ex. - WiZiQ, Dimdim, WebEx, Elluminate

•Outsource organization’s e-mail (e.g., Google Gmail) to the “cloud”

•Telecommute or use VPN connection

•Online subscriptions instead of printDr. John Thompson

13

Planes vs. Volcano – April 2010

Dr. John Thompson

14

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2010/planes-or-volcano/

Final Recommendations

• Pick all the low hanging fruit ▫ Small changes make big difference

Dr. John Thompson

15

Final Recommendations

• Pick all the low hanging fruit ▫ Small changes make big difference

•Conduct energy assessment ▫ Set baseline…& measure, measure, measure

Dr. John Thompson

16

Final Recommendations

• Pick all the low hanging fruit ▫ Small changes make big difference

•Conduct energy assessment ▫ Set baseline…& measure, measure, measure

Dr. John Thompson

17

Save $$ while helping protect the environment and doing what’s right for society.

Presenter

Dr. John Thompson

John Thompson, PhDAssociate Professor

Computer Information Systems DepartmentChase 208

Buffalo State College1300 Elmwood Avenue

Buffalo, NY 14222716.878.3531

thompsjt@buffalostate.edu

18

Additional Resources•“What ‘Being Green’ Means to the

Bottom Line” Webinar•Vampire Power: Real World Green video•Explaining Green Computing video •Lowering Computer Power Consumption

video•FAQ: Desktop virtualization article

Dr. John Thompson

Remember…Charity may begin at home, but green

computing begins at the desktop.

19

Energy Calculators•Carbon Footprint Calculator

•Nortel Energy Efficiency Calculator •Personal Emissions Calculator •Office Footprint Calculator

•CO2 Saver

•Forrester's online green IT baseline calculator

•SUNY Learning NetworkDistance Learning Calculator

Dr. John Thompson

20