Nicola Hogan, EAUC’s Sustainable ICT Project Manager

Rob Bristow, e-administration Programme Manager JISC

Its not easy being Green …or is IT ? Answer is YES , it is easy. It requires time, effort

and organisation but its not rocket science. Most green ICT initiatives involve doing nothing (not engaging in wasteful behaviour)

NOT turning on PC, TV, lights when not needed, NOT printing on paper, instead saving information electronically, NOT travelling long distances for meetings, instead communicating via V.C.

What is Sustainability ?“development that meets the needs of the present

without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs”… Brundtland Report

Reduction of consumption, in everything we do including our use of ICT related equipment.

Less materials used in manufacture = less expensive product = less of an impact on the environment.

ICT equipment manufactured & used more efficiently = less energy used = less CO2 emissions created.

ICT use impact on the environmentThe extraction and processing of materials that goes

into the manufacture of ICT equipment has a very heavy environmental footprint

A study (IVF, 2007) a European PC and 17” monitor = 20kgs of materials.

A PC & Monitor’s life cycle will include the disposal of 37kgs of non hazardous waste and 0.7kgs of hazardous waste.

ICT use impact on the environmentThe production of a PC & monitor will consume.. 3,244 mega joules of energy 920 litres of process waterCreate.. 193 kgs of greenhouse gasses also release heavy metals, contribute to acid rain

and other air, soil and water pollutants.We still need to educate and research via the use

of technology, just more sustainably.

How this project helps institutionsTo help Universities and Colleges across the UK become

more sustainable in their choice and use of ICT systems

To reduce their energy use To reduce their CO2 emissions To save money on their energy bills..

U&C’s will also benefit from… Improving their “green credentials” : increase in

college applications, help with funding and avoid penalties.

Sustainable ICT Options

…“printing is out of control”…Possible sustainable options are : Printing Centers : Having a centralized printing

center is more efficient in terms of 1 Energy use : switch to powersave, economode

or switch off 2. Paper use : setting printers to print double

sided by default, reuse scrap paper, monitor paper use.

Sustainable ICT Options

PC Power-down: Computers that automatically shut off when not in use.

Virtualization : Applies to Servers and Data Centers : where servers used to perform only 1 function now it serves 2 or 3 and operates more efficiently, is smaller in size, is typically no longer on site. Not having a large number of servers means not paying for its associated running costs i.e. energy, space,

staff and air conditioning systems.

Sustainable ICT Options

Cloud Computing : Computer resources are delivered over the Internet by external service providers. University e-mail address, university linked schedules, timesheets etc., the responsibility for delivering the service will be given to a service provider such as Google or Amazon.

Mix & Match of sustainable ICT, implement more than one sustainable option and all have proven successful in CO2 emission reduction.

Successful Sustainable ICT examples Stevenson College: Anticipating a cost savings of

£70,000, in reduced energy costs since using server virtualization.

QMU : Did a complete refurb. on their ICT systems when moving to a new campus : replaced conventional PC’s with thin client ones and installed automatic shutdown of non 24/7 PC hardware.

They reduced their energy consumption by 191,438 kWh ; CO2 emission reduction of 102,806 and saved £22,973 on running costs since 2007.

Successful Sustainable ICT examples Angus College : Reduced overall ICT

power consumption by 15% through power-down West Lothian College : Replaced their server

room door with a vented door , thus reducing AC running costs by 20%.

* Reduction in energy use were calculated using previous years energy bills and comparing difference in running costs etc.

Very straight forward :

Gather your institutions ICT system baseline-dataset. Your data should include facts and figures on :

number of ICT equipment pieces, energy usage (kWh’s) and running times (hrs) of your

HPC’s, Servers, PC’s & Monitors, Networks, Phones, Imaging, and AV equipment.

The use of the Suste-IT Tool

Sustainable ICT Options

U&C’s will achieve savings in..1. Energy costs…running ICT systems and

associated costs : cooling the server rooms, lighting computer rooms, etc.

2. Space…no longer need as much server rooms, desk space for PC and printers are reduced etc.

3. Staff… staff’s time is freed-up by not having to deal with as many technical issues.

4. CO2 emissions

Sustainable ICT Options

The SusteIT Tool is very user friendly : with 1.sections of information for guidance

2. all ICT equipment listed3. easy to flip between data sheets4. Colour co-ordinated for ease of use Yellow : Energy Use; Blue: Number of pieces of equipment,Green: Categories of equipment. www.susteit.org/files/category.php.cat?ID4

To summarise ..

The SUSTE-TECH project’s aim is also to promote the use of greener technology in U& C.

We want to know what institutions are doing to green their ICT systems, what difficulties they faced, how they overcame them, what issues they still face, … how the JISC Programme can help.

We also want to know about institutions that “failed” and why so we don’t waste time repeating those mistakes

….or reinventing the wheel

The EAUC

What is EAUC, : Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges,

was launched in 1996, staff of 10 and growing, offices in Cheltenham and Scotland.

What are its aims : Raising the profile of environmental management and facilitate improvement of environmental performance in member institutions.

The EAUC

Initially this aim was achieved through : Providing a forum for the sharing of experiences and

information between different colleges and universities (swapping case studies and information) but has expanded to include information and guidance on …

Procurement, Environmental Legislation, ICT technologies and research that enables universities and colleges to improve their environmental performance.

The EAUC

EAUC Membership: Universities and Colleges can apply as a member (FE and HE sector) or

Can apply as an associate member (government organisations, local council, charity etc.)

EAUC have in total almost 300 Universities & Colleges as paid members and over 60 associate members from various sectors of industry.

How do you become a member? : By paying an annual subscription.

The EAUCEAUC achievements :

Green Gowns Awards, : Universities are awarded for their environmental performance

and business are allowed to sponsor these events and in doing so link up with Universities & Colleges.

The EAUC Resource Bank : Information on all

areas of campus sustainability. UCCCF : Scottish institutions

committing to reduce their CO2 emssions

CPD : Continuing Professional Development etc

The EAUC15 Annual Conference

is taking place at the University of York from April 11th -13th, 2011. Don’t miss it. Your opportunity to come together with associate members, businesses and government organisation etc., to network, attend workshops and see how they showcase their work . It will be attended by Senior Management, Academics, Sustainability Professionals, Funding and Awards Bodies, Local Authorities and Sector Suppliers etc.

Contact DetailsNicola Hogan’s Contact Details. E-mail : Nhogan@eauc.org.uk Phone : (01242) 714321 Twitter: NicICT Web page

www.eauc.org.uk/greening_ict_with_jisc JISC:www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/

programmes/greeningict.aspx