1.
http://chronicle.com/free/2009/01/10296n.htm
Campus Computing Goes Green to Save Money
By JOSH KELLER
Relocate a college's server computers next to a solar-power generator. Replace AC power with DC power. Cool the servers only where they get the hottest. Put the servers in the ocean and power them with waves.
Those were a few of the ideas discussed last week at a conference, "Greening the Internet Economy," that was designed to address the problem of the soaring financial and environmental costs of information technology. The event, held by the University of California at San Diego, offered a sampling of a new generation of technologies that promise to help colleges make their IT departments both more efficient and more sustainable.
Many of the participants emphasized the importance of systems that could more intelligently measure energy use on the campus. In recent years, colleges have been hurt by the rising costs of powering and cooling their data centers, in part because those costs are difficult to measure and poorly understood (The Chronicle, January 9).
At San Diego, researchers have started work on hardware to help colleges and other organizations understand how to make their servers more efficient. The device, called the GreenLight Instrument, will deploy sensors and software to measure the energy use, humidity, and other variables in various parts of a Sun Modular Data Center, a popular, self-contained complex of servers.
The goal is to encourage engineers to try different computing strategies to reduce electricity consumption, said Thomas A. DeFanti, principal investigator on the project and a senior research strategist at the university's California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology.
"Right now there isn't enough information for somebody to make a definitive decision: Where do I save my money? Do I eliminate disks in my computers, or do I stop them? Do I use more RAM or less RAM?" said Mr. DeFanti. "Nobody has detailed information on this."
Aiming for Precision
Intelligent measuring systems like Greenlight should be extended to allow engineers to more precisely determine how to use energy, said Gary L. Baldwin, director of special projects at the University of California's Citris program. For example, he said, operators at a data center could direct cool air only where the facility is generating the most heat.
Another idea that shows promise, participants said, is to supply computers directly with local DC power. Computers generally use direct current, but the public electricity grid typically supplies alternating current, and 30 percent of the electricity can be lost in the conversion of one form to the other.
Some colleges have started projects to power their computers directly from solar cells or other sources of DC power on the campus, avoiding the energy loss altogether. At San Diego, administrators hope to build a "power ring" that will supply computers across the campus with DC power, said Mr. DeFanti.
The rethinking of how to supply campus power is part of a broader effort to "divorce ourselves from the electrical grid," said Bill St. Arnaud, chief research officer at Canarie Inc., a Canadian computer-networking organization. Power-transmission lines lose a significant amount of energy over long distances, he said, which means that supplying a campus with energy from faraway power plant can be inefficient.
A better strategy, Mr. St. Arnaud said, is to build campus data centers next to a renewable source of power, like a solar plant. High-speed optical transmission lines, he said, would ensure that the computers would seem "as close as next door."
2.
http://www.isc.uoguelph.ca/documents/061211GreenComputingFinalReport2006_000.pdf
Campus Computing and
the Environment
Report of the Green Computing Task Group to ISC
Executive Summary
In response to the release of the study Environmental Impact of Computer Information
Technology in an Institutional Setting: A Case Study at the University of Guelph the ISC
struck a Green Computing Task Group to review policies, guidelines and practices at the
University of Guelph with respect to the purchase, use and disposal of computers 1 , in order to
make recommendations that would mitigate the environmental impacts of computing on
campus.
Specific Objectives:
§ identify green computing policies and best practices elsewhere and benchmark
the University of Guelph against these practices
§ recommend a campus awareness program
§ identify energy conservation strategies and practices
§ examine the need for and nature of computing procurement guidelines
§ identify equipment disposal procedures
Task Group Conclusions:
When measured against the best practices in the environmental management of computers
throughout the product lifecycle
it is clear that the University of Guelph can improve its
policies and practices. However, the university should take pride in its advanced EWaste
Disposal program and the high level of participation on campus. The well crafted Policy on
Environmental Protection could be strengthened and enhanced by the further development of
sustainability policies and possibly the establishment of a monitoring board. However, the
top priorities identified by the task force involve education, assessment, and collaboration in
the establishment of environmental awareness, policy and practice on campus with regards to
“green computing”.
Top Priorities:
Campus Awareness Program – Raising awareness is the first step in changing practice and
behaviours. To properly define and develop an effective campus awareness campaign
regarding green computing principles and practices, the target audiences (IT staff,
management, student/faculty/staff users) should be surveyed to determine current awareness
of, participation in, and barriers to participation in current ewaste
and energy reduction
programs. The program will be lead by the Sustainability Coordinator but will require crosscampus
collaboration with IT personnel, campus communications, purchasing agents, and
physical resources. The campaign will employ social marketing theory based on persuasion
1 Computers are defined as desktop units, which typically include: central processing unit, monitor,
keyboard, mouse and external speakers; and laptop and notepad computers which include all of the
above components in a single unit.
Defining Green Computing
The definition of Green Computing used in this report is the positive (or least negative)
relationship between the physical computer and its impact to the environments in which it
moves through during its journey from cradle to grave. In this context the computer’s impact
to the various environments may be measured using any number of the following criteria;
From cradle: Materials from which components are manufactured (recycled or virgin
materials, materials which can be recycled, leasttoxic
materials); effluents/by products
produced in the manufacturing process (impact of effluents/by products on the
environment); assembly methods (ease the disassembly at end of life); packaging
materials used for components to facilitate storage and shipping (recycled or virgin
materials, materials which can be recycled).
Operational use: Power consumption of each component; interface with user; life cycle
(months/years before replacement is required); other consumables required to maintain.
End of use: Ability to reallocate if no longer required; supplier willing to take computer
components back under recycling program.
To grave: Effective recycling (ease of disassembly, recycle ability
of materials); CO2
travel points (number of miles travelled and fuel consumed to get all components to their
final destination); and responsible and safe disposal of toxic components
3.
http://charmj.blogspot.com/2008/09/green-campus-computing.html
Another campaign purused by my Management Information System school mates. I like this campaign since it promotes and encourages the students in every campus to be active in taking care or conserving our environment through many 'computing ' simple ways.
We all know, that technology seems to contrasting environment because the high technology scratches off every tree from the forest, or it contributes much with the greenhouse effect were experiencing. But with this campaign, computing is giving back what it has taken or damaged to somehow ease everything up.
we can adopt this concept through:
- Turning the computer off overnight and on weekends;
- Waiting until ready to use the PC before turning it on;
- If the computer is going to be inactive for more than 16 minutes, consider turning it off. After this time, the energy needed to run the computer outweighs the start-up energy;
- Do not turn on the printer until ready to print, even an idle printer consumes energy;
- Try to schedule computer-related activities to do them all at once, keeping the computer off at other times;
- If spending a large amount of time at the computer, consider reducing the light level in your office. This may improve cathode ray tube screen visibility as well as save energy.
