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Green ITOne of the “real” green impact zones is in the world of information technology.  The increase of electronic transactions (How many of you use e-banking?), the growth of Internet communications, on-line shopping, electronic medical records and global positioning systems have caused an explosion in the IT industry.  Government documentation going digital, digital record retention, disaster recoveries, emergency services, national security and scientific computing also has a huge impact in the IT industry. 

So what are the implications; increased energy usage - costs, emissions, strains on an old power grid and capital costs, and more.  It affects just about every system.  IT is the key to modern business and the way we are using energy is unsustainable!  Green IT is about using IT more efficiently.  Here are some facts from the EPA (a favorite source for us because it is free):

  • Energy use has doubled between 2000 and 2006 has doubled again
  • Google maintains 450,000 servers, add that to Amazon and E-bay
  • According to the research firm IDC, for every $1 spent on hardware, $.70 is spent on power and cooling

 So what should be the goal of Green IT?

  • Minimize building footprints
  • Low emission (impact) building materials
  • Sustainable landscaping
  • Initiating water recycling
  • Alternate energy sources
  • Increased equipment efficiencies
  • Server consolidation
  • Virtualization
  • The Cloud
  • Sustainable hardware
  • Efficient heating and cooling

In the future, I will be posting about of the issues involved with the information industry including life cycle assessment of equipment, or lack of.  I will also look at some of the best ways to execute on Green IT including basic steps as well as some more complex efforts including its effect on people, planet and profits


Posted by Dave Shirley on: January 14, 2012 10:05 AM | Permalink

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