It is evident that global warming is a very serious topic and we all need to do something about it. Governments have started taking steps to reduce greenhouse emission. New regulations have been introduced in to minimize environment impact. Some industries been forced to reduce greenhouse emissions deal with this serious problem. Transportation companies are 95% dependent on petroleum products for fuel is facing some serious choices ahead. On one hand they are dealing with fierce competition, on the other increased demands from customers/suppliers. For last few years, companies have been dealing with economical challenges and higher fuel prices. Fleet performance has been getting a lot of attention in the industry. Topics like using light weight material in fleet construction, improving aerodynamics to reduce drag, fuel efficient engines, improved transmission are just to name a few; all of these make good sense to some degree. In addition, transportation companies have been looking into fuel optimizing software to improve miles per gallon, and empty miles.
With the greater awareness of environment in the industrial nations, most companies are spending time analyzing net potential benefits in reducing waste and duplication. This is opening another door for organization to further reduce costs while helping the environment. In the early years western society spent most of our energy in recycling programs; with little or no emphasis on actually reducing waste. According to 2005 report on resource consumption posted on World Resources Institute website, North Americans are the worst polluters. Not only that we are leaders in total energy consumption per capita, we consume most amounts of Gasoline & Diesel, and electricity, we also consume the most amounts of paper and paperboard products. The trends are showing that we are getting worse.
Green IT also called green computing focuses on using of computer resources in an efficient way. Green IT starts with manufacturers producing environmentally friendly products and encouraging IT departments to consider more friendly options like virtualization, power management and proper recycling habits. The government has also recently proposed new compliance regulations which would work towards certifying data centers as green. Main criteria include using low-emission building materials, recycling, using alternative energy sources like wind and sun, and other green technologies. In other words, focus of Green IT to introduce new ideas about technology and how we use technology in our day-to-day activities. The second component of the equation focuses on reducing waste and lowering costs
The basic principles are as follows:
1. Lower Power or Fuel Consumption – Using more power efficient computer and equipment. Using few more powerful efficient servers rather than having a large number of less powerful servers. Finally, using environment friendly power sources.
2. Reduce duplication – Generally duplication of work tend to produce more paperwork, data, emails, etc. Simply by streamlining a process we can reduce waste and improve productivity.
3. Recycle: Join the recycling program. Most toner manufactures now have well established toner recycle program. In most cases, they cover the shipping costs. Also, there are organizations that recycle old computer hardware.
4. Maximize server utilization: Most people now have heard of term virtualization. Large organizations have already started to pay attention to this new phenomena but smaller organization are perhaps still lagging. Virtualization is critical tool in optimizing server utilization. Virtualization allows you split a large computer into several smaller virtual computers allowing you to fine tune CPU, Disk, and memory utilization based on specific application requirement. This allows you to reduce excess capacity and lower power consumption, Hardware, and Support cost.
When it comes to Green IT, there are two main strategies we can use to reduce impact on environment; Elimination versus Substitution. The primary goal is always to eliminate a task, function or process that is making the environmental impact. If elimination is not an option, the next best option is to substitute the process or function with a more efficient one. For example: You can augment a process such that the resulting process doesn’t produce any paper; or whereby information is transferred electronically. Following are the key areas we should be looking into for savings:
1. Document Printing
1.1. Using more Emails, EDI, Web Services and online system s. large companies are now charging addition for paper copies.
1.2. Convert automatic to on demand reporting.
1.3. Purchase larger monitors to allow onscreen viewing; it will pay off in long run.
1.4. Adding ability to send and receive reports electronically.
2. Using energy inefficient computer equipment
2.1. Using old monitors (CRTs) can reduce power consumption by as little as 40%
2.2. Use virtual servers in your data centers can not only improve server performance, it can reduce downtime while lowering cooling costs.
2.3. Using more efficient printers.
3. Duplication of data capture
3.1. Introduce an email policy to limit duplication of emails through carbon copying, and email lists.
3.2. Files stored in multiple locations can add up over time.
3.3. Complete computer backups
4. Excess capacity and Data centre under utilization
4.1. Having too many small servers and backup servers add to points of failure. Cost of operating over time is significant.
4.2. Maintain data of multiple servers rather than one shared server
4.3. Cooling in the data centers should be based on your current needs with excess capacity to last your for next 3-4 years.
5. Decentralized disconnected processes
5.1. Disconnected processes means; tasks have to be completed by multiple people are generally less efficient.
5.2. Information that has to be maintained at multiple locations and sometimes multiple computers adds to additional administration. It also adds to cost of management and ongoing support.
In order of any of the strategies to work well, the strategy should result in both environmental and financial benefits. With proper planning, we can create a business case to show both positive ROI while reducing environmental footprint, resulting in a win-win situation.