ICT60115 Advanced Diploma of Information Technology
ICTSUS601 Integrate sustainability in ICT planning and
design projects
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ICT60115 Advanced Diploma of Information Technology
ICTSUS601 Integrate sustainability in ICT planning
and design projects
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 Case Scenario:
Australiais enforcing all Australian companies to be compliant in energy consumption and
sustainable workplaces.

Refer to http://www.environment.gov.au/about-us/legislation and http://envlaw.com.au/

And ‘National Action Plan.pdf’ from your resource folder.

You are an IT project manager at International Digital Marketing Company (IDMC), and your new
project is to lead a small team to ensure that IDMC is fully digitized and online in accordance with
the newly proposed sustainability regulations from the AustralianFederal government.

Your supervisor, IT director of IDMC, is keen to learn what improvements you can make for IDMC
under what resources. He will directly report your work to the CEO of IDMC for immediate action.

These are some details about IDMC:

1. There are approximately 500 computers in 4- storey building.
2. There are 20 digital designers in Sydney office and 50 designers in Brisbane office.
3. There are 50 marketing professionals in Sydney office with only 2 in Brisbane office.
4. The computers are not turned off or in sleep mode during the night time
5. The building is equipped with approximately 200 lights
6. The building is equipped with 2 microwaves and fridges in each floor.
7. The building is equipped with centralized heating and air-conditioning (harder to measure
the energy consumption)
8. Operating system and application software were installed on ad hoc manner
9. Desktops or servers are not virtualized
10. Printers are heavily used for colour printing and all business documents
11. Lights are on at night time for cleaners
Refer to the available sustainability projects in Appendix 1 and the case scenario, you are to submit a
full report for IFRC on their project to improve sustainability.
 Assessment PART A: Integrate Sustainability to ICT Projects
Complete all tasks.

1. Evaluate suitable ICT projects into which sustainability can be integrated (1.1)

a) Evaluate available ICT projects (from the Appendix 1 and other resources) to identify
suitable sustainability projects for IDMC.
i. Download software’s will help save environment and also promote green energy saving
in the company. Eliminating DVDs and CDs which take million years to decompose,
downloading software’s can save environment 80 percent reduction of CO2 emissions to
IDMC environment.
ii. Recycling printer cartridge to avoid releasing dangerous chemical to environment. This
will help to eliminate pollutions to the environment. Also using coffee grounds will save
IDMC environment by utilizing wastes from coffee groundnuts.
iii. To eliminate any environmental impacts in the organisation by going to direction of
Green PCs that can be easily recycled which will less impact to the environment.
Recycling computer parts can help to remove any waste in the environment which
million years to decompose.
iv. Organisation should utilize new operating systems such as Microsoft's Windows
operating system, Windows 7, is designed to do more computing with less energy since
the company users are not switching off their machines. This new operating system will
help to reduce power consumption in the company since it provide features that turn off
powers on unused ports in the compute, dim screen to save energy during screen sleep
mode among other features

b) Evaluate the option of computer virtualization or cloud computing for IFRC.

Option of computer virtualization
i. VMware is one of computer virtualisation that can be utilized in the company most form
medium size company like IFRC. Such companies offer services to different companies with
different needs. It is the most reliable virtualization technology in the market
ii. Citrix virtualization technology is another important option that can be utilized in the
company
iii. Microsoft virtualization is very common that is most used in most companies
Cloud computing for IFRC
i. The first cloud computing option is the VoiceSpain private cloud network that provides
service to customers or companies that need voice communication network. eg IP PBX’s
among others
ii. Another option that the company can utilize is the private cloud network which provide
computing services such as website hosting since it contain a wide different varieties of
infrastructure available to companies willing to use
iii. Hybrid cloud computing is the most common technology that allow companies to have
storage services to accommodate high demand of secure storage space of their data

c) Evaluate the use of online collaborating platforms to replace printing (e.g. GitHub or
Dropbox) in view of sustainability management.
 i. Visme is a browser-based platform that allows different employees in an
organization to interact with each other by sharing information such as
presentation info-graphics, web content among others. Such collaboration can
allow users to interact with each other in the platform and thus eliminating
printing of information and this promote management sustainability in the
company

ii. Flowdock is a in interactive platform which has many different features such
notifications that allow user read information in an organization and this eliminate
the need of printing information and this eliminating printing materials in the
organization and this promote interaction in the platform which promote reliability
and management sustainability of environment

2. Negotiate with the stakeholders to establish the extent to which sustainability is to be

integrated (1.2).

a) Evaluate the impacts of using cloud computing for IDMC.

i. Using cloud computing in IDMC organization, it help in cutting operational cost for
running 500 computers which can be virtualized using only 20 servers. Also it will
reduce power consumption by saving power of almost 480 computers.
ii. Using cloud technology, it promote scalability of operations and storage spaces for 5
storage building can be minimized into only one floor that act as a server room that
all servers can be installed to serve functions that 500 computers were doing. This
also improves efficiency of services offered in the organization since all services are
offered in one building.
iii. Cloud promotes collaboration between different department which promote good
working relationship and efficiency in the organization. Also it will reduce
unnecessary cost needed to light a 4-story building rooms and offices
iv. It will promote business continuity by providing surety of security of information and in
case of failure of one server; information can be recorded in another server using
virtualization of system in the organization.
v. Cloud computing will eliminate the use of printing materials and allow collaborating
platform that users can share information and ideas that help improve their
performance

What operational changes are you expecting?

i. Using cloud technology, information will be transferred rapidly in both direction
which give immediate feedback and thus promote handling of bigger workload in an
organisation and all management operations will be delivered in a flexible manner. It
also promotes flexible work structure in an organisation and this help to accommodate
rising and upcoming customer needs
ii. Cloud computing promote good working relationship in different departments in an
organisation which help in sharing ideas and this promote innovation and high quality
results.
 iii. Cloud computing plays a major role in cutting high costs of operations. It also
increase resource utilization in an organisation and thus increase productivity and
good organisational operations

b) Consider your college as a side-example. What college operations can be offloaded to

the cloud computing?
i. 50 marketing professionals working in Sydney office can be eliminated into only 10
marketing officers by making all marketing and promotions through the internet to reach
more customers rather than doing marketing manfully in the office.
ii. Also digital designers can be reduced to a small number by offering such services online

c) Identify which elements of the business cannot be offloaded to cloud computing or

virtual computing.
i. Total cost elimination- all businesses despite of technology usage, they must incur
operational cost which is very hard to eliminate in the business
ii. Another factor that the business will not avoid is human labour. There must be
someone monitoring the system. Technology can reduce labour but it cannot be
eliminated totally.
iii. Organisation data security cannot be offloaded to the organisation but instead, it gives the
organisation burden of investing more resources to cap security issues.
3. Research and identify suitable technology solutions applicable to the project (1.3).
a. Identify the available technological solutions to implement your selected
sustainability project (e.g. for online file sharing, Dropbox, GitHub, draw.io or
Creately.com)
Online file sharing available technology solutions
File sharing uses VMware technology that is most implemented in Dell Technologies use P2P
technology to provide updates to software updates which is a very reliable application in the
organisation. This technology helps to manage and control client or customers on a local network
specifically to their request without giving a lot of traffics on a central server.

b. Identify the available solutions the sustainability of IDMC. Consider green computers
and reduction of energy-consuming devices (using environmentally friendly lights
and other electronic devices) – Refer to Appendix 1.

i. Power off computers and other electrical devices during inactivity

ii. Use power-up and power down devices to automatically switch off devices
when not in use
iii. Implement computer vitalization to and user project portals to use combine
different applications to reduce power consumption. Also combine related task
to switch off unnecessary power consumption in the company.
iv. Use liquid-crystal display (LCD) monitors to eliminate more power
consumption from cathode-ray-tube (CRT)
v. Implement Software green in the company by encouraging IT experts to
download software directly in the internet rather using DVD and CDs which
take more years to decompose.
 vi. Use notebook rather than desktop computers to reduce power consumption in
the company
vii. Proper power management technique to be implemented in the company that
switches unnecessary lights automatically to safe more power
viii. Use alternative power sources such as solars to reduce power cost. Power
recycling can be an advantage to the company.
ix. Use compact Florence light bulb (CFLs) is an economical light bulb that
use less power and this will save the company a lot of energy used the
company. Also use light emitting diode (LED)

c. Identify the price, cost and availability of the selected technology solution(s).
Provide an executive summary only for senior management in less than 200 words.
The IDMC Company is a stable company that need new implementation of new technology that will
save the company a lot of cost. Virtualization and cloud computing will help the company save a lot
of cost up to 75 precent of unnecessary cost that the company spend in daily operations of the
company.
The CEO of the IDMC company should immediately take action to give ICT depart chance to
implement this project that will promote green computing in the company which the company will
going to make a lot of profits by eliminating a lot of cost.
Implementing Virtualization will reduce physical infrastructure which will reduce the number of floor
needed in the company. Also it will reduce the number of ICT equipment’s into only 20 servers that
will be utilized by all users in the company.

4. Gather power consumption data on ICT equipment required for an energy audit based on
an agreed standard (1.4).
a. Calculate the energy consumption estimate based on the number of computers,
servers, printers, and other energy-consuming devices.

You may refer to online calculator such as

http://www.energyrating.gov.au/
http://www.energyrating.gov.au/wp-
content/uploads/Energy_Rating_Documents/Library/Computers_and_Peripherals/2
01011b-supp-info-consult-ris-computers.pdf
http://energyusecalculator.com/calculate_electrical_usage.htm and
http://www.csgnetwork.com/energycostcalc.html or other available solutions).
Power consumption per every device in the company can be calculated as follows

50 Computers (200 W per computer) =10000w

1 Printer per floor (30w per printer) (4 floors) =30*4=120w

Servers (computer tower 2500w) =2500w

200 Bulb lights (100w per bulb) = 200*100=20000w

Heating and air-conditioning (80w) = 80w

2 Microwaves* 4floors (600w) 600*4*2= 4800w

2 Fridges *4 floors (400w/fridge) 400*2*4=1600w

2 scanners (35w/scanner) 35*2=70w

4 Smart TV (49 inches inch 85w/TV) 85*4=300w

20 Digital designer machine (45w) *20= 45*20=900w

Total power consumption in the company will be:

41000w/1000=41kWh

Since machine in office are not switch off:

Therefore:

48 hours *41kWh=1968kWh*30 days= 59040kWh/month *12= 708480kWh/year

5. Determine and oversee implementation of short term technology solutions to achieve

reduction of power consumption (2.1). Students are to discuss their selected sustainability
project with the class and make a 5-minutes short presentation on their plans.
a. Consider some or all of the following:
 Online platforms to reduce paper usage
 Virtualization of servers/desktops
 Environmentally friendly light (bulb) or types
 Environmentally friendly computer monitors and TV screens
 Environmentally friendly refrigerators
 Other electrical devices that can be updated/upgraded for sustainability

6. The project presentation must include information on how to Initiate and progress
sustainable management principles which result in reduced environmental impact (2.2).

Assessment
PART B:Analyse energy audit data
1. Establish, regularly review and improve key performance indicators (KPI) on sustainability
performance (2.3).
a. Review the KPI on sustainability of Optus (2009) from the ‘Resource Folder’.
Summarize their KPI in short sentences.
i. The accomplishment of counter terrorism financing unit in all areas that are facing
such problems in all departments and provincial level
ii. They is accomplishment in developing cyber security bill
iii. Development of FATA action plan that help to give guidelines and procedures to be
followed
iv. Linkages with international think tanks and intelligentsia inter alia.
b. Devise a set of KPI for IDMC in less than 200 words.
 The IDMC has the following KPIs which enable the company to run high demand request
from their customers.
The first indicator that proof success of the organisation is the number of users that are
working in the company. Another success that the company take advantage is the
willingness of the CEO of the company to comply with newly proposed energy consumption
regulations. Employing 50 marketing professionals shows that the company is in a position
to accommodate new technology which will make their work easier in reaching more
customers.

2. Incorporate innovative planning and design rules for ICT projects which foster
sustainability and environmental best practice (2.4).
a. Investigate and summarize the best-case examples and best procurement practices
on ICT sustainability from www.greenit.net and other resources available on
‘Resource Folder’.

i. Doing contract administration

ii. Perform proposal such as RFPs to give clear procurement

iii. Align procurement with purchasing requirements

iv. Purchase decisions such as trade offs

v. Reporting

vi. Eliminate barriers that prevent sustainability such as information overload, cost
assessments and define clear criteria

b. Investigate the opportunities of virtualizing the computers and servers to save the
energy consumption (note one physical server can handle more than several
virtualized desktop instances)
i. It can help reduce the number of data canters by utilizing unused computers by combining
them in a virtualized environment and thus business can reduce the cost of energy used in
different data canters
ii. Virtualization energy software’s can help manage host resources and thus reduce
energy
iii. Virtualization can streamline business operations and promotes cost and energy
saving
iv. Saving cost-Virtualization and cloud computing play a major role in saving business
operational cost no matter the size of the business. Since cloud computing does not require
any cost to hire premise for operation it will help the business to save a lot of cost. Also, it
will help the business to cut other cost such as power for 20 computers, air conditioning and
administration cost. Also cloud computing does not require any cost to buy servers or
renting rooms to install server or computers because it will cost the business only the space
that they hire to store their date and it depends on the size and usage of the space hired.
v. It is more reliable-Cloud computing and virtualization is more reliable since it offer services
27/7/365 and 99.9% available in service delivery. It is more reliable and consistent as
compared to IT infrastructure that most of the time break and west a lot of time in
troubleshooting. Virtualization of server provides a reliable system and in case one server
fails, the other server pick up the service. The business will benefits from a wide range of
 services offered by cloud computing since it provide a pool of resources that the business
can utilize in their operations.
vi. Manageability of the business-Cloud computing provides a clear and management of
business since you don’t need to install any IT infrastructure in your business instead the
vendor provide all services you require to run your business. Installation and maintenance is
being done by the vendor and thus management of your business operations is very simple.
You enjoy a simple web-based user interface for accessing software, applications and
services without the need of incurring cost of installation and the vendor ensures timely
delivery of services are guaranteed.
vii. It allows for faster deployment of resources-Resource provision is faster and reliable by
using virtualization and this is possible by using virtualization. Physical machines are not
necessary or needed. It needs only one access point in order to access virtual environment
and spread though out the business departments or different functions.
viii. It promotes digital entrepreneurship-Using virtualization, digital entrepreneurship
is possible since it require only platform to run in and thus cloud computing is
making possible by providing servers and storage services to the business owners.
Platforms like Up-Work and Fiverr make digital entrepreneurship possible.
ix. It provides energy savings-Virtualization can help the business to serve a lot of
energy in the business. This is possible since it requires only one server and thus
reducing a lot of power which can be used to save energy to be consumed by 20
computers. Cloud computing and virtualization help the organization save a lot of
energy.

3. Identify energy usage within the scope of the ICT project and provide a detailed report
(3.1).
a. Estimate the energy cost given the number of computing devices, monitors,
computer racks, printers and other energy consuming devices ‘within your college’.
Use the reference materials including:
http://www.environment.gov.au
and energy calculating spreadsheet from the ‘Resource Folder’.

50 Desktop Computers (200W/Desktop) 200*50=10,000w

30 laptops (50W/laptop) 30*50=4500w

7 Printer per floor (30w/printer) 7*30=210w

4 Servers (computer tower 600w) 60*4 =2400w

162 Bulb lights (100w) 162*100=16200w

4 Heating and air-conditioning (15w) 15*4=60

4 Microwaves (600w) 600*4= 2400w

3 Fridges (400w/fridge) 400*3=1200w

2 scanners (35w/scanner) 35*2=70w

4 Smart TV (49 inches inch 85w/TV) 85*4=300w

150Tablet computers (10w/tablet) 150*10=1500w

400 Tablet chargers 5w/charger) 400*5=2000w

350 Smartphone (7w/smartphone) 350*4= 2450w

Total energy consumption per month

Total power consumption = 43290/1000= 43.29kWh *12 hours/per day =519.48kW

To calculate energy consumed by month will be:
519.48kW *30 =15584.4Kw
Collage spend 15584.4*0.10per kWh/month=$1558.44 per month

b. Using the same resources, estimate the energy consumption at IDMC given they
have 500 users in 4 storey building (approximate energy consuming devices based
on a normal business operating condition).
500 Desktop Computers (200W/Desktop) 200*50=10,000w

30 laptops (50W/laptop) 30*50=4500w

7 Printer per floor (30w/printer) 7*30=210w

4 Servers (computer tower 600w) 60*4 =2400w

162 Bulb lights (100w) 162*100=16200w

4 Heating and air-conditioning (15w) 15*4=60

4 Microwaves (600w) 600*4= 2400w

3 Fridges (400w/fridge) 400*3=1200w

2 scanners (35w/scanner) 35*2=70w

4 Smart TV (49 inches inch 85w/TV) 85*4=300w

150Tablet computers (10w/tablet) 150*10=1500w

400 Tablet chargers 5w/charger) 400*5=2000w

350 Smartphone (7w/smartphone) 350*4= 2450w

4. Estimate potential energy savings and payback periods for recommended actions (3.2)
a. Consider and report the new note: has the number of energy consumption in
consideration of virtualization and your selected green-computing projects (servers
reduced? Have you changed the lightbulb types? Have you changed the monitor
energy consumption? Have you considered green refrigerators?)
i. E-Waste Recycling
Recycling plays a major role in saving energy cost in the company and environmental
impacts. Computer devices take million years to decompose and therefore have a
great impact to the environment. Green computing help to solve this problem by
manufacturing renewable and recycling of computer devices and equipment’s such as
lead and mercury help to eliminate environment pollution and this help to save energy
and cost used to manufacture this devices.
ii. Energy consumption
 To help the issues of high cost of running large and unstructured company consumes a lot of
power in the companies. This can be solved by utilizing green-computing technique and
virtualization to save energy consumption and reduction of CO2 emissions to the
environment. Adopting well-structured and fewer and efficient systems in the company can
help reduce energy consumption. The use of energy sever bulbs such as LED, virtualizing
systems in the company, using LED monitors to eliminate CRT monitors, Using low power
refrigerators can help to save a lot of energy in the company. Also installation of automatic
sensing machines to switch off lights or machines that are staying idle in the company can
help eliminate energy wastage. This reduces physical hardware which saves space and cost
of running many devices in the organisation, powering off servers that stay idle.

5. Estimate the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for the nominated project (3.3)
a. Estimate the carbon dioxide emission from the selected project of yours.
Refer to http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/ind-calculator.html or
any other relevant resources.

Printer Cartridges CO2 Emissions

Printers contribute a high percentage of CO2 to environment on one toner cartridge of a printer can
approximately emits 4.8kg of CO2 to the environment and this amount of CO2 emits to the
environment does not into account the toner inside. Research shows that GHG emissions and 16
metric tons CO2 is produced by 1 toner used. For example, a tonner that can print five thousand
pages contains approximately 200 gram of toner which can approximately emits 3.2kg of CO2.
For IDMC Company that contains 4-story building which can approximately use 4 printers per floor
can approximately produce a CO2 of:

3.2*4*4=51.2 Kg of CO2 since the company is heavily relying on printing materials

This figure can be future calculated as follows:

If the company can use 51.2 kg of CO2 per week, then the company can approximately use
51.2*4= 204kg of CO2 per month which can approximately give 204 kg of CO2
In this company can approximately give 204*12=2457.6 kg of CO2 per year

6. Evaluate the estimated CO2 emissions with comparable benchmarks (3.4)

a. In business, we always benchmark our performance.
Use the following reference
https://www.carbonfootprint.com/carbon_benchmark.html
Or any other relevant resources.
To help improve performance of the company, benchmark is very important in ensuring there
is a clear goal that helps the organization to compare in order to come up with corrective
measures to promote sustainability.

A good company to do benchmark on is Huawei sustainability development goals. To seek

for SDGs, the company must have strong relationship with ICT department. Huawei
company has explores their performance on SDGs and ICT development by giving all
support by providing ideas which help ICT achieve sustainability development through
country case studies and a review of sample national activities. To achieve benchmarking
objective successfully, the company analyzed 15 companies having the same size and
operations which give differences in terms of economical differences, geographical
differences using various phases of ICT implementation. The performance key indicators
were used to analyze and come up with findings concerning successful companies that
exercise green computing and virtualization. Other companies that were benchmark was
international telecommunication union’s (ITU) most recent ICT Development Index.

Finding of benchmarking

ICT is highly correlated which give 89% which suggest that countries that ICT perform
equally on SDGs.

Other success of other companies include; ICT correlation, Infrastructure, industrialization,

innovation among many others.

Overall developments have a high ICT scores than SDGs scores which give an indication that
ICT development progress very first than sustainable ICT development. Sustainability
development can increase if more assess of ICT green computing and virtualization projects
are implemented in the organization.

7. Make recommendations in order of priority and give estimates of implementation costs on

integration of sustainability for other ICT projects (3.5)

1. Recycling
2. Computer Disposal
3. Printer Cartridges
4 CDs and DVDs
5. Green Software
6 Downloading Software
7. Hard Disk Storage
8. Robots
9. Printing E-mails
10. Operating System Efficiency
11. Printing E-mails
12. GPS Devices
13. SPAM
This is an order of priority of sustainability of project integration in ICT.
Recycling is the first consideration of order of priority. Implementing recycling development of
computers in the company will help reduce CO2 emission in the environment. The second
consideration is computer disposal. Disposing ICT equipment takes million years to decomposing.
Printer cartridge emits a lot of CO2 to environment that causes global warming which has negative
impacts to the environment. Eliminating CDs and DVDs in the company will help the company
reduce a lot of energy consumption, environmental impacts and additional cost to the company.
Green software is a great step to implement ICT integration of the company. Green software can
help to reduce an additional cost of buying DVD and CDs software’s used to buy software’s.
Downloading Software, Hard Disk Storage, printing E-mails, operating system efficiency, GPRS and
SPAM can be implemented to reduce power consumption and power. A robot is the new technology
that will help to save environment in the company. Robots can help reduce a lot of work that help to
reduce a lot of money used to control water and environment that can cause a lot of pollution in the
environment.

Appendix 1: Available sustainability projects

Recycling
Did you know that nearly 10 million tons of material was diverted from landfills last year alone as a
result of recycling efforts? This success is largely due to voluntary participation of citizens across the
country, who have made "reduce, reuse, and recycle" a personal commitment. Your participation in
recycling means fewer one-use products, cleaner water, and cleaner air. But recycling may someday
pay off financially too. Many now see waste as a resource, and one that we shouldn't squander by
filling up the garbage can instead of the recycling bin. Imagine a future where the garbage man
drops off a check for your contributions to going green.

Computer Disposal
Did you know that the average American will own nearly 20 computers in his or her lifetime? This
means not only will you purchase 20 computers for your use, but you will also discard at least that
number. The disposal of old machines is becoming a great concern to communities across the globe,
as many machines contain potentially toxic materials. What can you do to responsibly dispose of old
technology? Many states now require manufacturers to recycle old machines, so contact them first.
If no opportunity is available through the manufacturer, check with your local recycling centre, or go
online to find a reputable recycling company.

SPAM
Did you know that spam or unwanted e-mail has an environmental cost? McAfee, a virus and spam
filter software provider, estimates that spam e-mail consumes the equivalent energy of over a
million cars driving around each year. What can you do to help limit this consumption? Beyond
supporting legislation to limit spam and prosecution of those who create spam, you can filter your e-
mail. Skipping over spam sent to your account has environmental electrical savings, which means
you can feel good about not reading those pesky intrusions in your inbox.

CDs and DVDs

Did you know that CDs and DVDs can take over one million years to degrade in a landfill? The
migration of many applications to the Web has had a measurable impact on the environment, as
fewer obsolete compact discs end up in landfills. For example, most software developers provide
their programs directly over the Web as well as on CDs or DVDs. Until the time that all software is
delivered this way, what can you do to limit your environmental footprint? Some companies now
offer free recycling for used discs. A quick search on the Web will identify many disc recycling
companies. You can also be conscientious about purchasing music and other entertainment discs. If
you know you will be playing the discs on your computer or other devices that can access the Web,
skip a step and buy directly online over the Web.

Downloading Software
Did you know that downloading software can actually generate energy savings? Microsoft is actively
researching the impact of various aspects of computing on the environment. As part of their study,
Microsoft compared the impact of downloading music directly to a computer or music player via the
Internet versus using a CD. They found that directly downloading music resulted in an 80 percent
reduction in CO2 emissions. What can you do to encourage energy savings like these? Instead of
purchasing music or software CDs, download the content from the Internet. You'll be saving trees
and keeping delivery trucks off the road.

Green Software
Did you know that software is going green? While utility software used to focus solely on making
computing safer and easier, new utility software is focusing on making computers more
environmentally friendly. These utility programs track your computer use and your computer's
operations. The programs then analyze the data for ways to minimize your computer's energy
consumption. The results are then presented and suggestions made to make your computing
greener. Environmental utility programs are expected to quickly become a standard part in all utility
suites.

Robots
Did you know that robots may someday help clear our oceans of pollution? Investigators are
currently exploring the use of robots and special companion ocean vessels for just that purpose. The
robots would roam the ocean bottom looking for garbage, oil, and other pollutants. Once located
the robots would either clean up the mess on their own or radio other robots for assistance. When
full, the robots would resurface and deposit the offensive materials on the companion vessel and
then go back for more. The future of robotics promises many opportunities for this kind of robotic
cleanup.

Operating System Efficiency

Did you know that your operating system might just be worried about the environment? The most
recent version of Microsoft's Windows operating system, Windows 7, is designed to do more
computing with less energy. For example, it has a new power management system that uses fewer
system programs that run automatically, dims the screen to minimize energy use, and turns off
power to unused ports on your machine. What does all of this mean for the environment? Experts
attribute 2 or 3percent of worldwide energy use to desktop computers in the home. Environmentally
aware operating systems can have a significant positive impact on the environment.

Green PCs
Have you given any thought to buying a greener PC? A marketing and manufacturing race is now on
to create the greenest computer available to consumers. Some manufacturers are going to great
lengths to make computer components from recycled materials and to make computers that are
completely recyclable. That would mean that there is no waste and no computer parts that would
end up in a landfill. But even this isn't enough for some ambitious technology designers. They hope
to create a machine you could plant in the backyard when it reaches the end of its useful life on your
desk.

Printing E-mails
Did you know that printing your e-mail instead of reading it on the screen contributes to global
warming and clogs our landfills? According to the EPA nearly 40 percent of the waste in American
landfills is paper waste, much of it from business printing. What can you do to prevent waste like
this? Consider whether you truly need to print that e-mail before clicking the print button. Consider
the soft copy, the image on the screen, your ticket to saving paper and the planet.

Printer Cartridges
Did you know that the ingredients in most printer cartridges contain hazardous chemicals? In fact,
much of the production of new printer ink and toner has moved to third-world nations as a result of
pollution concerns. One approach to minimizing the impact is to recycle printer cartridges. However,
some have approached the problem from a completely different direction. What if the ink your
printer used was a by-product readily available in your house? At least one manufacturer thinks this
is the way of the future. Their new green printer design uses coffee grounds to print your text and
images.

Hard Disk Storage

Did you know that hard disk storage requires more energy than solid state storage? Unlike solid
state storage which has no moving parts, hard disks have to be rotating in order to save or to
retrieve data. Almost all large data centers have thousands of hard drives running 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, 365 days a year. This means that hard drives are tremendous energy consumers. Solid
state storage requires only a fraction of the energy requirements to provide comparable storage
capacity and access. For this reason, many data centers are switching from traditional hard disk to
solid state storage.

GPS Devices
Did you know that GPS devices in cars might help protect the environment? GPS devices are now
common in many cars and they can help save fuel by providing drivers with the shortest route to a
destination. But newer devices also provide traffic avoidance data, which can really save on carbon
emissions. Cars trapped idling in traffic get zero miles to the gallon and pollution from gridlock can
affect the air quality for miles around freeways. Networked GPS devices now make it possible to find
the cheapest fuel and maximize your fuel economy with the most direct route and least congestion.