GREEN IT at University of Bahrain

By Jaflah AlAmmary

Energy consumption and subsequent carbon dioxide emission from ICT at UOB

Info-tech (2007) Identified 11 technologies and initiatives as

indicators of Green IT. These include

•Equipment recycling,

•Server consolidation and virtualization

•Print optimization

•Rightsizing IT equipment

•Green considerations in sourcing and RFPs

•Budget allocation for Green IT projects

•Carbon offsetting

•Data center : (Liquid cooling for IT equipment, DC powered IT

equipment, Airside/waterside economizer, Data centre airflow

management, Optimizing data centre energy efficiency, Hot aisle/cool

aisle data centre layout (Hot aisle/cold aisle is a layout design for

server racks and other computing equipment in a data center. The

goal of a hot aisle/cold aisle configuration is to conserve energy and

lower cooling costs by managing air flow)

• Going green in the data centre have many facets such as reducing overall power consumption, maximizing power utilization, reducing the amount of hardware via consolidation, and decreasing the amount of storage required to meet data processing requirements”

• In the data centre, going green is about energy efficiency first and foremost. Fortunately, efficiency is a natural by-product of solving the cooling, power and space challenges that today’s data centres face. Brocade (2007) Mitchell (2008)

• Whilst some have argued that eco-responsibility is simply hype and that mist companies don’t have any actual plans in place (Mazenier, 2007)

• And there’s more awareness then ever about what organisations can do to “green” their operations and reduce their impact on environment.

Drivers for uptake of green technology (multiple answers allowed, top 4 below) (Mazenier, 2007)

- Reduce power consumption 75% - Lower costs 73% - Lower carbon emissions and environmental impact (e.g. recycling) 56% - Improved systems performance and utilization 55%

• Strategies that would help green the IT department (multiple answers allowed, top 4 below)

• - Energy efficiency technologies 80% - Power cooling solutions 63% - Systems virtualisation 60% - Data centre consolidation 48%

• It is encouraging that many businesses have green initiatives in place but it is not surprising that taking the next step and introducing green technology, is lagging behind. Companies need to act now, as for a large organisation it can take up to 18 months to green the IT department and data centre.

• The research report said that although there was still a gap between awareness and action, this gap had narrowed in the past six months.

• Cost continues to be the core underlying motivation behind the implementation of green IT," said report author Daniel Krauss. "While this is understandable, especially during a time of budget restraint, we expect to see other motivations like brand perception increase in the future as green IT plays a more holistic role within the overall sustainability strategy of organisations."

CompliancePillars of the Green IT Framework

Invest in up-to-date IT hardware, which typically consumes less energy than older

models. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star qualification also shows

products that meet stringent energy consumption guidelines.

End users should be familiar with the energy settings on their computers and use

options that are appropriate for their function and style.

Screen savers should be disabled. Instead, monitors should be put to sleep after

periods of inactivity.

Devices that can be completely powered off during non-work hours can be

consolidated onto power strips, which should be completely unplugged during non-use

to avoid drawing standby power. This only applies to non-compute devices, such as

printers or chargers.

Companies that have data centers (which consume up to 100 times the energy of

typical buildings) should first determine the heat profile of the data center since cooling

is an important factor. The heat profile is based on the floorplan, arrangement of

servers, and types of loads for each server. A tool such as AdaptivCool’s Demand

Based Cooling can help model data center heat so that a proper solution can be

planned.

From a sourcing perspective, Green IT implies the practice of

environmentally preferable IT purchasing. This

involves adoption of sourcing practices such as analysis of the

environmental foot print of an IT hardware

supply chain, evaluation of the green track record of software and IT

services providers, incorporating green

issues (such as recyclable design and packaging) in vendor evaluation, and

inclusion of social concerns (such as

use of child labour and presence of harmful materials in IT supply chain) in

IT procurement decisions. It also

covers an assessment of the environmental performance of products such

as the adoption of the Electronic

Product Environmental Assessment tool (Info~Tech, 2007b). Further,

developing a clear policy statement on

environmental IT purchasing and Green IT request for proposals can be

used as indications of Green IT

adoption.

From an operation perspective, Green IT implies improving energy

efficiency in powering and cooling

corporate IT assets and reducing IT induced greenhouse gas

emissions. Rasmussen (2006) identifies two types

of energy consumption reduction- temporary and structural

consumption avoidance. While temporary

avoidance refers to optimization of energy utilisation without reducing

the installed power base, structural

avoidance results in reduction in installed power capacity. A number

of green technologies and practices related to the two categories can

be used as indications of the adoption of Green IT operation. Some of

these are outlined in table one (Info~Tech, 2007c). Others include

carbon offset programs (ACS, 2007), right-sizing the

network critical physical infrastructure (NCPI) system to IT load,

upgrading to energy efficient servers, retiring

old systems, using efficient NCPI devices, and designing energy

efficient systems (Rasmussen (2006).

From a service perspective, Green IT refers to the role of IT in supporting

a business’s overall sustainability

initiatives. Adopting a Green IT from a services perspective therefore

includes adoption of analytical tools for

green supply chain management, environmental management and carbon

foot print analysis. It also includes ICT

based low carbon business solutions such as video-conferencing, thin

client and web based business services,

virtual collaboration and IP telephony (Olson, 2008; Nunn, 2007; ACS,

2007). Adoption of Green IT systems

that integrate information from Green IT sourcing and operation

technologies for management decision making

is also another dimension (Mines, 2008). Further, desktop virtualization,

and policies and practices for corporate

wide PC power management, PC use and print optimisation regimes can

be included in this category.

From end of IT life management perspective, Green IT refers to

practices in reusing, recycling and disposing IT

hardware. Due to the growth and rapid change of ICTs, electronic

devices are making up the fastest growing

proportion of waste materials (Kangand and Schoenung, 2005).

Paradoxically, green IT initiatives to replace IT

equipment with more energy efficient equipment would generate a

surge in electronic waste and consume

additional resources if equipment is replaced before the end of its

natural life., unless complemented with would

generate Some of these include hazardous materials and can

contribute to a firms total environmental foot print.

For example, UK’s retailer Marks and Spencer has set an ambitious

plan to be carbon neutral and aims that none

of its waste (including IT) goes to landfills (Accenture, 2007). Leading IT

vendors such as Sun, IBM and EDS

and services providers such as Accenture have adopted e-waste

recycling programs (Mines, 2008).

Why going green it

• Setting a positive example for employees which boosts morale and company loyalty

• • Gaining a competitive advantage by differentiating yourself as a Green-certify company

• • Improving efficiency and potentially lowering operating costs

• • Providing a cleaner and healthier work environment