Hill is not the only one beginning to notice IT's impact on the environment. Other CIOs are starting to talk about how much energy their systems use and how they can be more efficient and thus friendlier to the environment. Even so, the real impetus for green computing -- also called sustainable computing -- is the green cash that eco-friendly decisions can save.
"There's always a company out there doing something to be eco-friendly, but for most companies, it has to make money sense," says Thomas Bolioli, president of Terra Novum LLC, a consulting company in Watertown, Mass., that advises IT departments on energy efficiency.
Bolioli says companies are starting to better balance their computing requirements with the desire to reduce energy consumption and the corresponding costs. They're employing power management software to power down PCs when not in use, and they're opting for more energy-efficient components, such as LCDs rather than CRT monitors, when refreshing hardware.
Early sprouts
There's no doubt that sustainable computing is on the rise. A recent conference on opportunities for energy savings, co-sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , drew about 200 attendees, including some from big-name players such as AT&T Inc., Target Corp. and Visa U.S.A. Inc.
"It's great if people do things strictly for the benefit of the environment. But increasingly, the more resonant message is, 'Look, as competitive entities, we have to do more with less. So why not use less electricity as well?'" says Andrew Fanara, team leader at the EPA's Energy Star program, which promotes more energy-efficient IT infrastructures and policies.
The savings can be significant, says Jeff McNaught, vice president of marketing operations at Wyse Technology Inc. in San Jose. His company supplied the thin clients for the city of Dayton, and he says another customer, a Fortune 100 retailer, reports saving $5.7 million annually in electricity costs by using some 70,000 thin clients instead of PCs.
The University at Buffalo, part of the State University of New York system, has an aggressive program to cut overall energy consumption that is estimated to be saving more than $10 million annually. Some of those savings come from green computing, says Walter Simpson, the energy officer at the UB Green program.
UB figures that each computer uses $100 worth of electricity a year, and that doesn't include the costs to power data centers and servers. There are additional costs associated with keeping server rooms and computer workspaces at the right temperature.
To counteract such energy demands, Simpson encourages UB staffers to turn off computers when they're not needed, and he uses power management software to put employees' monitors in sleep mode when not in use. He also tries to hold the line against wasteful practices. For example, when IT workers wanted the facilities department, which houses UB Green, to keep its several hundred computers on at night to accommodate occasional upgrades, Simpson told them to upgrade during the day or pick a specific night to leave the computers on. "We're setting an example," he says.
Aside from power use, there are other green issues in IT. When Robert Rosen recently ordered 130 new computers, he was given a novel option: lead-free components. Rosen, CIO at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in Bethesda, Md., and president of Share, an IBM mainframe user group, says having the choice, which came at no additional cost, represents a growing concern about the toxins in computer products.
Troubling toxins
According to the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition in San Jose, computer equipment contains a host of toxic materials, including lead and cadmium in circuit boards, lead oxide and barium in CRTs, mercury in switches and flat screens, and brominated flame retardants on printed circuit boards and cables.
In addition, a 2005 study conducted by Greenpeace International found that most computers collected for recycling in the U.S. are illegally shipped to disassembly sites in China and India, leading to contamination of the environment in those countries.
Government agencies and nonprofits are pushing for changes, and they're being joined by some IT executives and technology manufacturers. NEC Display Solutions of America Inc., for example, is scheduled to be the first monitor company whose full U.S. product line will be lead-free. It's also educating consumers about green issues. Richard Atanus, vice president of product development and customer service and support at NEC, says manufacturers and users will face increasing demands for toxin reductions and recycling as European Union standards take effect this summer and more U.S. states start to pass regulations.
Those regulations will prompt changes in corporate IT policies, says Joe Wilcox, an analyst at JupiterResearch in New York. "If disposal is an extra cost, then it's a problem that someone has to solve," he says, adding that economics will move companies to demand toxin-free components. "If they can dispose of it easier because there are no potential toxins, then that's a benefit they can appreciate," Wilcox says.
But companies have been slow to adopt wholesale policies to foster green computing. That's because sustainable computing requires more than new products. It demands changes in IT policies and user behaviors, as well as cooperation across departments. And it's tough for IT organizations to deal with those challenges when they're already occupied by day-to-day demands, Wilcox explains.
Still, there is progress. Rosen says government policy requires him to buy Energy Star-compliant computers, which are more energy-efficient than those without the designation. Fanara says he is seeing similar requirements in other organizations.
But Rosen acknowledges that many IT departments don't feel the need for green policies if the CIOs aren't held responsible for the energy costs or disposal fees. "It's one of those issues that spans groups, [so] everyone thinks it's someone else's problem to deal with," he says. "What happens in a lot of places is that nobody pays attention to it until the CFO gets the bills and starts jumping on everybody."
Sidebar
Green tips
-- Enable power management software to put computers in low-power mode when not in use.
-- Require workers to turn off printers, monitors, computers and other desktop devices when they leave work.
-- Choose specific times for off-hours maintenance.
-- Consider energy-efficiency products such as thin clients, LCD monitors or Energy Star-rated PCs.
-- Demand components that contain the least amount of toxins, such as those labeled lead-free.
-- Buy products from vendors that take them back when your company replaces them to ensure safe disposal.
-- Use responsible recyclers that do not export equipment to developing countries.
Check out www.computertakeback.com for more options.
Pratt is a Computerworld contributing writer in Waltham, Mass. Contact her at marykpratt@verizon.net.