Green IT – A Growing Trend Despite Economic Meltdown
Discover how your IT lifecycle management and disposal policies stack up against industry best practices.
- Explores the policy, practice and governance issues essential for establishing a truly sustainable IT asset management program
- Scores against industry averages for productivity, reuse, accountability, energy and environmental social responsibility
- Findings and recommendations point to areas for improvements
According to a recent survey by Forrester Research, a growing number of companies are implementing Green IT programs.
- 25% are implementing a comprehensive Green IT program; up 25% from 2008.
- 61% are drawing up or considering implementing a Green IT strategy.
Energy reduction is the primary driver of Green IT initiatives. A recent IDC poll found that 77% of U.S. executives identified energy as the most important factor behind green adoption in their companies.
And the economic meltdown is actually accelerating the trend, according to the Forrester study. “Of responding companies that are changing the pace of their green IT activities in response to the economic outlook, those going faster outnumber those slowing down by 2 to 1. So the central value of green IT programs – greener IT also means saving money – is taking hold among corporate IT practioners.”
GreenerComputing editor Preston Gralla estimates that at least 75% of companies will be implementing a Green IT project in 2009, driven primarily by potential cost savings.
The Problem with Mainstream Green IT Strategies
The term “Green IT” can cover a very wide range of strategies. However, mainstream Green IT typically focuses on reducing energy consumption in data centers and on desktops by replacing systems with new, more energy-efficient computing.
 However, a variety of sources call into question the effectiveness of this approach in terms of both cost reduction and environment impact:
A recent Redemtech-sponsored IDC white paper, Beyond Power: IT’s Roadmap to Sustainable Computing, demonstrates that making decisions strictly on equipment energy consumption can actually be counter productive by increasing both environmental impact and IT costs.
While reducing data center energy consumption has been the low-hanging fruit in the pursuit of corporate environmentalism, this goal needs to be accomplished within the context of a more comprehensive approach to Green IT. We believe the opportunities to reduce costs and environmental footprint through Sustainable Computing practices will ultimately dwarf those available through a program focused only on energy consumption. This is the next phase in the evolution of Green IT.
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David Daoud
Research Manager, IDC
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 Acquiring new systems requires substantial capital expense compared with extending lifecycles of existing systems. For every $1,000 in original cost, moving from a three-year to a four-year lifecycle generates savings of approximately $325. When lifecycles are extended to 4.5 years, the savings increase to nearly $500; at five years savings go to $650. According to Gartner, more than 75% of PCs replaced are four or fewer years old, yet only 42% are reused.
From an environmental standpoint, manufacturing new PCs is an energy- and resource-intensive process. According to United Nations University, it takes 1.8 tons of raw materials and approximately 240 kilograms of fossil fuel to manufacture a PC – which is about 81% of the energy the computer will use in its lifetime. Accordingly Gartner advises: “Replacing assets to reduce energy consumption could result in a net increase in the energy consumed if manufacture, transport and disposal are included.”
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The Electronic Wasteland
CBS News reports on e-waste shipped illegally from the U.S.
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e-Stewards: Ethical Recyclers
Basel Action Network: most e-waste recyclers are not recyclers at all.
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Digital Dumping Ground
Frontline investigates dirty secrets of high-tech industry.
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Recent government and media reports have also exposed the dirty little secret in the electronics disposal industry: about 80% of equipment collected for “recycling” is exported to developing countries where it contributes to devastating environmental and human health problems – by vendors who promise not to. This issue raises significant risks to corporate image as well. Exposés by 60 Minutes, Business Week, Time and other media outlets focused on specific recyclers – and named customers of those companies, with 60 Minutes showing close-ups of asset tags identifying companies that once owned the equipment that had been exported to China. A new BAN video summarizes years of investigation into the dumping of e-waste in developing countries.
The Need to Reassess Green IT Strategies
Companies pursuing Green IT strategies should assess whether they are headed in the right direction to achieve their goals. Beyond Power outlines a more comprehensive approach to Green IT that saves money while reducing the environmental impact of IT equipment. Strategies include extending equipment lifecycles, refurbishing and upgrading surplus technology and managing zero-impact disposition.
These strategies can generate measurable results. For instance, one Redemtech customer generated $9.2 million in savings over 2 years while significantly reducing its environmental footprint. Read more ›
Redemtech’s new Sustainable Computing Assessment enables organizations to measure how green their IT lifecycle management and disposal practices are relative to strategies outlined in the IDC white paper, exploring the policy, practice and governance issues essential for establishing a truly sustainable IT asset management program.
Sponsored by GreenerComputing, it provides a fast, free, easy way to see how companies stack up – and where they can improve.
- Key topics include: lifecycle planning, energy efficiency, charitable donation, redeployment strategies, stakeholder involvement, recycling and export issues, asset accounting and more.
- The self-assessment can be completed in about 15 minutes. Users are scored on productivity, reuse, accountability, energy and environmental social responsibility, and other areas.
- Redemtech also offers an Advisory Practice that works with individual companies to develop a detailed assessment and consult with organizations on implementing best practices.
About the Sponsor
 GreenerComputing is focused on the environmental concerns of information technology professionals, covering such topics as energy efficiency, hazardous materials reduction and disposal and end-of-life issues. Its free e-newsletter, GreenerComputing News, offers the latest news, tools, and resources on these topics. GreenerComputing is lead by the 20 plus year IT industry publishing expert Preston Gralla. GreenerComputing is a website of Greener World Media, the leading media and information services company focused exclusively on the greening of mainstream business. Greener World Media websites include GreenBiz.com, GreenerBuildings.com, ClimateBiz, GreenerComputing.com and GreenerDesign.com. Greener World Media also produces the annual State of Green Business report and other research, as well as Greener By Design and other conferences.
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