Energy Efficiency Is Key To New Lenovo Strategy

Following the lead of competitors HP and Dell, Lenovo is the latest PC manufacturer to make energy efficiency key to its future desktop strategy, VNUNET.com reports.

In order to meet stricter environmental standards, Lenovo is introducing smaller and more efficient desktop PCs, such as the newly launched M57, and the M57p Eco USFF due out in late 2008.

"Lenovo will have a stronger green focus on new desktops," said Per Olesen, desktop product manager at Lenovo. "There are huge potential savings with the new technology."

"Now it's a massive issue and is going to be a major focus for Lenovo. Investors are choosing to invest in environmentally friendly companies and those who use green technology."

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Corporate Responsibility Reporting At All Time High

In 2007, over two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies issued standalone non-financial reports, according to SustainableLifeMedia.com. What's even more exciting is that of the reports reviewed, 87% address climate change, and 78% include concrete greenhouse gas emissions data.

With consumers increasingly demanding corporations to take responsibility for their business actions, it is refreshing to finally see response to these demands. With reports such as these and with independent third-party validation of the figures within them, we will move away from a distrustful society and towards one that works together.

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GSA Switching to Green Computing Products

Last year, the General Services Administration saw an almost 50% increase in technology purchases, partly due to governments switching to greener IT products, GreenerComputing reports.

Spending increased from $248.5 million in 2006 to $361.2 million in 2007, according to a report by research group INPUT. According to the report's author Jason Sajko, "The groundswell of green purchasing at the state and local level presents a real opportunity for GSA and scheduled vendors to offer green products, with the added administrative savings of cooperative purchasing vehicles."

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Screen Savers - Energy Suckers

When screensavers were first introduced, their purpose was to prevent damage to early CRT monitors, which were susceptible to phosphor burn. Modern CRT and LCD screens are not prone to "ghost images" resulting from phoshor burn. As a result, the screensaver's original purpose exists no more.

Today, screensavers are generally used as forms of entertainment or personal expression. However, from an energy management perspective, screensavers are like a canary in the goldmine, representing an opportunity to conserve energy and save money. Here is why:

1. A screensaver requires the PC and monitor to be in full power mode.

2. A screensaver indicates that a PC is not in use, and therefore that it could be put into a low power state without affecting end-user productivity.

So, the next time you see a screensaver, think about it as a missed opportunity to save money, conserve energy and help the environment, no different really than a refrigerator with the door left open.

If you often see screensavers in your company, then a PC Power Management solution like SURVEYOR is probably worth a close look.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screensaver
http://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/screenshots/
http://www.verdiem.com

EPA Released First Draft of Server Energy Star Guidelines

The Environmental Protection Agency has released the first draft of specifications for Energy Star for servers, EDN.com reports. Energy Star is completely voluntary, but has become important for businesses looking to be energy efficient, an increasing need in the corporate business world due to customer demand.

The new specifications are tiered, beginning with relatively easy to attain power efficiencies, gradually getting stricter as end-users demands for energy efficiency get higher and more consistent.

EPA will work with industry groups like Climate Savers and 80Plus to develop consistent test procedures and efficiency levels.

Click here for the full article.

You can view the draft here: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=new_specs.enterprise_servers

Top 12 Green IT Users

Last fall, Computerworld set out to identify 12 companies that are implementing strategies to achieve "green IT," Julia King reports. Computerworld selected experts to help develop a set of criteria to identify companies that are actively working to reduce energy consumption in their IT equipment or using technology to conserve energy and lower carbon emissions.

Companies in the Green IT dozen include Highmark, WellPoint, Monsanto and Ryder System Inc. Strategies utilized include virtualization, teleconferencing, PC power management and thin clients.
With IT leaders being publicly recognized for the work they are doing to reduce energy, more and more companies will be encouraged to follow suit.

For the full article and list click here.

NRDC's Top 5 Cities Fighting Global Warming

In an video interview for the Wall Street Journal online, Ralph Cavanagh of the Natural Resources Defense Council picks five cities are that on the cutting edge in using alternative energy. Environmental Leader reports how that’s helping the environment and saving money.

Cavanagh's top picks:

1) Portland, Oregon
2) Seattle, Washington
3) Sacramento, California
4) Palm Desert, California
5) Chicago, Illinois

Click here for the full video.

Commercial Energy Star Building Up By 25% in 2007

In 2007, commercial buildings and manufacturing plants to earn the Energy Star for superior energy efficiency increased by more than 25%, Environmental Leader reports. The amount of carbon dioxide emissions reduced reached an all time high of more than 25 billion pounds.

Commercial Energy Star buildings use almost 40% less energy than regular buildings, and emit 35% less carbon dioxide. Many Energy Star buildings excel due to superior energy management practices such as energy benchmarking.

The total number of buildings to earn the Energy Star is 4,056, with 1,400 earning the Energy Star in 2007 alone.

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Gartner Predicts Green IT Audits for Suppliers

According to Gartner, IT vendors will soon be subject to green audits by the global corporations they supply, Sustainable Life Media reports. This is according to Gartner's annual list of topics expected to affect the IT industry, specifically where IT professionals will need to take action in 2008.

When discussing supply chains, Gartner predicts that "by 2011, suppliers to large global enterprises will need to prove their green credentials via an audited process to retain preferred supplier status. These policies go well beyond minimizing direct carbon emissions or requiring suppliers to comply with local environmental regulations."

Many large organizations are already putting such policies in place, such as Home Depot, Timberland and Wal-Mart.

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California May Tax Corporate Emissions

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is proposing to charge businesses an annual fee based on their CO2 emissions, Mercury News reports. This would be the first such program in California, and would charge 4.2 cents per metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted. The program would affect all types of businesses, large and small.

The largest fee would be paid by The Shell oil refinery in Martinez, $186,475 a year for its 4.4 million annual metric tons of emissions.

The air district board could take a final vote on this rule by May, meaning businesses looking to avoid the fees should focus on measures to reduce their CO2 emissions immediately.

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Hillary Clinton discusses Verdiem

While on the campaign trail Thursday night, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton highlighted Verdiem as a company doing important work to reduce our country's energy consumption.

Her discussion of energy efficiency recommendations came about eight minutes in during a 42-minute speech to a gathering of supporters in Seattle last night.

You can see the full video here.

North America Lags in Green IT Adoption

Two new reports have looked at the trends surrounding green IT.

The Standish Group examined the issues driving green computing and found that ultimately cost reduction is the main incentive. With energy bills ever increasing organizations continue to look for ways to cut costs in new places. Cost isn't the only driving factor however, with government mandates, the need for more power and environmental concerns also listed.

Another research group, the Info-Tech Research Group, looked at how fast green IT is spreading around the world. They found that green IT initiatives in the US and Canada are lagging behind those in Asia and Europe, mainly due to older infrastructure.

Infrastructure isn't the only the only place they saw differences however, as 75% of respondents from Asia said their organizations have policies in place for turning off computers while not in use and only 35% in North America indicated they have such policies. As each corporate PC can waste up to $60 per year in energy costs North American countries are missing out on huge savings.

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Top Ten Reasons to Green IT

Our venerable CEO is featured in Environmental Leader today with his top ten reasons why IT departments should go green.

The #1 reason: It saves money (a lot of money): PC power management software can cut energy costs by $20-60 dollars per PC per PC, which can translate to six- and seven-figure annual savings for large enterprises. For many organizations, this can mean a 5-15 percent reduction in overall, organization-wide energy consumption.

Read the full list here.