Hasan, who is taking part in the upcoming 21st International Conference on Information Systems Development, gave an example of how the University of Wollongong's IT department is using a modelling system to estimate its carbon footprint through ongoing monitoring. This will enable the university to effectively implement strategies to reduce its overall energy consumption.

"We have given our IT department a spreadsheet modelling system that came from [universities in] the UK, that enables them to estimate the carbon footprint of IT on the university campus," said Hasan.

"They can then see a model where the most energy intensive activities go on, usually where the servers are."

Monitoring energy consumption also helps identify where investments in sustainable ICT technologies are most needed in an organisation, helping business leaders make decisions based on tangible benefits, Hasan added.

"[For example], it could be more effective to put in solar panels on the roof of the building that has big computer servers and use renewables for that. The cost benefits for that in the short term might only be a year or two and they'll recoup the benefits of putting those in. So they can actually make decisions based on the data that they get from the use."