Green IT--What We Need to Know

When offices consider options for reducing energy consumption, it’s not long before their attention turns to onsite data centers, servers, computers, and all the IT related equipment that represents a significant share of the monthly utility bill.  In fact, while IT represents only about 6% of the real estate of the average office, IT accounts for up to 35% of the electricity consumed.  Advances in the past decade, namely server virtualization and cloud computing, have been touted as energy conservation strategies.  Also, as IT has enabled online, read “paperless”, transactions, teleworking, electronic records management and similar labor and cost-savings activities, there is a heightened appreciation among green office teams that IT is a key ally in achieving sustainability goals. 

In my experience, I know this is true.  I had the benefit of directing an in-house IT support team for our legal offices for fifteen years.  We provided all desk-top support for our employees including applications and server support.  We were partners with our data center which handled the department’s network systems and connectivity infrastructure.  I’m a big fan of IT, and I think that IT staffers are wizards of the first order.  But I will be the first person to acknowledge that I am no “under the hood” expert.  I am, at best, a translator between IT and our legal and business professionals. 

The world of IT is complex and dynamic.  It’s a stretch for the average green team member to readily grasp the emerging IT concepts and trends, let alone how it all interfaces with greening government and business practices.  I rely on IT expertise and industry resources to help me.  Here are three that you might find helpful:

Green Technology World provides news and analysis on changes in the green technology marketplace.  It’s a free resource that helps public and private sector professionals understand how green technology can help lower their carbon footprint and their bottom line.

Green Technology is a non-profit initiative that provides a forum for local and state government officials to communicate with those in the private sector who are developing and distributing green technologies.  The focus is in California, but it offers leading-edge info on who’s doing what in this important arena. 

Greening IT—How Greener IT Can Form a Solid Foundation for a Low-Carbon Society is a book about how IT can offer technical solutions to the greening of industries and lowering mankind’s carbon emissions.  It includes a couple opening chapters that stage the situation we find ourselves in today: a planet undergoing climate change and a world population grappling with the challenges.  Its 262 pages are eminently readable and will inform the committed reader with a strong understanding of IT concepts, the workings of data centers, and how IT impacts sustainability.  And it’s FREE online.