Green

GREEN COMPUTING

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Green computing or green IT, refers to environmentally sustainable computing

or IT. In the article Harnessing Green IT: Principles and Practices, San Murugesan

defines the field of green computing as "the study and practice of designing,

manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated

subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and

communications systems—efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact

on the environment.

The goals of green computing are similar to green chemistry; reduce the use of

hazardous materials, maximize energy efficiency during the product's lifetime, and

promote the recyclability or biodegradability of defunct products and factory

waste. Research continues into key areas such as making the use of computers as

energy-efficient as possible, and designing algorithms and systems for efficiency-

related computer technologies

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 as 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).

CHAPTER 2

MUSALIAR COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY 1

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ORIGINS

In 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched Energy Star, a

voluntary labeling program which is designed to promote and recognize energy-

efficiency in monitors, climate control equipment, and other technologies. This

resulted in the widespread adoption of sleep mode among consumer electronics.

The term "green computing" was probably coined shortly after the Energy Star

program began; there are several USENET posts dating back to 1992 which use

the term in this manner. Concurrently, the Swedish organization TCO

Development launched the TCO Certification program to promote low magnetic

and electrical emissions from CRT-based computer displays; this program was

later expanded to include criteria on energy consumption, ergonomics, and the use

of hazardous materials in construction.

CHAPTER 3

SCOPE OF THE SEMINAR


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Each Green IT seminar targets specified aspects of sustainability. All

seminar cover basic elements:

The difference between “green” and “green wash”

How to access their organizations current ICT eco-footprint

How to create objective standards for measurement and

performance.

How to create a plan to reduce the cost and eco-footprint of ICT

operations.

How to document the benefits of greening IT

How to present and justify green ICTinitiatives to stakeholders

CHAPTER 4

NEED FOR GREEN IT

4.1 WHY GREEN IT ?


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Because the world's appetite for energy is outpacing production of renewable and

non-renewable resources. Because the world is too densely populated to escape

the effects of Greenhouse gas emissions, electronic waste disposal and toxic

production methods. Because ICT is both part of the problem and a key to the

solution. Because to thrive requires combining social responsibility, smart

resource use and technological innovation.

Don’t get lost in the Green wash

ICT is the fastest growing sector of energy use

Energy savings is the low-hanging fruit ready to be picked

The days of unregulated energy waste are over

Customers shop for Green Supply Chains

EPP – Environmentally Preferred Purchasing – Sets the Bar

Customers Demand Sustainable Behavior

E-Waste and U-Waste reduction programs are no longer voluntary

Green IT innovation leads the way to Sustainability

4.1.1 Don’t get lost in the Green wash

The overuse of “Green” may have you seeing red, but hype is a normal part of the

evolution of new technologies. The issues driving the need for Green ICT are real,

and growing.


http://www.greenit.net/whygreenit.html#9









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4.1.2 ICT is the fastest growing sector of energy use

Global carbon emissions attributable to ICT have been estimated at 2% to 2.5% of

world totals - about the same as the airline industry - and as high as 5-6% of

developed nation totals. McKinsey forecasts that the ICT sector’s carbon footprint

will triple during the period from 2002 to 2020. For office buildings, ICT typically

accounts for more than 20% of the energy used, and in some offices up to 70%.

Although energy costs typically comprise less than 10% of an overall IT budget, in

a few years they could rise to more than 50% according to a 2006 Gartner report.

Many large organizations - such as Google - already claim that their annual energy

costs exceed their server costs.

4.1.3 Energy savings is the low-hanging fruit ready to be picked

Between 30% and 60% of the electricity consumed in server rooms is wasted - but

integrated planning using current and emerging technologies can reduce power

consumption in data centers by 50-80% and required floor space by up to 65%.

According to the Aug 2007 EPA Report to Congress on Data Center Efficiency,

implementing best energy-management practices in existing data centers could

reduce their current energy usage by 30%. Up to 70% reduction in energy usage

could be achieved by using high efficiency technologies for cooling and power

equipment and virtualization techniques.

4.1.4 The days of unregulated energy waste are over

In January 2007, eight Northeastern US states set carbon emissions capping

programs under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. By August 2007, 663 US

cities in 50 states - representing more than 72 million Americans - had signed on


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to support the Kyoto Protocol after Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle spearheaded a

nationwide effort.

The European Union, several US States, and many countries around the world

have enacted or are considering environmental regulations that apply to IT

products. While most product suppliers are moving to comply, enterprise-wide

education programs are needed to successfully compete to meet the requirements

of a changed marketplace.

Six EU countries met the 2007 deadline to comply with European Union The

Energy-using Products Directive, which encourages manufacturers to design

products with their environmental impact and energy conservation in mind

throughout their entire life cycle. California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of

2006 set an official timetable for reducing GHG emission to 2000 levels by 2010.

4.1.5 Customers shop for Green Supply Chains

Public and private sector procurement departments are incorporating

Environmentally Preferred Purchasing (EPP) requirements into IT contracts. To do

that requires Purchasing to work with both IT and Sustainability specialists to

understand what is desirable and possible. Major global corporations – Coca Cola,

Sharp, BT, to name a few - have launched programs to evaluate the life-cycle

environmental footprint of products they sell and assess the environmental policies

of their suppliers. Communicating and educating suppliers on expectations is a

basic part of any sustainable supply-chain initiative. Often, companies get

compliance from their supply chain by enforcing adherence requirements.

Examples of these are the requirements to use less material, to use post consumer

recyclable content, and to purchase all packaging materials from certified forests


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4.1.6 EPP – Environmentally Preferred Purchasing – Sets the Bar

EPP policies are now routinely included in RFPs from Federal, State and local

agencies and from corporations. Many RFPS require or give preference to vendors

that meet Energy Star or EPEAT guidelines. A product supplier’s proposal can be

entirely excluded from consideration for a government RFP if the products do not

meet the relevant criteria.

In 2007, the US Government, which purchases $63B worth of electronic

equipment every year, issued a Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC), instructing

its agencies and facilities to purchase greener electronic products, reduce the

impact of the ones it used, and dispose of obsolete products in an environmentally

safe way. As a result, by 2008, 95% of computers purchased by FEC partners will

be EPEAT Bronze-certified or higher and 100% of computer monitors purchased

will be Energy Star compliant.

4.1.7 Customers Demand Sustainable Behavior

Corporate Social Responsibility reports are increasingly expected of companies.

Sometimes, as in the case of the Carbon Disclosure Project, companies are asked

to produce such a report of the same comprehensiveness and attention to detail as

their financial reports.

ISO 14000, a specification for establishing environmental policy and determining

the impact of a company’s products, activities and services, was adopted by the

EU in 2001. It establishes standards for environmental auditing, labeling and life

cycle assessment. Enterprises certified to ISO 14000 demonstrate commitment to

Green policy.


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With a mind toward increasing brand equity, Dell recently announced its intention

to be the “greenest computer company on earth”, an initiative that puts it in

competition with Hewlett-Packard for the same high ground. Other companies

adopting similar mantles include IBM, Sun Microsystems, and AMD, to name a

very few.

In 2006, Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, adopted a directive for Ethical

Sourcing. Which required all its suppliers, among other practices, to provide a

healthy environment for their workers, to strictly follow fair labor laws, and to use

nontoxic materials

4.1.8 E-Waste and U-Waste reduction programs are no longer voluntary

In 2005, California’s Integrated Waste Management Board began imposing a $10

fee on all CRT sales in order to cover the cost of later recycling. Massachusetts

has had a buy-recycled program in place since 1988. Since 2005, European Union

countries have held manufacturers financially responsible for compliance to the

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive requiring all manufacturers

of electrical and electronic equipment to pay for recycling costs.

. 4.1.9 Green IT innovation leads the way to Sustainability

Radical improvements in waste reduction and energy use rely on innovative

applications of information technology: Telework can reduce not only automobile

travel but overall energy use by reducing the amount of dedicated office space


GREEN COMPUTING

CHAPTER 5

ROLES OF GREEN COMPUTING

Protection Agency launched energy star', a voluntary labeling program in year

1992, which is designed to promote and recognize energy-efficiency in monitors,

climate control equipment, and other technologies. This resulted in the widespread

adoption of sleep mode in computers and electronics popular among consumer

electronics. The term "green computing" was probably introduced after the Energy

Star program began; there are several To comprehensively and effectively address

the environmental impacts of computing/IT, we must adopt a holistic approach

and make the entire IT lifecycle greener by addressing environmental

sustainability along the following four complementary paths:

Green use — reducing the energy consumption of computers and other

information systems as well as using them in an environmentally sound manner

Green disposal — refurbishing and reusing old computers and properly

recycling unwanted computers and other electronic equipment

Green design — designing energy-efficient and environmentally sound

components, computers, servers, cooling equipment, and data centers

Green manufacturing — manufacturing electronic components,

computers, and other associated subsystems with minimal impact on the

environment

Background information: The U.S Environment USENET posts dating back to

1992 which use the term in this manner. Concurrently, the Swedish organization

TCO Development launched the TCO certification program to promote low

magnetic and electrical emissions from CRT-based COMPUTER DISPLAYS; this


GREEN COMPUTING

program was later expanded to include criteria on energy consumption,

ergonomics, and the use of hazardous materials in construction. The Organization

for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published a survey of

over 90 government and industry initiatives on "Green ICTs", i.e. information and

communication technologies, the environment and climate change. The report

concludes that initiatives concentrate on greening ICTs rather than tackling global

warming and environmental degradation through the use of ICT applications. In

general, only 20% of initiatives have measurable targets, with government

programmes including them more frequently than business associations. Many

governmental agencies have continued to implement standards and regulations that

encourage green computing. The energy star program was revised in October 2006

to include stricter efficiency requirements for computer equipment, along with a

tiered ranking system for approved products. More than 26 US States that have

established state-wide recycling programs for obsolete computers and consumer

electronics equipment. Green Computing Impact Organization (GCIO) is a non-

profit organization dedicated to assisting the end-users of computing products in

being environmentally responsible motivating community of environmentally

concerned IT leaders who pool their time, resources, and buying power to educate,

broaden the use, and improve the efficiency of, green computing products and

services. Members work to increase the ROI of green computing products through

a more thorough understanding of real measurable and sustainable savings

incurred by peers; enforcing a greater drive toward efficiency of vendor products

by keeping a community accounting of savings generated; and through group

negotiation power.

It is becoming widely understood that the way in which we are behaving as a

society is environmentally unsustainable, causing irreparable damage to our

planet. Rising energy prices, together with government-imposed levies on carbon


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production, are increasingly impacting on the cost of doing business, making

many current business practices economically unsustainable. It is becoming

progressively more important for all businesses to act (and to be seen to act) in an

environmentally responsible manner, both to fulfill their legal and moral

obligations, but also to enhance the brand and to improve corporate image.

Companies are competing in an increasingly ‘green’ market, and must avoid the

real and growing financial penalties that are increasingly being levied against

carbon production.

IT has a large part to play in all this. With the increasing drive towards centralized

mega data centers alongside the huge growth in power hungry blade technologies

in some companies, and with a shift to an equally power-hungry distributed

architecture in others, the IT function of business is driving an exponential

increase in demand for energy, and, along with it, is having to bear the associated

cost increases.

5.1 How to Contribute in Green Computing

As computers play an ever-larger role in our lives, energy demands, costs, and

waste are escalating dramatically. Consider the following from the Climate Savers

Computing

Initiative: In a typical desktop computer, nearly half the power coming out of the

wall is wasted and never reaches the processor, memory, disks, or other

components. The added heat from inefficient computers can increase the demand

on air conditioners and cooling systems, making your computing equipment even

more expensive to run. Even though most of today’s desktop computers are

capable of automatically transitioning to a sleep or hibernate state when inactive,

about 90 percent of systems have this function disabled. Some 25 percent of the


GREEN COMPUTING

electricity used to power home electronics—computers, DVD players, stereos,

TVs—is consumed while the products are turned off. Turn off your computer at

night so it runs only eight hours a day—you’ll reduce your energy use by 810

kWh per year and net a 67 percent annual savings. Purchase flat-screen monitors

—they use significantly less energy and are not as hard on your eyes as

CRTs.Purchase an Energy Star–compliant computer. Note that laptop models use

much less energy than desktop units. Plug your computer into a surge protector

with a master control outlet, which automatically senses when the computer is not

in use and cuts power to it and all your peripherals. Plan your computer-related

activities so you can do them all at once, keeping the computer off at other times.

Consider a smaller monitor—a 14-inch display uses 40 percent less energy than a

17-inch one. Enable the standby/sleep mode and power management settings on

your computer. Forgo the screen saver—it doesn’t save energy or your screen

unless you’re using an old monochrome monitor. Review document drafts and e-

mails onscreen instead of printing them out. Power off your monitor when you are

not using it instead of using screen savers. Consider using an ink-jet printer—

although a bit slower than laser printers, inkjets use 80 to 90 percent less energy.

Buy vegetable or non-petroleum-based inks—They are made from renewable

resources, require fewer hazardous solvents, and often produce brighter, cleaner

colors. Turn off all printers and peripherals unless you are using them. Do not

leave the computer running overnight or on weekends. Choose dark backgrounds

for your screen display—bright-colored displays consumer more power. Reduce

the light level in your room when you are working on your computer.

Network and share printers where possible. Print on recycled-content paper. Look

for non-chlorine bleached papers with 50 to 100 percent post-consumer waste. Use

double-sided printing functions. E-mail communications as an alternative to paper

memos and fax documents.


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5.1 Create Green Machines:

Activating the power management features on your computer saves energy and

money while helping the environment. Your computer’s SLEEP and

HIBERNATE settings are two of the most effective ways for you to make your

computer more environmentally friendly. You can activate these functions

manually or through your operating system’s pre-set power management settings.

5.2 Sleep Mode

Sleep or standby mode conserves energy by cutting off power to your display,

hard drive, and peripherals. After a pre-set period of inactivity, your computer

switches to a low power state. When you move your mouse or press any computer

key, you exit sleep mode and your computer takes you back to its previous

operating state. Sleep mode is an especially effective way to conserve battery

power in a laptop computer

5.3 Hibernate Mode

Hibernate mode saves energy and protects your work by copying system data to a

reserved area on your hard drive and then completely turning off your computer. It

also reduces wear and tear on your components. When you turn power back on,

your files and your documents appear on your desktop just as you left them.


GREEN COMPUTING

CHAPTER 6

REGULATIONS AND INDUSTRY INITIATIVES

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has

published a survey of over 90 government and industry initiatives on "Green

ICTs", i.e. information and communication technologies, the environment and

climate change. The report concludes that initiatives tend to concentrate on the

greening ICTs themselves rather than on their actual implementation to tackle

global warming and environmental degradation. In general, only 20% of initiatives

have measurable targets, with government programs tending to include targets

more frequently than business associations.

6.1 Government

Many governmental agencies have continued to implement standards and

regulations that encourage green computing. The Energy Star program was revised

in October 2006 to include stricter efficiency requirements for computer

equipment, along with a tiered ranking system for approved products

Some efforts place responsibility on the manufacturer to dispose of the equipment

themselves after it is no longer needed; this is called the extended producer

responsibility model. The European Union's directives 2002/95/EC (Restriction of

Hazardous Substances Directive), on the reduction of hazardous substances, and

2002/96/EC (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive) on waste

electrical and electronic equipment required the substitution of heavy metals and

flame retardants like Polybrominated biphenyl and Polybrominated diphenyl

ethers in all electronic equipment put on the market starting on July 1, 2006. The

directives placed responsibility on manufacturers for the gathering and recycling


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of old equipment. There are currently 26 US States that have established state-

wide recycling programs for obsolete computers and consumer electronics

equipment. The statutes either impose an "advance recovery fee" for each unit sold

at retail, or require the manufacturers to reclaim the equipment at disposal.

6.2 Industry

Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI) is an effort to reduce the electric

power consumption of PCs in active and inactive states The CSCI provides a

catalog of green products from its member organizations, and information for

reducing PC power consumption. It was started on 2007-06-12. The name

stems from the World Wildlife Fund's Climate Savers program, which was

launched in 1999. The WWF is also a member of the Computing Initiative.

The Green Electronics Council offers the Electronic Products Environmental

Assessment Tool (EPEAT) to assist in the purchase of "green" computing

systems. The Council evaluates computing equipment on 28 criteria that

measure a product's efficiency and sustainability attributes. On 2007-01-24,

President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13423, which requires all

United States Federal agencies to use EPEAT when purchasing computer

systems.

The Green Grid is a global consortium dedicated to advancing energy

efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems. It was founded

in February 2007 by several key companies in the industry – AMD, APC, Dell,

HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Rackable Systems, SprayCool, Sun Microsystems

and VMware. The Green Grid has since grown to hundreds of members,

including end users and government organizations, all focused on improving

data center efficiency.


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CHAPTER 7

APPROACHES TO GREEN COMPUTING

In the article Harnessing Green IT: Principles and Practices, San Murugesan

defines the field of green computing as "the study and practice of designing,

manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated

subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and

communications systems—efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact

on the environment." Murugesan lays out four paths along which he believes the

environmental affects of computing should be addressed: Green use, green

disposal, green design, and green manufacturing.

Modern IT systems rely upon a complicated mix of people, networks and

hardware; as such, a green computing initiative must cover all of these areas as

well. A solution may also need to address end user satisfaction, management

restructuring, regulatory compliance, and return on investment (ROI). There are

also considerable fiscal motivations for companies to take control of their own

power consumption; "of the power management tools available, one of the most

powerful may still be simple, plain, common sense."

7.1 Product longevity

Gartner maintains that the PC manufacturing process accounts for 70 % of the

natural resources used in the life cycle of a PC.. Therefore, the biggest

contribution to green computing usually is to prolong the equipment's lifetime.

Another report from Gartner recommends to "Look for product longevity,

including upgradability and modularity." For instance, manufacturing a new PC

makes a far bigger ecological footprint than manufacturing a new RAM module to


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upgrade an existing one, a common upgrade that saves the user having to purchase

a new computer]

7.2 Algorithmic efficiency

The efficiency of algorithms has an impact on the amount of computer resources

required for any given computing function and there are many efficiency trade-

offs in writing programs. As computers have become more numerous and the cost

of hardware has declined relative to the cost of energy, the energy efficiency and

environmental impact of computing systems and programs has received increased

attention. A study by Alex Wissner-Gross, a physicist at Harvard, estimated that

the average Google search released 7 grams of carbon dioxide (CO₂). However,

Google disputes this figure, arguing instead that a typical search produces only

0.2 grams of CO.

7.3 Resource allocation

Algorithms can also be used to route data to data centers where electricity is less

expensive. Researchers from MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, and Akamai have

tested an energy allocation algorithm that successfully routes traffic to the location

with the cheapest energy costs. The researchers project up to a 40 percent savings

on energy costs if their proposed algorithm were to be deployed. Strictly speaking,

this approach does not actually reduce the amount of energy being used; it only

reduces the cost to the company using it. However, a similar strategy could be

used to direct traffic to rely on energy that is produced in a more environmentally

friendly or efficient way. A similar approach has also been used to cut energy

usage by routing traffic away from data centers experiencing warm weather; this

allows computers to be shut down to avoid using air conditioning.


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7.4 Virtualization

Computer virtualization refers to the abstraction of computer resources, such as

the process of running two or more logical computer systems on one set of

physical hardware. The concept originated with the IBM mainframe operating

systems of the 1960s, but was commercialized for x86-compatible computers only

in the 1990s. With virtualization, a system administrator could combine several

physical systems into virtual machines on one single, powerful system, thereby

unplugging the original hardware and reducing power and cooling consumption.

Several commercial companies and open-source projects now offer software

packages to enable a transition to virtual computing. Intel Corporation and AMD

have also built proprietary virtualization enhancements to the x86 instruction set

into each of their CPU product lines, in order to facilitate virtualized computing.

7.5 Terminal servers

Terminal servers have also been used in green computing. When using the system,

users at a terminal connect to a central server; all of the actual computing is done

on the server, but the end user experiences the operating system on the terminal.

These can be combined with thin clients, which use up to 1/8 the amount of energy

of a normal workstation, resulting in a decrease of energy costs and consumption.

There has been an increase in using terminal services with thin clients to create

virtual labs. Examples of terminal server software include Terminal Services for

Windows and the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) for the Linux operating

system.

7.6 Power management

This section includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its

sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this


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article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (August 2008)

The Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), an open industry

standard, allows an operating system to directly control the power-saving aspects

of its underlying hardware. This allows a system to automatically turn off

components such as monitors and hard drives after set periods of inactivity. In

addition, a system may hibernate, where most components (including the CPU and

the system RAM) are turned off. ACPI is a successor to an earlier Intel-Microsoft

standard called Advanced Power Management, which allows a computer's BIOS

to control power management functions

Some programs allow the user to manually adjust the voltages supplied to the

CPU, which reduces both the amount of heat produced and electricity consumed.

This process is called undervolting. Some CPUs can automatically undervolt the

processor depending on the workload; this technology is called "SpeedStep" on

Intel processors, "PowerNow!"/"Cool'n'Quiet" on AMD chips, LongHaul on VIA

CPUs, and LongRun with Transmeta processors.

7.7 Operating system support

The dominant desktop operating system, Microsoft Windows, has included limited

PC power management features since Windows 95. These initially provided for

stand-by (suspend-to-RAM) and a monitor low power state. Further iterations of

Windows added hibernate (suspend-to-disk) and support for the ACPI standard.

Windows 2000 was the first NT based operation system to include power

management. This required major changes to the underlying operating system

architecture and a new hardware driver model. Windows 2000 also introduced

Group Policy, a technology which allowed administrators to centrally configure

most Windows features. However, power management was not one of those


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features. This is probably because the power management settings design relied

upon a connected set of per-user and per-machine binary registry values,

effectively leaving it up to each user to configure their own power management

settings.

This approach, which is not compatible with Windows Group Policy, was repeated

in Windows XP. The reasons for this design decision by Microsoft are not known,

and it has resulted in heavy criticism Microsoft significantly improved this in

Windows Vista by redesigning the power management system to allow basic

configuration by Group Policy. The support offered is limited to a single per-

computer policy. The most recent release, Windows 7 retains these limitations but

does include refinements for more efficient user of operating system timers,

processor power management, and display panel brightness. The most significant

change in Windows 7 is in the user experience. The prominence of the default

High Performance power plan has been reduced with the aim of encouraging users

to save power.

There is a significant market in third-party PC power management software

offering features beyond those present in the Windows operating system. Most

products offer Active Directory integration and per-user/per-machine settings with

the more advanced offering multiple power plans, scheduled power plans, anti-

insomnia features and enterprise power usage reporting. The University of

California, Berkeley has started an initiative using a system called the Auto

Shutdown Manager along with wireless power meters to measure energy

consumption and reduction in real time.

7.8 Power supply


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Desktop computer power supplies (PSUs) are generally 70–75% efficient,

dissipating the remaining energy as heat. An industry initiative called 80 PLUS

certifies PSUs that are at least 80% efficient; typically these models are drop-in

replacements for older, less efficient PSUs of the same form factor. As of July 20,

2007, all new Energy Star 4.0-certified desktop PSUs must be at least 80%

efficient.

7.9 Storage

Smaller form factor (e.g. 2.5 inch) hard disk drives often consume less power per

gigabyte than physically larger drives.

Unlike hard disk drives, solid-state drives store data in flash memory or DRAM.

With no moving parts, power consumption may be reduced somewhat for low

capacity flash based devices. In a recent case study, Fusion-io, manufacturers of

the world's fastest Solid State Storage devices, managed to reduce the carbon

footprint and operating costs of My Space data centers by 80% while increasing

performance speeds beyond that which had been attainable via multiple hard disk

drives in Raid 0. In response, My Space was able to permanently retire several of

their servers, including all their heavy-load servers, further reducing their carbon

footprint.

As hard drive prices have fallen, storage farms have tended to increase in capacity

to make more data available online. This includes archival and backup data that

would formerly have been saved on tape or other offline storage. The increase in

online storage has increased power consumption. Reducing the power consumed

by large storage arrays, while still providing the benefits of online storage, is a

subject of ongoing research.


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7.10 Video card

A fast GPU may be the largest power consumer in a computer.

Energy efficient display options include:

No video card - use a shared terminal, shared thin client, or desktop sharing

software if display required.

Use motherboard video output - typically low 3D performance and low

power.

Select a GPU based on average wattage or performance per watt.

7.11 Display

LCD monitors typically use a cold-cathode fluorescent bulb to provide light for

the display. Some newer displays use an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in

place of the fluorescent bulb, which reduces the amount of electricity used by the

display.

7.12 Materials recycling

Recycling computing equipment can keep harmful materials such as lead,

mercury, and hexavalent chromium out of landfills, and can also replace

equipment that otherwise would need to be manufactured, saving further energy

and emissions. Computer systems that have outlived their particular function can

be re-purposed, or donated to various charities and non-profit organizations.

However, many charities have recently imposed minimum system requirements

for donated equipment. Additionally, parts from outdated systems may be

salvaged and recycled through certain retail outlets and municipal or private

recycling centers. Computing supplies, such as printer cartridges, paper, and

batteries may be recycled as well. A drawback to many of these schemes is that


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computers gathered through recycling drives are often shipped to developing

countries where environmental standards are less strict than in North America and

Europe. The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition estimates that 80% of the post-

consumer e-waste collected for recycling is shipped abroad to countries such as

China and Pakistan

The recycling of old computers raises an important privacy issue. The old storage

devices still hold private information, such as emails, passwords and credit card

numbers, which can be recovered simply by someone using software that is

available freely on the Internet. Deletion of a file does not actually remove the file

from the hard drive. Before recycling a computer, users should remove the hard

drive, or hard drives if there is more than one, and physically destroy it or store it

somewhere safe. There are some authorized hardware recycling companies to

whom the computer may be given for recycling, and they typically sign a non-

disclosure agreement.

7.13 Telecommuting

Teleconferencing and telepresence technologies are often implemented in green

computing initiatives. The advantages are many; increased worker satisfaction,

reduction of greenhouse gas emissions related to travel, and increased profit

margins as a result of lower overhead costs for office space, heat, lighting, etc. The

savings are significant; the average annual energy consumption for U.S. office

buildings is over 23 kilowatt hours per square foot, with heat, air conditioning and

lighting accounting for 70% of all energy consumed. Other related initiatives, such

as hotelling, reduce the square footage per employee as workers reserve space only

when they need it. Many types of jobs, such as sales, consulting, and field service,

integrate well with this technique.


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CHAPTER 8

ADVANTAGES AND APPLICATIONS

Two Meta trends will drive economic and social development in the 21st Century:

The networking of the world, driven by innovations in ICT

The need to create sustainable modes of living

Successful organizations will develop strategies to survive in a changing world.

Strategies to reduce the eco-footprint of the growing volumes of ICT gear they

consume. Strategies to harness the power of ICT to enable innovation throughout

their enterprise. To create sustainability strategies, people need a common

vocabulary. To execute them requires changes in behavior and attitude. Education,

from the boardroom to the shop floor, is the catalyst for change. Green IT offers

the following standard seminars. Custom training is available on request.

8.1 Green IT 21

8.1.1 Efficiency and Innovation for Sustainable Information Technology in the 21st century

Aimed at Sustainability Program leaders and participants, this seminar equips the

participants with a basic understanding of sustainability issues, assessment

methods, planning techniques and measurement methods for creating a viable

sustainable IT plan.


GREEN COMPUTING

8.2 Green Grows the Market

8.2.1 Selling sustainable solutions to new and existing markets

Targeted at Vendors, VARs, and Technology companies, this seminar focuses on

successfully marketing to customers with Environmentally Preferred Purchasing

policies. Participants learn about EPP requirements, how they relate to features of

existing products and systems and how to drive green requirements into product

development.]

8.3 Buy Green, Be Green

8.3.1 Driving Eco-Responsibility down the Supply Chain

For Purchasing, Production and Distribution professionals, this seminar explores

Environmentally Preferred Purchasing practices. Using the SCOR model, each

factor of supply chain performance is evaluated and examples given for potential

green practice and policy.

8.4 Green IT Building Blocks

8.4.1 Building capability for Greener, Cheaper IT Operations

Aimed at Enterprise IT professionals, Building Blocks details the basic elements

of Sustainable IT planning. Topics include EPP, Trends in Green ICT, What does

IT include, creating an accurate inventory, measurement methods, achieving

efficiencies, IT innovation and more.


GREEN COMPUTING

CHAPTER 9

FUTURE OF GREEN COMPUTING

As 21st century belongs to computers, gizmos and electronic items, energy issues

will get a serious ring in the coming days, as the public debate on carbon

emissions, global warming and climate change gets hotter. If we think computers

are nonpolluting and consume very little energy we need to think again. It is

estimated that out of $250billion per year spent on powering computers worldwide

only about 15% of that power is spent computing- the rest is wasted idling. Thus,

energy saved on computer hardware and computing will equate tonnes of carbon

emissions saved per year. Taking into consideration the popular use of information

technology industry, it has to lead a revolution of sorts by turning green in a

manner no industry has ever done before. Opportunities lie in green technology

like never before in history and organizations are seeing it as a way to create new

profit centers while trying to help the environmental cause.

The plan towards green IT should include new electronic products and services

with optimum efficiency and all possible options towards energy savings. Faster

processors historically use more power. Inefficient CPU's are a double hit because

they both use too much power themselves and their waste heat increases air

conditioning needs, especially in server farms--between the computers and the

HVAC.

The waste heat also causes reliability problems, as CPU's crash much more often

at higher temperatures. Many people have been working for years to slice this

inefficiency out of computers. Similarly, power supplies are notoriously bad,

generally as little as 47% efficient. And since everything in a computer runs off

the power supply, nothing can be efficient without a good power supply.


GREEN COMPUTING

CHAPTER 10

WAYS OF IMPLEMENTATION

Power management software helps the computers to sleep or hibernate when not in

use. Reversible computing (which also includes quantum computing) promises to

reduce power consumption by a factor of several thousand, but such systems are

still very much in the laboratories. Reversible computing includes any

computational process that is (at least to some close approximation) reversible,

i.e., time-invertible, meaning that a time-reversed version of the process could

exist within the same general dynamical framework as the original process.

Reversible computing efficient use of heat could make it possible to come up with

3-D chip designs, Bennett said. This would push all of the circuitry closer together

and ultimately increase performance. The best way to recycle a computer,

however, is to keep it and upgrade it.

Further, it is important to design computers which can be powered with low

power obtained from non-conventional energy sources like solar energy, pedaling

a bike, turning a hand-crank etc. The electric utility industry is in an

unprecedented era of change to meet increasing customer demand for greater

reliability and different services in the face of substantial regulation and volatile

energy costs. This requires new approaches and business models to allow greater

network reliability, efficiency, flexibility and transparency. At the same time, the

utility industry is digitizing, transforming from an electromechanical environment

to a digitized one. New Internet Protocol-enabled networks now allow for network

integration along the entire supply chain – from generation, transmission, to end-

use and metering -- and create the opportunity for Intelligent Utility Networks

(IUN) which applies sensor sand other technologies to sense and respond in real-

time to changes throughout the supply chain.


GREEN COMPUTING

The IP-enabled network connects all parts of the utility grid equipment, control

systems, applications, and employees. It also enables automatic data collection and

storage from across the utility based on a common information model and service-

oriented architecture (SOA), which enables a flexible use of information

technology. This in turn allows utilities to continuously analyze data so that they

can better manage assets and operations. Electronics giants are about to roll out

eco-friendly range of computers (like desktops and laptops) that aim at reducing

the e-waste in the environment. Besides desktops and laptops, other electronic

hardware products should also be strictly adhering to the restricted use of

hazardous substances.

In other words, they should be free of hazardous materials such as brominates

flame retardants, PVCs and heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury,

which are commonly used in computer manufacturing. Reliability about the use of

green materials in computer is perhaps the biggest single challenge facing the

electronics industry. Lead-tin solder in use today is very malleable making it an

ideal shock absorber. So far, more brittle replacement solders have yet to show the

same reliability in arduous real-world applications.

Energy-intensive manufacturing of computer parts can be minimized by making

manufacturing process more energy efficient by replacing petroleum filled plastic

with bioplastics—plant-based polymers— require less oil and energy to produce

than traditional plastics with a challenge to keep these bioplastic computers cool

so that electronics won't melt them.

Power-sucking displays can be replaced with green light displays made of

OLEDs or organic light - emitting diodes.

Use of toxic materials like lead can be replaced by silver and copper


GREEN COMPUTING

.Making recycling of computers (which is expensive and time consuming at

present) more effective by recycling computer parts separately with an option of

reuse or resale

Future computers could knock 10 percent off their energy use just by replacing

hard drives with solid-state, or flash, memory, which has no watt-hungry moving

parts.

Buy and use a low power desktop or a laptop computer (40-90 watts) rather a

higher power desktop (e.g. 300 watts).

Find out the normal operating power (watts) required.

The maximum power supply (up to 1kW in some modern gaming PCs) is not

important as the normal operating power, but note that power supply efficiency

generally peaks at about 50-75% load

Idle state represents 69 to 97% of total annual energy use, even if power

management is enabled

Computer power supplies are generally about 70–75% efficient; to produce 75W

of DC output they require 100 W of AC input and dissipate the remaining25 W in

heat

.Higher-quality power supplies can be over 80% efficient; higher energy

efficiency uses less power directly, and requires less power to cool as well. As of

2007, 93% efficient power supplies are available.

Thin clients can use only 4 to 8 watts of power at the desktop as the processing

is done by a server.

For desktops, buy a low power central processing unit (CPU). This reduces

both power consumption and cooling requirements.

Buy hardware from manufacturers that have a hardware recycling scheme, and

recycle your old computer equipment rather than sending it to landfill.

Turn your computer and monitor off when you are not using it.


GREEN COMPUTING

Enable hibernation using the power management settings. Standby does not save

as much power

Replace your CRT screen with an LCD screen.

Keep your PC or laptop for at least 5 years. If you're leasing, shift to a 5 year

period. This reduces resource and energy consumption associated with the

manufacture and distribution of PCs by 40%, compared to replacing PC severy 3

years which is current corporate practice.

Avoid an unnecessary operating system version upgrade which requires a

hardware upgrade.

Use Linux (such as Ubuntu), which requires less resources than many other

operating systems on an older computer as a spare or a file server

.Use server virtualization to aggregate multiple under-utilized servers onto

more energy efficient server infrastructure.

Use blade servers instead of rack or standalone servers to reduce power

consumption.

Specify low energy consumption level in Request for Tender documents.

Measure your data centre power usage.

Use server and/or web-based applications where possible to extend desktop

service life and reduce desktop software maintenance

10.1 Reducing Energy Consumption

The following are some of the ways to make your Computer more

environmentally friendly. Modern Computers are power hungry things. There are

many things we can do to reduce the amount of power they use. As a General rule

laptops use less than Desktops, and LCD (Flat screens) Screens use less than CRT

(big fat screens).

10.1.1 Suggestions for your current PC


GREEN COMPUTING

← Switch your computer off when you're not using it, especially over night and if

you will be out for the day.

← If your going to be away from it for a short time then turn off the monitor. You

can also adjust the power management using the control panel to turn off your

hard drive and put your system into standby after a set amount of time.

← For more advanced users remove unnecessary fans and Drives. If you have a

spare CD-ROM you use once in a blue moon unplug it. Also if your computer

is only used for office work or checking your email unplug excess devices you

do not use.

← Install third-party power management programs like Data Synergy Power

MAN or Snap Verdiem Surveyor. These programs allow power management

to be centrally configured which can be very important in larger organizations.

← Print wisely - Only print what you really need to have a paper copy of and

resist the urge to print 'all pages' when you only need what is on one particular

page. There is software available that can help with this, or simply use the

"print preview" to see which pages you really need and only print those pages.

← Refill Ink-jet cartridges and laser toner; its cheaper and doesn't add to landfill

← Switch off Cable Modems, Routers and Wifi Access Points when not in use /

overnight

← Replace your internal hard drive with a low energy solution such as Western

Digital's Green Drive

← An external hard drive is also useful to backup your content, or to use as

simple add-on storage capacity. Like the SimpleTech redrive, look for one that

is energy efficient and Energy Star qualified, is made from sustainable

materials such as bamboo and aluminum and is conscious about its packaging.

← Use a Google alternative, such as Smallest Google, saving energy, time, and

bandwidth.


GREEN COMPUTING

10.1.2 Suggestions for Buying a New PC

← Buy a Laptop! Laptops use less power than a desktop.

← Buy a computer according to your needs. If your only using it for simple

tasks don't buy the most powerful available.

← Choose the latest Intel or VIA processors over AMD as they use less

power. VIA is the best for the environment although not as powerful.

← If you are going to build your own PC pick the parts carefully. Instead of

getting two 1 GB chips, buy one 2gb one. Build the computer to your needs

don't install unnecessary parts if you will never use them. Also consider

certified 80 plus energy efficient power supplies 80 PLUS Program

← If you are concerned about hazards chemicals used in pc components

consult Greenpeace's Green Electronics Ranking or The Restriction of

Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in electrical and electronic equipment Choose

Corded Keyboard and Mouse over wireless

CHAPTER 11


GREEN COMPUTING

GREEN IT: The next burning issue for business

It is becoming widely understood that the way in which we are behaving as a

society is environmentally unsustainable, causing irreparable damage to our

planet. Rising energy prices, together with government-imposed levies on carbon

production, are increasingly impacting on the cost of doing business, making

many current business practices economically unsustainable. It is becoming

progressively more important for all businesses to act (and to be seen to act) in an

environmentally responsible manner, both to fulfill their legal and moral

obligations, but also to enhance the brand and to improve corporate image.

Companies are competing in an increasingly ‘green’ market, and must avoid the

real and growing financial penalties that are increasingly being levied against

carbon production. IT has a large part to play in all this. With the increasing drive

towards centralized mega data centers alongside the huge growth in power hungry

blade technologies in some companies, and with a shift to an equally power-

hungry distributed architecture in others, the IT function of business is driving an

exponential increase in demand for energy, and, along with it, is having to bear the

associated cost increases.

11.1 The problem ‘

Rising energy costs will have an impact on all businesses, and all businesses will

increasingly be judged according to their environmental credentials, by legislators,

customers and shareholders. This won’t just affect the obvious, traditionally

power-hungry ‘smoke-belching’ manufacturing and heavy engineering industries,

and the power generators. The IT industry is more vulnerable than most –it has

sometimes been a reckless and profligate consumer of energy. Development and

Improvements in technology have largely been achieved without regard to energy

consumption

11.2. The impact:


GREEN COMPUTING

Rising energy costs and increasing environmental damage can only become more

important issues, politically and economically. They will continue to drive

significant increases in the cost of living, and will continue to drive up the cost of

doing business. This will make it imperative for businesses to operate as green

entities, risking massive and expensive change. Cost and environmental concern

will continue to force us away from the ‘dirtiest’ forms of energy (coal/oil),

though all of the alternatives are problematic. We may find ourselves facing a

greater reliance on gas, which is economically unstable and whose supply is

potentially insecure, or at least unreliable. It may force greater investment in

nuclear power, which is unpopular and expensive, and it may lead to a massive

growth of intrusive alternative energy infrastructure –including huge wind farms,

or the equipment needed to exploit tidal energy. Solving the related problems of

rising energy costs and environmental damage will be extremely painful and

costly, and those perceived as being responsible will be increasingly expected to

shoulder the biggest burden of the cost and blame. It may even prove impossible

to reduce the growth in carbon emissions sufficiently to avoid environmental

catastrophe. Some believe that the spotlight may increasingly point towards IT as

an area to make major energy savings, and some even predict that IT may even

become tomorrow’s 4x4/SUV.

11.3 The solution:

A fresh approach to IT and power is now needed, putting power consumption at

the fore in all aspects of IT – from basic hardware design to architectural

standards, from bolt-on point solutions to bottom-up infrastructure build. IBM has

a real appreciation of the issues, thanks to its size, experience and expertise, and

can help its customers to avoid the dozens of ‘wrong ways’ of doing things, by

helping to identify the most appropriate solutions.

CHAPTER 12


GREEN COMPUTING

RECENT IMPLEMENTATION

12.1 Blackle:

Blackle is a search-engine site powered by Google Search. Blackle came into

being based on the concept that when a computer screen is white, presenting an

empty word page or the Google home page, your computer consumes 74W. When

the screen is black it consumes only 59W. Based on this theory if everyone

switched from Google to Blackle, mother earth would save 750MW each year.

This was a really good implementation of Green Computing. The principle behind

Blackle is based on the fact that the display of different colors consumes different

amounts of energy on computer monitors.

12.2 Fit-PC: a tiny PC that draws only 5w:

Fit-PC is the size of a paperback and absolutely silent, yet fit enough to run

Windows or Linux. Fit-PC is designed to fit where a standard PC is too bulky,

noisy and power hungry. If you ever wished for a PC to be compact, quiet and

green – then fit-PC is the perfect fit for you. Fit-PC draws only 5 Watts,

consuming in a day less power than a traditional PC consumes in 1 hour. You can

leave fit-PC to work 24/without making a dent in your electric bill.

12.3 Zonbu Computer:

The Zonbu is a new, very energy efficient PC. The Zonbu consumes just one third

of the power of a typical light bulb. The device runs the Linux operating system

using a1.2 gigahertz processor and 512 Meg of RAM. using a1.2 gigahertz

processor and 512 Meg of RAM. It also contains no moving parts, and does even

contain a fan. You can get one for as little as US$99, but it does require you to

sign up for a two-year subscription

12.4. Sunray thin client:


GREEN COMPUTING

Sun Microsystems is reporting increased customer interest in its Sun Ray, a thin

desktop client, as electricity prices climb, according to Subodh Bapat, vice-

president and chief engineer in the Eco Responsibility office at Sun. Thin clients

like the Sun Ray consume far less electricity than conventional desktops, he said.

A Sunray on a desktop consumes 4 to 8 watts of power, because most of the heavy

computation is performed by a server. Sun says Sunrays are particularly well

suited for cost-sensitive environments such as call centers, education, healthcare,

service providers, and finance. PCs have more powerful processors as well as hard

drives, something thin clients don’t have. Thus, traditional PCs invariably

consume a substantially larger amount of power. In the United States, desktops

need to consume 50 watts or less in idle mode to qualify for new stringent Energy

Star certification.

12.5 The Asus Eee PC and other ultra portables:

The "ultra-portable" class of personal computers is characterized by a small size,

fairly low power CPU, compact screen, low cost and innovations such as using

flash memory for storage rather than hard drives with spinning platters. These

factors combine to enable them to run more efficiently and use less power than a

standard an ultra portable. It is the size of a paperback, weighs less than a

kilogram, has built-in Wi-Fi and uses flash memory instead of a hard drive. It runs

Linux too.

CHAPTER 13


GREEN COMPUTING

CONCLUSION

So far, consumers haven't cared about ecological impact when buying computers,

they've cared only about speed and price. But as Moore's Law marches on and

computers commoditize, consumers will become pickier about being green.

Devices use less and less power while renewable energy gets more and more

portable and effective. New green materials are developed every year, and many

toxic ones are already being replaced by them. The greenest computer will not

miraculously fall from the sky one day, it’ll be the product of years of

improvements. The features of a green computer of tomorrow would be like:

efficiency, manufacturing & materials, recyclability, service model, self-powering,

and other trends. Green computer will be one of the major contributions which

will break down the 'digital divide', the electronic gulf that separates the

information rich from the information poor.

CHAPTER 14


GREEN COMPUTING

REFERENCES

1<Samir Botros, Green technology and design for the environment.3rd ed

New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996. Internet documents:

2<Wangari Maathai, Green IT Movements.,2nd ed New York: McGraw-Hill,

1996. Internet documents:

4 http://en.wikipedia.org

5 http://www.greenit.com/green.pdf


Documents

Green