Reasons You Should Go Green in IT - It's Not as Hard as You Think to Have an Environmentally Friendly Workplace
Hopefully part one of this list gave you some ideas to help your organization. The ideas in this top ten list are sustainable practices that can help strengthen the reputation of your organization, while improving employee morale, save money and benefit the environment.
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Number 5. Attract and retain customers: Many people are concerned about carbon footprints. Simple steps that don’t interfere with productivity can cut a PC’s carbon footprint by as much as 440 pounds per year. Large entities can save thousands of tons of carbon each year simply by managing PC power consumption. There is no reason to be shy about this. Let the public know your organization is doing its part to cut carbon emissions.
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Number 4. Sustained growth requires sustainable operations: PCs consume quite a bit of power, even if they are sitting idle. The average PC consumes 588 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, and wastes almost 400 kilowatt-hours of that by running at full-power when not in use. Putting a computer in sleep mode during down times can cut energy use 60-70 percent. In some cases even 90 percent. Controlling what devices do during down times will help sustain normal operations and make room for future growth by keeping costs down.
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Number 3. Like Kermit the Frog sang, “It’s not easy being green:” And it won’t be easy convincing others that the company’s IT infrastructure needs to be overhauled from top to bottom right away. It is expensive and takes time to replace office equipment with more energy efficient devices. But you can start by making existing equipment more energy efficient. In a few month you’ll be able to show how being green is good for the bottom line.
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Number 2. It’s the right thing to do: Some people actually believe that carbon emissions are warming the planet and that we can do something to alleviate the problem. Fifteen PCs can generate as much carbon emissions as a mid-size car. Taking simple steps like implementing effective PC power management lets your organization do its part to fight global warming.
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Number 1. Save lots of money: PC power management software can cut energy costs by $20 - $60 dollars a month per PC. In a large enterprise this can translate into six and seven figure annual savings. For many organizations this translates to a utility savings of between 5- 15 percent.
This post is part of the series: Top Ten Reasons to go Green
2008 has been a breakout year for Green IT. This is good for the bottom line and can create goodwill with the public, which is less tangible a commodity but important. I’ve compiled a top ten list you may want to make use of at your next IT meeting.
