Forrester Analyst Doug Washburn on Green IT Strategies

In a post on SustainableLifeMedia.com, Forrester analyst Doug Washburn calls out two ways companies can easily begin developing their green IT strategies. I’ve reprinted both below, and recommend checking them out.

From the piece, “Green IT Strategy: Where's the Low-Hanging Fruit?”:

1. First measure, then manage. While green IT extends far beyond energy efficiency, reducing IT's energy consumption does offer tangible environmental and economic benefits. To get started, we at Forrester recommend that you measure your green IT baseline – an annual estimate of the energy consumption, CO2 emissions and financial costs of operating IT. By exposing the energy "hogs" within and outside of the datacenter, you’ll be able to prioritize what greening projects will offer the most bang for the buck.

2. Determine whether or not you're in compliance. Depending on your location, proper disposal and recycling of IT assets may be required. If you are not in compliance, now is the time to start. And here's a tip to save time and money: Use your vendors, since they're required to help. If you operate in Europe, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) imposes the responsibility for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment on the manufacturers (a.k.a. your hardware vendors).

Find the full article here.

Did you know utility companies will pay your organization to use less energy?

Because of soaring energy prices, there are a large number of utility companies across North America that will actually provide rebates to organizations who implement tools to help reduce energy consumption. In fact, Verdiem’s SURVEYOR software is recognized by many utility companies across the country, and the use of this software frequently enables organizations to receive rebates from utility companies in their area.

A few examples of utility companies that rebate include:

· Avista
· BCHydro
· Bonneville Power Administration
· Hawaii Electric Company
· Idaho Power
· Manitoba Hydro/Saskatchewan Power
· Nevada Power/Sierra Pacific Power
· New York Power Authority
· New York State Energy Research &
· Development Authority (NYSERDA)
· Northeast Utilities
· NSTAR
· Oregon Energy Trust
· PacifiCorp (primarily Utah)
· PG&E
· Puget Sound Energy
· Sacramento Municipal Utility District
· San Diego Gas & Electric
· San Francisco Energy Watch
· Seattle City Light
· Silicon Valley Power
· Snohomish PUD
· Southern California Edison
· The United Illuminating Company
· Wisconsin Focus on Energy
· Xcel Energy (Minnesota and Colorado)

As a point of reference, these rebates are similar to the consumer rebates offered by organizations like Energy Star. Learn more here.

Green Up Seattle!

A couple weeks ago, we got our power bill from Seattle City Light that also included an insert marketing the “Green Up!” program for SCL customers. Here are some details straight from the website:

What is Green Up?
Green Up is Seattle City Light's voluntary green power program for residential and business customers. By enrolling in Green Up, customers purchase green power for a portion of their electricity use and demonstrate their support for wind power and other new renewable energy projects in the Northwest. Choosing green power reduces our reliance on fossil fuels, improves air quality and helps reduce the growth of climate-warming emissions. The Green Up program is Green-e certified and fulfills LEEDTM Project green power requirements.

How does Green Up work?
Green Up customers make voluntary payments on their electricity bill to cover the slightly higher cost of producing and integrating renewable energy into the Northwest grid. These funds are used to acquire Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) equal to the amount of customer demand. Participating in Green Up does not change how Seattle City Light transmits and distributes electricity to your home or business.

How do I sign up?
Residential customers may purchase green power in increments of 25%, 50% or 100% of their electricity use for $3, $6 or $12 per month.

We are planning to begin purchasing green power at our house, and whether you live in the city of Seattle or elsewhere, you might also want to research ways to begin supporting renewable energy initiatives.

Podcast: Brownouts, PCs and How Companies Can Protect Themselves

To follow-up on his recent post, my colleague Matt and I spent a few minutes last week talking about brownouts. If you’re interested in learning more about them, their causes and effects, and how organizations can protect themselves (and their PCs), check out this podcast.

Listen here:

Unscrew America (and your old light bulbs!)

If you haven’t visited this site yet, you should definitely take a few minutes to check out Unscrew America. It’s a campaign run by Lesley Chilcott, one of the producers of "An Inconvenient Truth," intended to encourage the switch from incandescent light bulbs to more energy-efficient CFLs and LEDs. More details at http://www.playlab.org/unscrewamerica/.

The site features cartoons and lessons about energy-efficient CFL and LED light bulbs, which make it really fun and also pretty educational. Don’t expect requests to go out and change the world – only a statement that “ridiculously good things will happen” if we can all move to more energy-efficient bulbs.

There are lots of interesting facts on the site, but something new that I learned and wanted to share with the group. Apparently CFL’s contain mercury, so need to be disposed of as you would dispose other types of hazardous waste. They suggest you check your city’s website or visit www.Earth911.org to find collection programs in your area. So no throwing them in your trash!

Carbon Emissions Reflect Varying Lifestyles Across the Country, and What This Means for the Average Person

If you’ve already read your daily news today, you’ve probably seen the stories from coast to coast about a recent study from the Brookings Institution that reports on carbon emissions in the 100 largest cities throughout the U.S. and how they appear to be varying dramatically from region to region.

The New York Times mentioned in the beginning of their article on the report that the West Coast’s “mild climates, hydropower and aggressive energy-reduction policies give its residents smaller carbon footprints, on average, than those of their counterparts in the East and Midwest.” While those of us on the West Coast might be cheering for our success, it’s still not enough. The unfortunate truth that this report points out is that, as a country, our carbon footprints are still continuing to grow.

So what do we do now?

The Brookings Institution report focuses heavily on how critical it is for federal policy to tackle the heart of the problem, and references the importance of policies promoting more transportation choices, introducing more energy-efficient freight operations, requiring home energy cost disclosure, using federal housing policies, and issuing a metropolitan challenge.

That’s all fantastic if you’re in the government or a government lobbyist, but what about the rest of the population who works in the private sector and doesn’t necessarily have the power of a Congressional vote?

We try to participate as individuals on a smaller scale.

At home, we do what we can and what is reasonable for our lifestyles. We turn off the lights when we leave the room, we recycle as necessary, we buy local as much as possible, and we try to remember our reusable bags when we go grocery shopping. At work, we take the bus to the office a few days a week, we think about putting the computer to sleep before we go to lunch or using power management software, and we use a ceramic mug instead of disposable cups.

Our lifestyles do not have to change dramatically to make a difference. And the reality is, making these changes will make our lives better.

What do you do to lower your carbon footprint?

Energy Efficiency Encyclopedia – PC Power Management

This week, I wanted to take a step back and talk about PC power management. Companies that focus on sustainable technologies frequently throw this term around, but lots of folks today still aren’t sure exactly what PC power management is. And I’m not just referring to people outside the tech sector. In fact, last week I mentioned the term to a friend of mine who works at a large software company, and his first instinct was that power management referred to a computer’s processing power. Point being, it’s worth explaining again.

Within the context that Verdiem uses it, PC power management is all about conserving a PC’s energy consumption to save money and indirectly reduce carbon emissions. The most successful way to manage PC power consumption is to make sure that when you are not using your PC, it is either turned off or moved into a lower power state (like sleep mode). Operating systems, such as Windows Vista, enable users to better manage their PC’s power settings. Unfortunately, people often incorrectly assume that power management functionality will limit their PC’s performance, so frequently turn off the power-saving features on their machines. The reality is that PC power management software is generally built to balance saving power with ensuring the end user’s needs don’t suffer, so won't negatively affect performance.

Given rising energy costs, in conjunction with a poor economy and the increasing threat of global warming, saving money and reducing carbon emissions has become more important than ever before. Conserving your PC’s energy consumption is a great way to simultaneously reduce costs while also positively affecting the environment.