Councils should begin to take action to minimise their IT's impact on the environment, says a new report from the Society of Information Technology Management.
In the report, Green ICT?, the Society of Information Technology Management (Socitm) says the technology industry's green credentials are not as good as is widely thought, and that it accounts for about two percent of global CO2 emissions. But councils can take immediate steps to reduce the impact, even if they have no overall environmental policy.
Most of the recommendations revolve around the finding that manufacture and use are the most environmentally harmful elements of the ICT life cycle. Distribution is relatively benign and there is now legislation to deal with disposal issues.
The report includes an action checklist broken down into six categories: developing strategy; measuring the impact; managing the life cycle of ICT equipment; reducing carbon emissions from the data centre; reducing print and paper; and creating a green organisation through ICT.
Procurement policies can play an important part in this process. The report suggests that councils should go beyond regulatory requirements in specifying greener machines, ensure they know the electricity consumption of equipment and avoid fixed-term technology-refresh deals.
In the field of disposal, they should favour suppliers with producer take-back schemes and investigate reusing equipment that is not outdated.
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In using equipment, they should raise awareness of its energy draw and the implications of "always on" internet connections, encourage the use of more energy efficient laptops, and switch to LED monitors as soon as is practicable.
In a statement released on Thursday, Socitm said: "In addition to putting the ICT function in order, the report shows how carefully planned use of ICT is a major factor in any green change programme designed to reduce an organisation's office estate and travel costs. However, it warns that realistic and accurate environmental accounting for new projects is essential."
Socitm added that the report's authors have drawn heavily on the work of US and EU administrators working to define standards in areas such as carbon counting, energy efficiency and disposal regimes, as well as UK-based groups like the British Computer Society's Data Centre Specialist Group.
Talkback
For those looking to comply with the Socitm recommendations in short order, the EPEAT greener computer purchasing standard offers a highly useful tool for integrating environmental performance information into IT purchasing. EPEAT is a required criterion for US Federal Government purchasing, and dozens of other private and public purchasers are using it as a baseline to green their IT estates.
EPEAT ("Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool" - info at www.epeat.net) is a multi-attribute ranking system developed through a comprehensive stakeholder process, and formally adopted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as the IEEE 1680 Standard for Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer products (including laptop and desktop computers, and monitors). It is managed by a nonprofit organization and is open for use by any purchasing entity.
For more information on participating manufacturers and purchasers, and to search the product database, see www.epeat.net .
EPEAT registered products are high-performance business class computers and cost no more than conventional products. However, compared to traditional computer equipment, all EPEAT-registered
computers have reduced levels of toxic materials to better protect human health and the environment. They are more energy efficient, which reduces emissions of global warming greenhouse gases, and they are also easier to upgrade and recycle. Manufacturers must offer institutional purchasers safe and cost effective recycling options for EPEAT-registered products and their rechargeable batteries, even when sold outside WEEE jurisdictions. All companies registering products in EPEAT must also maintain environmental management systems and environmental reporting schemes.
I think the themes highlighted in this article illustrate that people need to look at their approach and strategy from a deeper perspective.
First and foremost, I think the biggest benefits can be arrived at more from looking at how smarter use of ICT can enable organizations (and their customers) to behave in a 'greener' fashion - rather than solely looking at how ICT (and the supply chain around it) can be managed. That said, with the impact of the ICT industry becoming increasingly recognised, it is certainly very important to do so.
I believe it is our culture we need to examine - for example, with the desktop being recognised as being responsible for almost half of the ICT impact, how often do we expect to have a desktop PC at our desks rather than using thin client hardware and.or web-based desktop delivery technologies?
Perhaps these are just to different for us to accept - are we really that set in our ways?