Green computing is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently. The primary objective of such a program is to account for the triple bottom line, an expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational (and societal) success. The goals are similar to green chemistry; reduce the use of hazardous materials, maximize energy efficiency during the product's lifetime, and promote recyclability or biodegradability of defunct products and factory waste.
Modern IT systems rely upon a complicated mix of people, networks and hardware; as such, a green computing initiative must be systemic in nature, and address increasingly sophisticated problems. Elements of such a solution may comprise items such as end user satisfaction, management restructuring, regulatory compliance, disposal of electronic waste, telecommuting, virtualization of server resources, energy use, thin client solutions, and return on investment (ROI).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_computing
Three (3) URL’s that talks about “Green Campus Computing”
1. http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/news/campus-computing-comes-up-green-1.345643
Campus computing comes up green
Center works to safely dispose of e-waste
Arthur Raymond
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Published: Friday, September 14, 2007
Updated: Saturday, July 19, 2008
Although students enjoy the stylish new Macs and PCs in computing labs across campus, some might stop to ponder the fate of that dusty, old machine with the sticky keys they loved to hate in last year's class.
The U's Green Computing Resource Center helps ensure that electronic dinosaurs, now known as e-waste, stay out of the landfill, and is addressing a host of other environmental issues created by the vast array of technological hardware and processes at the U.
Andrew Reich, an IT architect at the U, explained that the center is addressing issues "across a broad spectrum of environmental concerns."
Some solutions are simple and can be addressed immediately by anyone who uses a computer on campus, Reich said. Using a thumb-drive in place of burning a CD, utilizing network connections for data transfer instead of other media and simply turning off a machine or monitor when you're done with it are all steps that save energy and resources.
In the bigger view, Reich and others involved with the group are looking at where equipment comes from. A new way of evaluating sustainability in products is the so-called "cradle-to-cradle" design scheme, which determines how easily and efficiently a product can be re-utilized and/or recycled before it's made. These design considerations optimize the ability to deal with the product responsibly when its "useful" life is over.
Currently, e-waste generated at the U is processed via the university surplus and salvage department. This department separates anything that still has "utility" from true waste. Usable items are resold, while waste is handled by Guaranteed Recycling Xperts, a company that contracts with the state and local schools to process this e-waste in an environmentally responsible manner.
The Recycling Coalition of Utah, a non-profit group that advocates and provides information on recycling issues, notes the toxicity of components in used equipment. These components include lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium and brominated flame retardants. All are hazardous and can create long-term issues if not handled properly. GRX deconstructs the outdated machinery at their processing facility in Clearfield and isolates anything containing hazardous materials. Some components are re-utilized and some are recycled. Their stated goal is to return 100 percent of the material to the manufacturing process.
Eric Anderson, a GRX regional manager, said their Clearfield facility is processing about 200,000 lbs. of e-waste every month. This includes what he estimated to be seven to eight pallets of material from the U, collected every three weeks.
In addition to tracking the responsible handling of e-waste, the resource center is looking for ways to reduce systems power consumption, efficiently cool the heat generated by equipment like server-centers and centralizing data operations, with a possible campus data center on the horizon.
Reich hopes the center, which he described as "still in its infancy," can develop into a dynamic resource for evaluating and addressing information technology "green" issues campus-wide. Plans are in the works for coordination with the U's Office of Sustainability.
2. http://chronicle.com/free/2009/01/10296n.htmThe U's Green Computing Resource Center helps ensure that electronic dinosaurs, now known as e-waste, stay out of the landfill, and is addressing a host of other environmental issues created by the vast array of technological hardware and processes at the U.
Andrew Reich, an IT architect at the U, explained that the center is addressing issues "across a broad spectrum of environmental concerns."
Some solutions are simple and can be addressed immediately by anyone who uses a computer on campus, Reich said. Using a thumb-drive in place of burning a CD, utilizing network connections for data transfer instead of other media and simply turning off a machine or monitor when you're done with it are all steps that save energy and resources.
In the bigger view, Reich and others involved with the group are looking at where equipment comes from. A new way of evaluating sustainability in products is the so-called "cradle-to-cradle" design scheme, which determines how easily and efficiently a product can be re-utilized and/or recycled before it's made. These design considerations optimize the ability to deal with the product responsibly when its "useful" life is over.
Currently, e-waste generated at the U is processed via the university surplus and salvage department. This department separates anything that still has "utility" from true waste. Usable items are resold, while waste is handled by Guaranteed Recycling Xperts, a company that contracts with the state and local schools to process this e-waste in an environmentally responsible manner.
The Recycling Coalition of Utah, a non-profit group that advocates and provides information on recycling issues, notes the toxicity of components in used equipment. These components include lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium and brominated flame retardants. All are hazardous and can create long-term issues if not handled properly. GRX deconstructs the outdated machinery at their processing facility in Clearfield and isolates anything containing hazardous materials. Some components are re-utilized and some are recycled. Their stated goal is to return 100 percent of the material to the manufacturing process.
Eric Anderson, a GRX regional manager, said their Clearfield facility is processing about 200,000 lbs. of e-waste every month. This includes what he estimated to be seven to eight pallets of material from the U, collected every three weeks.
In addition to tracking the responsible handling of e-waste, the resource center is looking for ways to reduce systems power consumption, efficiently cool the heat generated by equipment like server-centers and centralizing data operations, with a possible campus data center on the horizon.
Reich hopes the center, which he described as "still in its infancy," can develop into a dynamic resource for evaluating and addressing information technology "green" issues campus-wide. Plans are in the works for coordination with the U's Office of Sustainability.
Campus Computing Goes Green to Save Money
By JOSH KELLER
Relocate a college's server computers next to a solar-power generator. Replace AC power with DC power. Cool the servers only where they get the hottest. Put the servers in the ocean and power them with waves.
Those were a few of the ideas discussed last week at a conference, "Greening the Internet Economy," that was designed to address the problem of the soaring financial and environmental costs of information technology. The event, held by the University of California at San Diego, offered a sampling of a new generation of technologies that promise to help colleges make their IT departments both more efficient and more sustainable.
Many of the participants emphasized the importance of systems that could more intelligently measure energy use on the campus. In recent years, colleges have been hurt by the rising costs of powering and cooling their data centers, in part because those costs are difficult to measure and poorly understood (The Chronicle, January 9).
At San Diego, researchers have started work on hardware to help colleges and other organizations understand how to make their servers more efficient. The device, called the GreenLight Instrument, will deploy sensors and software to measure the energy use, humidity, and other variables in various parts of a Sun Modular Data Center, a popular, self-contained complex of servers.
The goal is to encourage engineers to try different computing strategies to reduce electricity consumption, said Thomas A. DeFanti, principal investigator on the project and a senior research strategist at the university's California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology.
"Right now there isn't enough information for somebody to make a definitive decision: Where do I save my money? Do I eliminate disks in my computers, or do I stop them? Do I use more RAM or less RAM?" said Mr. DeFanti. "Nobody has detailed information on this."
Those were a few of the ideas discussed last week at a conference, "Greening the Internet Economy," that was designed to address the problem of the soaring financial and environmental costs of information technology. The event, held by the University of California at San Diego, offered a sampling of a new generation of technologies that promise to help colleges make their IT departments both more efficient and more sustainable.
Many of the participants emphasized the importance of systems that could more intelligently measure energy use on the campus. In recent years, colleges have been hurt by the rising costs of powering and cooling their data centers, in part because those costs are difficult to measure and poorly understood (The Chronicle, January 9).
At San Diego, researchers have started work on hardware to help colleges and other organizations understand how to make their servers more efficient. The device, called the GreenLight Instrument, will deploy sensors and software to measure the energy use, humidity, and other variables in various parts of a Sun Modular Data Center, a popular, self-contained complex of servers.
The goal is to encourage engineers to try different computing strategies to reduce electricity consumption, said Thomas A. DeFanti, principal investigator on the project and a senior research strategist at the university's California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology.
"Right now there isn't enough information for somebody to make a definitive decision: Where do I save my money? Do I eliminate disks in my computers, or do I stop them? Do I use more RAM or less RAM?" said Mr. DeFanti. "Nobody has detailed information on this."
3. http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/news-by-subject/school administration/index.cfm?i=53933
School leaders get advice on 'green' computing
Panelists describe strategies to reduce energy costs during a recent CoSN webcast
By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor, eSchool News
With energy costs soaring to record levels, taking steps to reduce energy consumption isn't just good for the environment--it's also essential for the fiscal health of schools. At a recent webinar on "green" computing, panelists discussed several ways school leaders can reduce the power consumption of their technology systems...and ways they can use technology to cut other energy expenditures, too.
"What's going to happen to this world if we don't change our behavior?" asked consultant Karen Greenwood Henke, who moderated the online discussion for the Consortium for School Networking, its host.
Switching a single light bulb to an energy-efficient bulb can save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year, Henke said--and if every family in the United States made the switch, carbon dioxide output would be reduced by more than 90 billion pounds.
"Even small changes can have a big impact," she said.
Information technology (IT) energy usage "will double in the next four years, and there are some easy things in the world of IT that we can do to attack this problem," according to Andrew Verdesca, marketing manager of energy-efficient technologies and services for IBM.
Verdesca used his company as an example of how a wide range of organizations can foster eco-responsibility. IBM offers a program, called Big Green Innovations, that helps school systems, corporations, and other enterprises design more energy-efficient data centers and reduce energy consumption. IBM also operates asset-recovery programs for buying back and disposing of used IT systems.
"eWaste can't be ignored--1 billion computers will become potential scrap by 2010, and only 45 percent of U.S. companies have eco-friendly disposal plans," Verdesca said.
He said diagnosing the power consumption of your current IT systems is the first step in figuring out which systems are taking up the most energy--and determining which systems can be placed in idle mode when they are not being used.
"Just understanding how much power is being consumed is a big part of [solving the problem]," he said.
It's estimated that, in an entire data center, the actual IT systems account for 45 percent of energy use, and power and cooling apparatuses account for 55 percent, Verdesca said. It's also estimated that only 20 percent of an IT system is being used, and the remaining 80 percent is not being used.
"Seizing control of the wasted spaces in systems" is a step in the right direction, he said.
There are things you can start doing right way to "go green" in your schools, said Darrell Walery, director of technology for the Consolidated High School District 230 in Illinois. He added: "A lot of the things, you're already doing."
Walery's district makes use of conference calling and online meetings to save on gas consumption and paper costs, and the district is upgrading certain online communications channels to save on these expenses as well.
With energy costs soaring to record levels, taking steps to reduce energy consumption isn't just good for the environment--it's also essential for the fiscal health of schools. At a recent webinar on "green" computing, panelists discussed several ways school leaders can reduce the power consumption of their technology systems...and ways they can use technology to cut other energy expenditures, too.
"What's going to happen to this world if we don't change our behavior?" asked consultant Karen Greenwood Henke, who moderated the online discussion for the Consortium for School Networking, its host.
Switching a single light bulb to an energy-efficient bulb can save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year, Henke said--and if every family in the United States made the switch, carbon dioxide output would be reduced by more than 90 billion pounds.
"Even small changes can have a big impact," she said.
Information technology (IT) energy usage "will double in the next four years, and there are some easy things in the world of IT that we can do to attack this problem," according to Andrew Verdesca, marketing manager of energy-efficient technologies and services for IBM.
Verdesca used his company as an example of how a wide range of organizations can foster eco-responsibility. IBM offers a program, called Big Green Innovations, that helps school systems, corporations, and other enterprises design more energy-efficient data centers and reduce energy consumption. IBM also operates asset-recovery programs for buying back and disposing of used IT systems.
"eWaste can't be ignored--1 billion computers will become potential scrap by 2010, and only 45 percent of U.S. companies have eco-friendly disposal plans," Verdesca said.
He said diagnosing the power consumption of your current IT systems is the first step in figuring out which systems are taking up the most energy--and determining which systems can be placed in idle mode when they are not being used.
"Just understanding how much power is being consumed is a big part of [solving the problem]," he said.
It's estimated that, in an entire data center, the actual IT systems account for 45 percent of energy use, and power and cooling apparatuses account for 55 percent, Verdesca said. It's also estimated that only 20 percent of an IT system is being used, and the remaining 80 percent is not being used.
"Seizing control of the wasted spaces in systems" is a step in the right direction, he said.
There are things you can start doing right way to "go green" in your schools, said Darrell Walery, director of technology for the Consolidated High School District 230 in Illinois. He added: "A lot of the things, you're already doing."
Walery's district makes use of conference calling and online meetings to save on gas consumption and paper costs, and the district is upgrading certain online communications channels to save on these expenses as well.
With energy costs soaring to record levels, taking steps to reduce energy consumption isn't just good for the environment--it's also essential for the fiscal health of schools. At a recent webinar on "green" computing, panelists discussed several ways school leaders can reduce the power consumption of their technology systems...and ways they can use technology to cut other energy expenditures, too.
My opinion
Green Campus Computing is the best way to reduce the pollution in our country. We could help our mother nature by saving energy like turning your computer off after using. In this simple way, we can help to heal our mother nature. And make our world better place.
The university can adopt this concept by knowing about the project and give some explanation and specific information especially to the students, so that we could aware and learn some important things about Green Campus Computing.
The university can adopt this concept by knowing about the project and give some explanation and specific information especially to the students, so that we could aware and learn some important things about Green Campus Computing.
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