Strategies to Reduce Energy Usage in Offices and increase IT Sustainability
Research Studies by Intel Corporation.
According to an Intel White Paper of December 2009, Intel reported these studies about reduction of energy usage in offices.
Evaluating Enabling Technologies
Replacing Desktop PCs and Cathode-Ray Tube Monitors: Over the last decade companies have shifted to laptop PCs for about 83 percent of the workforce, primarily, in an effort to increase employee productivity. A secondary benefit has been to significantly improve energy efficiency. To determine the factors that affect office power consumption, and further improve energy efficiency, Intel conducted a power
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Intel’s studies have shown that raising employees’ awareness of how much power their equipment is consuming, and getting them involved in reducing that amount, is critical to success in reducing energy use in the office environment. We have taken an example of the Intel Company: Intel conducted a small PoC that explored how they could encourage behavior modification by showing employees that small things, such as using standby mode on their laptops or turning off a printer when it’s not being used, can add up to big savings. During this PoC, they first established a baseline of energy consumption through real-time metering of energy use in 12 cubicles. In one group, they focused solely on awareness and education. Every two to three days, Intel provided this group with information on how much energy they were using, and how much it cost. They did not provide any other information or requests to change behavior to the members of this group. For the second group they installed a third-party software agent that deployed and enforced power management profiles. The profiles were set up to put the monitor into standby after ten minutes of idle time, and to put the PC into standby after 30 minutes of idle time. After two additional weeks of real-time metering, Intel examined the energy use of the two groups.
They could also use this information to help the customers realise how they can save money by capitalising on their usage of energy. For example they could state that to save energy and money they could do the following:
Environment conservation and protection is an issue, which has gained prominence because of deteriorating environmental balance which is threatening the sustainability of life and nature. Nowadays, environment problems have become the big matters. Every tech companies have to take the key roles to solve them including Intel. The company has proclaimed the Climate Savers Computing Initiative. The Initiative’s goal is to reduce global computer CO2 emissions by 54 million tons per year, equivalent to the annual output of 11 million cars or 10-20 coal-fired power plants. This clearly shows that Intel is trying its best to reduce the pollution of the environment.
On the daily basis I use numerous energy resources from residential, commercial, transportation to industrial. First, I use residential and commercial the most. At home I have gas heating, stove and fireplace; gas pretty much runs my house. Right now in the winter month’s gas heating is the greatest energy usages in my resident. Then on top of that we have space heaters. The heaters are intended to cut back on the gas usage but I’m not seeing much of a difference. Usage of electricity is also a huge abundance in my residents. A normal routine of using electricity varies from everything like lights
How much it costs to use your computer Watts x Hours Used / 1000 x Cost Per kilowatt-hour = Total cost
In 2014, Hewlett Packard’s (HP’s) headquarters in Palo Alto, California partnered with SolarCity, a clean renewable energy solar provider, to outfit their headquarters with over 4,000 solar panels (Canales, 2014, para. 1). HP, a 75-year plus veteran of international technologies, understands the importance of creating and investing in sustainable solutions throughout its value chain. HP states: “We set bold targets to lead the IT sector. We are committed to sourcing 50% renewable electricity for our operations by 2025 and reducing operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 25% compared to 2015,” (“Living Progress,” 2017, para. 5). This commitment is not limited by HP to their products and services, but extends to, literally, their work environment. A small, but significant step to demonstrating this belief, is their project of installing solar panels over the heads of their top decision makers. “… [The] 1 megawatt system… is expected to offset more than 20 percent of HP’s current power usage onsite… [the] installation is expected to help HP reduce its utility power costs by approximately one million dollars over the next two decades,” (Canales, 2014, para. 1). To a company that earned a net income of 3.1 million in 2016 (“Cash Flow,” 2017) one
Discussion Prompt: Explain where you think, in your home, you use the most energy. Estimate how much energy this item/machine/process uses. (Yes, you may need to do some research.) How much more energy does this item/machine/process use versus other items/machines/processes in your home. Provide an insightful response to at least two of your peers, using at least three sentences for each response. Do you agree or disagree with which item/machine/process they chose? Do you think there is something that uses more energy in their home?
You are a board member of your Home Owner’s Association. At your next meeting, your goal is to educate other homeowners about energy conservation.
It is done by using only the energy needed and reducing use at peak times, and building automation systems at Roosevelt University which are keys to continually reducing energy and greenhouse gas emissions.̏ (Anon., 2012)”
The source acknowledges about the different gadgets or techs that are available for inhabitants to conserve energy. The author has provided with detailed information about each technology that he has written about and has additionally proposed readers with companies that make these technologies. For instance, the author has suggested that buying Nest thermostat is the best option for people that intend to buy smart a thermostat.
Computer science educators are uniquely positioned to promote greater awareness of Green Computing, using the academic setting to encourage environmentally conscious use of technology. This paper reports on practical techniques that can engage faculty and students, enabling Green Computing to be integrated into the classroom and research laboratory. Analysis and empirical evaluation of each reported technique is given, comparing the efficacy of each in terms of energy, environmental and financial cost savings. These results are provided as technological and economic evidence for the benefits of “Going Green,” and to promote
Support for these claims are documented through extensive research into numerous practices that individuals could take part in to diminish their carbon footprint and greenhouse gases emissions. These small changes include of catching public transport more regularly, replacing regular incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) which use 60% less energy than a regular bulb and buy more locally grown and produced foods.
Changing the way energy in buildings is monitored, controlled and consumed can bring down CO2 emissions and reduce costs (Faucheux & Nicolaï, 2011) .
For one thing, simple lifestyle changes can save kilowatts of electricity. One of these involves turning off the lights and electrical appliances when leaving a room. Shutting off computers can save watts – turning them off at night, and having them hibernate during the day if not in use is a good way to save energy
The United States consumes more energy than needed, compared to the rest of the world. However, to properly address such an issue as over consumption of energy, one first must understand what “energy” is.
Humans today are using much more electricity than we need to in our houses and this is impacting our world more then we realise. Although electricity is a huge advantage to humans it has the complete opposite effects on our environment. By using more electricity, we are using more of the earth’s resources and if we keep going down this road then we are going to run out. The solution for this mass overuse of energy is to build houses which are more energy efficient. Features like LED lightbulbs, insulating and even positioning your house in the correct position for natural airflow instead of using air conditioning are all ways we can help improve this problem.