The Benefits of Green IT and Green Computing - Essay Example

Green IT/Green Computing Table of Contents Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………….3 Why Green IT ………………………………………………………………………………..3 Green IT values ……………………………………………………………………………….4 Green IT applications …………………………………………………………………….…..5 Green computing application to architectural practice …………………………………….7 Green IT benefits for buildings ……………………………………………………….……..8 Green building applications ………………………………………………………….………9 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………….11 References …………………………………………………………………………………….12 Introduction This is an environmentally sustainable initiative that can also be defined as the practice of designing, manufacturing, using and disposing technological products such as computers, servers, printers, storage devices and networking equipment among others with efficiency and effectiveness by causing minimal damage to the environment. Why Green IT With organizations technological budgets shrinking by the day and environmental concerns growing by the minute, local, state and federal I.T leaders are under intense pressure to do more with less while reducing on waste and energy consumption. By these stakeholders pursuing an environmentally friendly approach towards technology deployment, their initiative is likely to assist organizations and their I.T department reach their desired goals. The private sector in collaboration with government agencies can simultaneously reduce on their carbon footprint, become energy efficient and subsequently save cash by pursuing a greener initiative that will include adopting common-sense best practices, improving on utilization of technological products and investing in new energy efficient technologies (CDW-G). In a world that has an increasing number of environmental concerns coupled with rising energy cost, a third priority has subsequently emerged which pertains on how to control the huge amount of energy that is required to power organizations data centers, and going green initiative has emerged as an immediate solution to some of the environmental concerns that are caused by data centers with the rising cost of energy. This is so because within the data centers, it is being estimated that up to 60-70% of energy consumed are not used by computers to power the facility but as a result of cooling and other inefficiencies (Webber & Wallace, 2009, p. 178). In the United States, it was estimated that approximately 61 billion kilowatt-hours (KWh) were utilized to power data centers in the year 2006 alone and this equates to approximately US $ 4.5 billion whereby the projected power consumption for year 2011 is likely to exceed 100 billion KWhs with costs estimated to be in the region of US $ 7.4 billion (Nielsen, Kucera, Milter, 2009, p.117). On the other hand emissions in Germany alone are expected to increase by approximately 60% by year 2020, therefore by an organization embarking on green I.T initiatives, they can significantly help in curbing this trend simply by implementing energy conservative approaches and the CO2 emitted by technological systems can also be nearly halved before this period (T-Systems, 2009). Green IT values Its most benefits can be cited in reduced environmental impact and cost savings. Also the ecological impacts of products are being measured in terms of their carbon footprints and organizations are increasingly expected to take the required steps to reduce the carbon footprint within the scope of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitment campaign. With the emerging trend of green IT, organizations CIO’s and CTOs have begun taking a look at how their technological infrastructures may reduce the overall environmental impact and government likewise have also taken significant steps to establish policies that promote green purchasing and practices in the areas of building construction and design, green house gas emission reduction and electronic waste in order to reduce environmental impact (Jamison, 2008, p.2). Organizational heads can therefore wield important influence towards promoting green IT policies and companies C.I.Os as stakeholders in green initiative, can become overwhelmingly involved in shaping the green IT policies and helping to reduce carbon footprint in three areas namely: Asset management, Energy efficiency and enabling Green practices through utilization of technological products. Asset Management: Organization can look into the IT hardware they use across the enterprise with their impact on an organizations carbon footprint while taking the necessary precautions to ensure that the product aligns with the organizations “green” goals while meeting their budgetary requirements (Jamison, 2008, p.2). By purchasing certified “green” products, organizations can significantly minimize costs and by associating with labels such as Energy star (ES), Electronic product Environment Assessment tool (EPEAT) and Climate saver environmental performance ratings, will go along way in enabling the organizations to select the best products that qualify as most environmentally-friendly. Energy Efficiency: In order to keep enterprise operating, the level of their energy consumption is important and can account for a sizeable amount of their energy cost. This requires organizations to spearhead a number of initiatives that reduce energy consumption which entails incorporating best practices for desktop power management actions, data centers and behaviors that ensure that computers energy is conserved as much as possible(Jamison, 2008, p.6). By incorporating Green Practices: The organizations can look within themselves to discover existing technologies employ green initiatives whereby the discovered technologies may assist in supporting major aspect of states policy agenda on initiatives such as broadband, telemedicine and distance learning among others (Jamison, 2008, p.10).Technology may also play a role in lending green practices through various initiatives such as electronic government, Geographic information system, tele-work and virtual office. Green IT applications There are various forces that drive organization into adopting strategy for greener companies and before embarking on any green IT initiatives it is of paramount importance that organizations view their data centers holistically from its design, lighting, layout, cooling architecture and technological infrastructure. This is so because the increasing energy consumption within data centers used to power equipment and at the same time cool them has subsequently led to an increased operating cost being complicated by dwindling energy supplies. By an organization rightsizing the correct IT equipment, this can go a long way in reducing power consumption. For instance, data centers can realize significant decrease in electricity consumption by following few steps. Consolidation, Virtualization, Decommissioning: By an organization consolidating servers onto a fewer and potentially more servers may result into some significant power savings. Turning off unneeded equipments: By organization turning off underutilized systems will help the data center conserve electricity by reducing the amount of electricity that is needed to run the machines and also reducing the power required to cool the equipment. With modern technologies, data centers may benefit from applications that enable system administrators to set policies that automatically recognize under utilized and unnecessary system and power them until load demands the capabilities (GTSI, 2010). In a certain survey that was conducted by Symantec Corporation that comprised of 1,052 companies whereby 426 of them were from the United States and Canada and their company sizes were between 1000 to 50,000 with their median having 10,000 employees, approximately 66 percent of the respondents from the US and Canada were managing directors, 13% were VPs ad 21% were CIOs with 93% working for IT departments while 7% working for departments that oversee IT (Symantec, 2010, p.5). It was revealed in the study that 97% of companies were discussing green IT strategy, 67% were in the trial strategy, while 30% had already deployed their green strategy (Symantec, 2010, p.6). 86% of the companies agreed that it is somewhat significant that their companies implement green IT initiatives and only a percent was cited as claiming green initiative was somewhat unimportant (Symantec, 2010, p.6). It was also revealed that green IT budgets were on a steep rise with 72% of the respondents predicting an increase of Green IT budgets over the next one year with a median budget of approximately $90-$100 million whereby median reported a 16-20% of their technological budget being spent on energy and data centers whereby a typical company was found to spend approximately $14-$20 million a year on data center energy consumption (Symantec, 2010, p.7). The respondents further revealed that companies were willing to pay a premium for green IT purchases and 91% said that a products energy efficiency is extremely important and would significantly influence their purchasing decision, 64% of organizations agreed that they would pay 10% more for energy efficient product of equivalent functionality and a third would pay at least 20% more on them (Symantec, 2010, p.8). The respondents finally revealed that Green IT within their companies were driving a number of initiatives and their organizations were seeking ways of achieving green data centers whereby 96% of them prioritized replacing old equipment with modern power efficient hardware, 94% monitored their power consumption, 94 % were concerned with server consolidation and 93% were concerned with server virtualization (Symantec, 2010, p.9). Approximately 55% of the respondents considered Software as a service as a strategy to reduce on power consumption and 76% of the organizations were using power management solutions to reduce power consumption by data center equipments which operated at lower utilization rates (Symantec, 2010, p.10). Green computing application to architectural practice Green buildings are expensive upfront but cost effective in the long run which can be realized when incorporated into a projects conceptual design phase with assistance from integrated team of experts. This integrated approach will ensure that the building is designed in such a way as one system rather than stand alone (Dick, 2010). Also according to Dick (2010) when buildings are properly designed they can meet 40% energy efficiency and some of the strategies that are likely to contribute towards this goal are: Design strategies that can affect the buildings performance and these include; the shape of the building, orientation, passive solar design which can be used in data centers and use of natural lightings. Installing high efficient lighting systems Minimizing on electric loads from lighting, equipment and appliances. The architects may consider alternative energy choices such as photovoltaic fuel cells and other forms of renewable energy. Embracing computer modeling techniques that assist in optimizing the design of electrical, mechanical systems and the building shell. It is being estimated that approximately 40% of data centers power are used for lighting, air conditioning and other non IT components. Green building applications These are the materials that are used in the construction industries to assist towards green initiatives. Copper It resists both corrosion and oxidation and when used with its alloys whereby it eventually offers visually stunning qualities which ensures that designers and building owners meet their environmental and cost performance goals. The material also has a high recyclable content, it is durable, has a long life span and require very little repair. Coppers application within the green buildings can range from the traditional roof and wall cladding, gutters, sunshades, passive solar walls, plumbing, bathrooms and lighting. When the material is used iwithn renewable energy technologies such as solar panels and wind turbines, it can enable these technologies to contribute towards efficient buildings by allowing the technologies themselves to reduce their impact on the environment thus lowering operating cost (Copper.org, 2010). The material also contributes to achieving LEED credits by saving energy consumption hence reducing a buildings carbon footprint and it is being estimated that for an additional upfront cost of 2% towards a green initiative, there is a corresponding average life saving of 20% of a buildings constructions cost (Copper.org, 2010). Other materials that could be beneficial include using bamboo because they grow quickly and straw, using recycled stone, recycled metal and other non-toxic products such as compressed earth blocks, clay, coconut, and concrete. The building materials should also be extracted and manufactured locally within the construction site in order to minimize on the energy embedded in their construction. Water should also be conserved because with improved water management practices, there is a likelihood of efficient water usage thus reducing the demand for water which in return, the value and cost-effectiveness of a water efficiency measure has to be evaluated in relation to the effects on the use and cost of the other natural resources such as energy and chemicals. These may entail installing lower flow shower heads, low flush toilets, dual flush toilets and saline water. Also by using environmentally preferred painting, accurately estimating the paint quantities, and using painting accessories that are environmentally preferred may be used towards a building green initiatives. Green IT benefits for buildings With green IT in place, various benefits could be realized that accrues from the benefits being derived from the concept, these include, decreased energy consumption whereby the money could be channeled to other key areas such as using copper for plumbing rather than the normal metal pipes which rust easily, they will also attract tenants and buyers. The buildings also have significant savings per square foot in comparison to other buildings and they also have a faster sales and lease out compared to the ordinary buildings in the same locality. This is so because educated tenants tend to understand their benefits (Yudelson & Fedrizi, 2008, p.37). The buildings are also perceived as less risky by insurance underwriters, and it was in 2006 when fireman’s fund a leading insurance company announced that it was giving a 5% premium discount for green compliant buildings. There are also health benefits arising from indoor environmental air quality from increased ventilation, day lighting, and lower toxicity finishes. There is also public relations and marketing benefits whereby the building owners and their developers market the envisaged benefits to clients by using green building certifications (Yudelson & Fedrizi, 2008, p.37). Some of the Key areas that may contribute to a green building are: Efficient Floor layout Design Floor layout has been found to have an extremely large effect on an air conditioning system and it has been cited that approximately 12Kw of energy consumption in the data centers can be saved by employing modern-day best practices in a data center layout (Sweeney, 2010, p.11). For instance, when an architect wants to design a hot aisle/cold aisle configuration with aisle based conditioners, then they have to know the number of kilowatts allowed per each rack and if the answer is found to be 10Kw, then raised floors would be useless and even with a 36 inch floor, enough air cannot be pumped out of the floors vent holes so as to ensure that the servers which are installed in the other top half are pulling in cool air (Sweeney, 2010, p.12). Therefore a professional assessment is critically important and probable the best way of ascertaining on a design that provides the highest Return on Investment (ROI) with energy efficiency. Correctly Located Vented Floor tiles By correctly positioning vented tiles, data centers may witness immediate results whereby they can save as much as 6% of their electricity consumption and here a professional assessment maybe from a civil engineer or an architect that will help the organization reap maximum benefits for the correct placement of tiles (Sweeney, 2010, p.12). 240V, 3-Phase configuration Modern power supplies support 208V/230V power and an understanding of the two can lead into considerable cost savings. While 208 V is efficient that 120V, the power that can be delivered by a three phase power whip is twice the power of a single whip and the lower number of power whips, the fewer cables under the floor that blocks the airflow. This means that there will also be fewer poles at the power distribution panel, minimal cabinet power distribution units, enhanced power efficiencies, and less rework as new equipment is brought in (Sweeney, 2010, p.12). Energy Efficient Lightning By installing energy efficient light bulbs and turning them manually or remotely is likely to save approximately 2% in annual energy bill, whereby the savings realized from the initiative is likely to be doubled since the heat that would have been produced by the lights will subsequently reduce the amount of power that would have been used in cooling (Sweeney, 2010, p.13). Conclusion Organizations and stakeholders such as IT managers and building architects can contribute towards a greener planet by embracing modern concepts and at the same time deploying the best technological solutions. This calls for an understanding on the best techniques while having a deeper understanding on the envisioned benefits. In this way, the required solutions will be implemented systematically eventually leading to a well balanced ecosystem for the sake of our future generations. References CDW-G. Implementing Green I.T. Eleven Ways I.T can lower Power consumption, Reduce Cost & Eliminate Waste. Online: Accessed from http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/docs/gov/cdw-g_green_it_wp.pdf [Accessed 7th November 2010]. Jim Sweeny, 2010, Reducing Data Center Power and Energy Consumption: Saving Money and going green. Online: Accessed from http://www.gtsi.com/cms/documents/white-papers/green-it.pdf [Accessed 7th November 2010]. Lawrence Webber, Michael Wallace, 2009. Green Tech: How to plan and Implement sustainable solutions. Illustrated edition, AMACOM DIV American Management Association. Mogens Nielsen, Antonin Kucera, Peter Bro Miltersen, SOFSEM, 2009. Theory and practice of Computer Science: 35th conference on Current trend in Theory and practice of computer science, Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech republic, January 24-30, 2009. Springer Publishers. Stephanie Jamison, 2009, Green IT in Enterprise Practices: The Essential Role of the State CIO. Online: Accessed from http://www.nascio.org/publications/documents/NASCIO-GreenIT.pdf [Accessed 7th November 2010]. Symantec 2010, Green IT report Regional Data-United States and Canada. Online: Accessed from http://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/about/media/GreenIT09_Report.pdf [Accessed 7th November 2010]. T- Systems, 2009. Green ICT, The greening of Business. Online: Accessed from http://www.ictliteracy.info/rf.pdf/T-SystemsWhitePaper_Green-ICT.pdf [Accessed 7th November 2010]. Copper.org, 2010. Building Green: How Copper Can LEED the way. Online: Accessed from http://www.copper.org/environment/green/casestudies/building_green.html [Accessed 7th November 2010]. Jerry Yudelson, S. Richard Fedrizzi, 2008. The green building revolution, illustrated edition, Island press, Washington D.C. Read More