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GreenandSustainableInformationTechnology:AFoundationfor Students
ThomasA.Pollack DuquesneUniversity 600ForbesAvenue Pittsburgh,PA15282 412.396.1639 pollack@duq.edu Abstract Seldom does a day pass in which we dont hear or read about sustainability or going green. Environmentalconcernsareconstantly in newsheadlines,andthe impactoftechnologyonour environmentissignificant.LargetechnologyorganizationssuchasDell,HP,ISM,Sun,Hitachi, andFujitsuhaveintroducedgreenandsustainableinitiatives.Greenisgenerallyunderstoodto meanFriendlytotheenvironmentandenergyefficient.Sustainableimpliesplanningandin vesting inatechnology infrastructurethatserves theneedsoftodayaswellasthe needsofto morrowwhileconservingresourcesandsavingmoney.Organizationsarequiteconcernedwith environmentalissues,buttheyhavealsocometorealizethatsustainablebusinesspracticescan significantlyenhancethebottomline.Thispaperwilldiscussthefeaturesofgreenandsustain ableinformationtechnologypractices,andsuggestabasicknowledgefoundationthatwillserve ourfuturetechnologyprofessionals. Introduction In a recent Info World article, author Ted Samson drew a distinction between green versus sustainabletechnology(2007).Frequentlywehearthetermsbeingusedinterchangeably,but technically there should be a distinction. Green generally means environmentally friendly and energyefficient.Ontheotherhand sustainablereflectsplanningand investing inatech nologyinfrastructurethatwillservetodaysandtomorrowsneedswhilehelpingtosavemoney onwastedresourcessuchasenergyandpaper.Thustheuseofgreentechnologyhelpstoen suresustainability(Samson)andthustheinterrelationshipbetweenthetwoterms. GreenerComputing.com (2008) reports that a recent industry survey indicated that at least 65 percentofITManagersareemployingenergyefficiencymeasuresinsomeformtoreducecosts andenvironmentalimpact.Amongtheleadingpracticesbeingemployedarethefollowing: Useofblankingpanelstominimizerecirculationofhotair(65%) Sealingthefloortopreventcoolinglosses(56%) Identificationofhotspotsandoptimizationofairflowwithinthefacility(25%). ThesurveycompiledbyGreenerComputing(2008)alsoreportsthefollowingobstacles: Lackoftopmanagementencouragement(40%) Unawarenessofcost/benefitrelationshipofenergyefficiency(36%)

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Fearofriskingreliability(35%) LackofcommunicationsbetweenITandfacilitiesdepartments(33%). OneproblemwiththegreeningofITisthatitforcesorganizationstobuymore.Plansusually callforthingslikemoreenergyefficientservers,intelligentsensorsfordatacentercooling,serv er virtualization software, low power monitors and devices that turn off dormant computers (Baines,2007).Thisimpliessignificantcapitaloutlaysbeforeanygainsarerealized.Ofcourse, organizationsarethenforcedtoevaluatethebottomlineimpactandpaybackperiodforsuchin vestments,independentofvendorandconsultantclaims(Baines).DaveDouglasofSunMicro systemscontendsthatpowerconsumptionofdatacentersdoubledbetween2000and2005,and energycostsconsume25%ofanITbudget.Heopines,therefore,thatwhatisgoodfortheenvi ronmentisalsogoodforbusiness.TheEPAestimatedthatserversanddatacentersacrossthe nationconsumedmorethan61billionkilowatthoursofelectricityin2006atacostofabout$4.5 billion.Thisismorethantheelectricityconsumedbyallthenationscolortelevisionsandsimi lartotheamountconsumedby5.8millionhouseholds(Marsan,p.26).Douglaspredictsthatby 2009,onethirdofITorganizationswill have improvedenvironmentalsustainability asatop ITmanagementobjective(2006). However,thereisambivalenceastothereasonsforgreeninitiatives.Only30percentofrespon dentstoarecentEWeeksurveyindicatedthateconomicconsiderationswerethemostimportant factor.Themajorityofrespondentstothissurveyindicatedthatthegreeninitiativeisnotpartof theirbudget.Onemightconclude,thereforethatITprofessionalsrecognizetheenvironmental impactofITactivities,but mostbusinessesare notwillingtospendadditional money foreco friendlymeasuresunlessthereisacommensuratepayback(Gibson,p.53).Thetwoissuesmust gohandinhand. GettingStarted ManyorganizationsareexpressingabuyintosustainableorgreenIT.Theyhavecometo generallyunderstandthesetermstodescribethemanufacture,management,useanddisposalof informationtechnologyinsuchawaythatminimizesdamagetotheenvironment.GartnerRe searchreportsthatpowerconsumptionbycomputersaccountsfortwopercentofglobalcarbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, roughly equal to the carbon output of the airline industry (Walsh, 2007). Walsh(2007)definessustainableITmanagementanduseasfollows: SustainableITmanagementandusehastodowiththewayacompanymanagesitsIT assets.Itincludespurchasingenergyefficientdesktops,notebooks,serversandotherIT equipment,aswellasmanagingthepowerconsumptionofthatequipment.Italsorefers totheenvironmentallysafedisposalofthatequipment,throughrecyclingordonationat theendofthelifecycle. Convertingtoagreendatacenterisnotasimpletask,buttherearemanysuggestionsand techniquesavailable.Gibson(2008)indicatesthatgreenITisstillinitsearlystages.How ever,greennessisseepingintoorganizationsevenwhenthereisnogreeninitiativewhenmore energyefficientequipmentreplacesolderlessefficientequipment.Itissuggestedthatthecon

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versiontoagreenprocesscanoccurinstepstoreducerisksandalsotoproducebenefitsalong theway(Dietrich,p.3).Typicaldatacenterinefficienciesresultintheuseoftwotothreetimes thepowerrequiredforITequipmentbecausetypicaldesignsareoversizedformaximumcapac ity,andolderinfrastructurecomponentsareveryinefficientthustotalcostofownershipfordata centerfacilitiesandITsystemsisexcessive(Dietrich,p.4).Considerableresearchhasbeen doneondevisingplanstoconverttoagreenITenvironment,andthereforewhenanorganiza tionisreadytoconvert,prescriptiveguidelinesandsuggestionsareavailable. Asetofrecommendedfactorsforconsiderationtobegintheconversiontoagreendatacenter includethefollowing(Dietrich,p.8): Aninventoryofyourcurrentsystems,theirpowerusageandlocations Yourcompanysbusinessandgrowthplanstohelpforecastfutureneeds Currentorplannedgovernmentalenergyefficiencyregulationsinyourarea Availableenergyefficiencyrebatesoreconomicincentivesfromgovernmentsourcesor yourenergyprovider Anyalreadyestablishedgoalsforreducingyourcompanyscarbonfootprint andthe timeframesetforachievingthosegoals.

Complementarytotheabove,Mines(2007)recommendsfourstepsforthecreationofaGreen ITActionPlan.Thesestepsarestatedingeneraltermsandmightbeconsideredasablueprint formigrationtogreenIT.Therecommendedstepsincludethefollowing: IndentifyandprioritizethegoalsofagreenITinitiative Assessthecurrentsituationrelativetohighprioritygoals Findandexecutequickwins Craftandcommunicateanactionplan MinesForresterResearchpublicationthenproceedstorecommendafoursectionformatforan actionplan.Thesectionsrecommendedfortheactionplanare(p.7): Revisingprocessesandmetrics OptimizingefficiencyofexistingITassets Revampingarchitectureandinfrastructure PositioningITtoenablegreenbusinesspractices 65

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The above points, when taken into consideration, should be helpful in providing organizations withastartingpointandaframeworkforbeginningthemovetoagreenandsustainableITor ganization. Challenges Thepointhasbeenmadethattherehavebeensignificantincreasesinpowerconsumptionindata centerssince2000.Weinbergreportsthefollowingbreakdownofusagederivedfromapower studyconductedbytheEmersonNetwork(p.34): AirConditioning ServersandStorage CommunicationEquipment PowerDistributionEquipment Lighting 50% 26% 11% 10% 3%

IntermsofglobalCO2emissions,SimonMingay,Gartneranalystprovidesthefollowingbreak downinaccountingforemissions(Weinberg,p.34). PCsandMonitors Servers FixedlineTelecommunications MobileTelecommunications LANsandOfficeTelecom Printers 40% 23% 15% 9% 7% 6%

TheabovechartsprovideagoodindicationofthebiggestproblemareasfromanenergyandCO2 perspective.Theremaining sectionsofthispaperbegintoexploresomeofthe measures indi vidualsandorganizationscantaketoinitiatethemovetoagreenITenvironment. Energyefficiencyimprovementmeasurescanrangefromaseriesofsimpleandinexpensiveac tionstomuchmoreexpensiveinfrastructureupgrades.Someofthesimplerandlessexpensive measuresinclude: Blockingcableopeningstopreventcoldairwasteinthehotaisle Removingunderfloorcableblockagesthatimpedeairflow

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Turningoffserversthatarenotdoinganywork Turningoffcomputerroomairconditioning(CRAC)unitsinareasthatareoverprovi sionedforcooling(Dietrich,p.9). Datadeduplication(scouringdataforredundantinstancesandeliminatingthem cutting storageneedsforthesamedataby50percentormore)(Gibson). Printinglessandmoreefficiently(Mitchell,2008). Employingintelligentcoolingbycoolingonlywhennecessary(Baines,2007). TurningoffPCswhennotinuse(Baines). Powerandcoolingefficiency,inconjunctionwithreducingtheheatgeneratedinthedatacenter can serve to increase energy efficiency without a large upfront investment. For example, im provements in rack and room layout can lead to significant energy savings (Dietrich, p.10). Thermal mappingtoolscan help identify hotspotsandcold spots.Once identified, inrow,on rackcoolingsystemscanbedesignedsothatcoldaircanbebroughtjusttohotspotsorserver aislescanberearrangedsothatairconditioningisaimedathotaisles(Walsh,2007). Thefollowingopportunitiesforimprovedenergyefficiencyhavebeenidentified: OrganizingITequipmentintoahotaisleandcoldaisleconfiguration Positioningtheequipmentsothatyoucancontroltheairflowbetweenthehotandcold aislesandpreventhotairfromrecirculatingbacktotheITequipmentcoolingintakes Leveraginglowcostsupplementalcoolingoptions suchaswaterorrefrigerantheatex changers Improvingrackcoolingefficiencybyemployingareardoorheatexchangeroranen closedrackingsystemtodissipateheatfromhighdensitycomputersystemsbeforeiten terstheroom. Takingadvantageofthecurrentcapacitybyclearingunderfloorblockagesandimple mentingeffectivecablemanagement Ensuringthatflooropeningsmatchtheequipmentthermalloadbyaddingorremoving perforatedtilesattheequipmentairintakes Consideringtheadditionofductedreturns(Dietrich,2007) Purchasinglowpowerprocessorsthatdonotgenerateasmuchheat(Baines,2007) Retrofittingofficeswithmotionsensorsthatshutofflightsifthereisnomotion(Gibson, 2008) 67

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It becomes quite apparent that data centers and their significant energy usage are attracting a greatdealofattention.Itisnotuncommontohavearoomfulofserversrunningat10percent utilization.Virtualizationisahotissuebecauseitcanhelpconsolidateservers,runthedatacen ter more efficiently, and allocate server resources to match business requirements (Weinberg, p.33).Virtualization istechnology foreveryone,notjustthe largeorganization.Ityieldscost reductionsviaserverconsolidationsandmakeseffectiveuseofunderutilizedhardware,thereby requiringlesspowerandcooling(Coyotepoint,p.2). AccordingtoarecentsurveybyChadwickMartinBailey,thetopfivereasonsforimplementing servervirtualizationare(Weinberg): 1) Consolidationofserverutilization 2) Lowerdatacenteroperatingcosts 3) Improveddisasterrecoveryandbackupcapabilities 4) Moreeffectivesoftwaredevelopmentandtestingenvironment 5) LowerITadministrationcosts Virtualizationhoweveraddsalayerofcomplexitytothedatacenter.Thiscompoundsaconcern expressedinaComputerworldsurveywherenearly70%oftherespondentsindicatedthattheir currentstaffersdonothavetheskillstomanagethecomplexityoftheirdatacenters(Hall,P.24). Vendors have also been improving server efficiency through more efficient chips and power supplies. Organizations can use the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) developed by the Zero Waste Alliance to evaluate purchases. Products meeting the EPEATstandardshavesmallerlevelsofmercury,cadmiumandlead,aremoreenergyefficient andareeasiertorecycle.TheyalsocarrytheEPAsEnergyStar4label. Powermanagementtoolsthatshutdownorputmachinesinsleepmodecanalsobeemployedto saveenergy(Walsh).PCsandmonitorsarethebiggestproblem,butthemostdifficulttoaddress becauseitisdifficulttocontroluserbehavior.GartnersSimonMingaysuggestslowpoweruse oroffattheendofthedayandtheuseofpowermanagementfeatures.HeestimatesCO2 emis sions and related power costs from operations of PCs could be cut by as much as 40 percent (Weinberg,p.34). DisposalofITequipmentisalsoamatterofsignificantimportance.Environmentallyresponsi ble disposal of used and obsolete equipment has taken on added importance in recent years. Mostcomputerequipmentmanagersoffertakebackprogramsandthereforeassumeresponsibil ity for proper disposal. Dell and Sony take backtheir products for free and Toshiba will take back laptops. Apple and HP charge a fee, but will credit to future purchases. There are also companiesthatwilldisposeofITequipmentforafee.Itshouldbenotedthatonlyaboutone thirdofallU.S.companieshaveanITassetdisposalpolicy(Walsh,p.6). Datacentersareamongthehardestcommercialbuildingstomakeenergyefficientbecausecom putersystemsrequiresomuchelectricityandgiveoffsomuchheat.Thechallengeinmeeting the U.S. Green Building Councils Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standardsistheenergyload.EarlierversionsofLEEDstandardsexcludedenergyusedfordata 68

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processing, but latest versions (2.2 and higher) dont permit this exclusion (Marsan, Buildings GoGreen). Tocutenergyusagewithnewdatacenters,thefollowingmeasuresareeffective(Marsan,p.22): Buildusinglocallysuppliedandrecycledmaterials Minimizewasteduringconstruction Uselotsofwindowsforextensivenaturallighting Usefluorescentlightingwithdimmingthroughout Useoccupancysensorstoautomaticallycontrollightsandtemperature Useraisedflooringwithunderfloorheatingandcoolingthroughout,notjustincomputer rooms. Mostgreenbuildingsdontlookliketypicalofficebuildings.Theyoftenhavestark,modernistic designsandaremadeofspaceagematerials.Ontheinside,therearetypicallylargeopenspaces withmovablewallsystemsandmodularfurniture.Greenbuildingstypicallydonthaveelectric outlets in the wall, but instead have infloor boxes to provide power and data communication. Theyhavefewerelectricaloutletssoemployeescanthavecoffeepots,hotplates,microwaves, orrefrigerators.Also,therearenopersonalheaters,fansordesklamps.Thegeneralruleistwo coffeepotsforeverytwelvepeople.Acoffeemakerusesabout1000wattstobrewanditcycles onandoff.A hotplate isaconstant250watts.Greendatacentersusuallyeliminatepersonal printersformostemployeesandcreatesharedprintingandcopyroomsoneachfloorventeddi rectlytotheoutsidetokeepitcool.Adjustmentisdifficultforemployeeswhohavebeenaccus tomedtoaprivateofficeandnowworkinalargeopenspace.Positivefeaturesofgreenbuild ingsincludelotsofnaturallight,makingmaximumuseofsunlight,fluorescentlightswithauto maticdimmersthatadjusttosunlightandturnoffwhentheroomisunoccupied,andallemploy eespositionedwithin65 feetof natural light.The biggestcomplaints involve lossofpersonal printers,copiersandcoffeepots(Marsan,BuildingsGoGreen). Inanefforttoconserveenergy,Verizonhasreplaced7,000PCsincallcenterswithSunRaythin clients and has also begun a companywide migration to LCD monitors. The thin clients use about 30% less power than PCs and Verizons overall savings is in the neighborhood of $900,000annually(Mitchell,2008). ResearchfirmIDCestimated900milliondesktopsinuseworldwidein2006.Evenifallunits wereEnergyStar2006compliant,theywouldconsume426billionkilowatthoursofpoweran nually.Iftheequipmentmetthe2007EnergyStarspecification,powerconsumptionwouldbe 27%lower.ThatwouldsaveenoughenergytopowerallofSwitzerlandfornearlytwoyearsand cutgreenhousegasemissionsbyabout178billionpounds(Mitchell,p.21). Mitchellgoesontosuggestfivetipstoachieveagreenerdesktop(p.22).Theyinclude:

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1. Doanenergyaudit.Someorganizationshavelearnedthatcomputerequipmentwascon sumingnearlyasmuchpowerafterhoursasitwasduringworkhours. 2. Adoptandenforcepowermanagement.Thegreatestpowersavingsisrealizedwhenyou getsystemstogotosleep.Lenovorecommendsaconfigurationwhereby laptopdisk driversspindownafterfiveminutesofinactivity,monitorsgoblankafter10minutesand machinesgointostandbymodeafterbeinginactivefor20minutes. 3. DumpyourCRTs.Theyareyourbiggestoffendersanduponreplacementwithmoreef ficientLCDs,whichuseaboutonethirdthepower,willproducesubstantialsavingsin electricitycosts. 4. Slimdowntheclient.SelectdesktopcomputersthatareEnergyStar4.0compliant.En ergyStar ratedequipmentcansaveenergyandspaceanddecreasedpowerconsumption willsignificantlyreducetheneedforcoolinginofficeareas.ReplacePCswiththincli entswherepossible. 5. Printmoreefficiently.EnergyStarlabeledmodelscancutenergycostsbyasmuch as5%. Conclusion The U.S. Federal Government, which has tracked energy usage in buildings for more than 20 years,isspearheadingthegreendatacentermovement.TheEPAreportedtoCongressthatthe amountofelectricityused indatacenters morethandoubled between2000and2006(Marsan, GreenDataCenters).Gibson(2007)statedthatsharpspikesindatacenterenergyusehavecap turedtheattentionofITexecutives.However,GartnerGroupanalystSimonMingayreportsthat mostorganizationsmaychoosetopaintitgreen,buttherealityistheyrefocusedonsavingen ergyandthereforemoney.AndtheirwillingnesstocutCO2 emissionsissignificantlylimitedto their interest in cutting their electric bill (Gibson, p. 46). Thus it is widely recognized that IT professionals recognize the environmental impact of IT activities, but most businesses are not willing to spend additional money for ecofriendly measures unless there is a commensurate payback(Gibson,p.53). Organizationsmovingtowardagreendatacentercanclassifyactionstakenasmajor,requiring infrastructurechangesandsignificantcostsorminorrequiringlesscostsbutsometimessignifi cant efforts to change longestablished habits and ways of doing things. Simple changes can makeadifference. ItistheauthorscontentionthatourITrelatededucationalprogramsneedtodevelopasstrong senseofboththemajorandminorinitiativesthatcanbeundertakentoachieveagreenandsus tainable IT environment. Higher education must also demonstrate a sense of commitment to these practices through demonstrated actions. Colleges and universities are charged with the awesometaskofdevelopingtheleadersoftomorrow.Buildingastrongsenseofawarenessof greenandsustainablepracticesmayproducesomemagnificentideasforconservationofenergy andpreservationofourenvironment. References

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Baines,Stewart.(2007)."TheGreeningofIT:WhyLessisMore."Silicon.Com.13Aug.2007. Accessed18Jan.2008<hardware.silicon.com/servers/0,39024647,39168119,00.htm>. Bramfitt,Mark.(2007)."TurningGreen,OneWorkstationAtaTime."ITBusinessEdge. 10Oct.2007.Accessed18Jan.2008<www.itbusinessedge.com/item/?ci=34562&sr=1>. CoyotePoint.(2008). CostEffectiveScalingwithVirtualizationandCoyotePointSystems.San Jose:CoyotePointSystems,2008.28.Accessed18Jan.2008<www.coyotepoint.com>. Dietrich, Jay and Schmidt, Roger.(May 2007). The Green Data Center. IBM Global Ser vices.Accessed18Jan.2008<ibm.com/cio> Douglas, Dave. (2006). Sustainable IT Goodfor Business and the Environment. Gartner Newsletter.29Nov.2006. Gibson,Stan.(2008)."HowGreenisYourITValley?"EWeek21Jan.2008:4653. Godrich,Kfir.(2008)."DataCenterstoBecomeEnergyStars."ITBusinessEdge.28Sept.2007. Accessed18Jan.2008<www.itbusinessedge.com/item/?ci=34049>. GreenerComputing.com.(2007)."EmersonFindsGreenDataCentersClimbDespiteObstacles." GreenBix.Com. 24 Sept. 2007. Accessed 18 Jan. 2008 <www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=35956&CFID=6660403&CFTOKE N=66095596>. Hall,Mark,andHayes,Frank.(2008)."FaceOff:Virtualization."ComputerWorld 1Jan.2008:pp.2224. Marsan, Carolyn D. (2007). "Greenest Data Centers: What Works." Network World, 3 Dec. 2007:pp.2226. Marsan, Carolyn D. (2007). Buildings Go Green, Employees See Red. Network World, 3 Dec,2007:p.1. Mines, Christopher, Brown, Eric and Lee, Christina. (2007). Creating the Green IT Action Plan. Cambridge: Forrester Research, Inc. (October 19, 2007). Accessed April 2008 <www.forrester.com>. Mitchell, Robert L. (2008). "Tips for a Leaner, Greener Desktop." Computer World, 4 Feb. 2008:pp.2024. Nordman,Bruce.(2007)."DataCenterEfficiency:ManyGoodThingsforThoseWhoSave."IT BusinessEdge.6Sept.2007.LawrenceBerkeleyNationalLaboratory.Accessed18Jan. 2008<www.itbusinessedge.com/item/?ci=33213&sr=1>. Samson,Ted.(2007)."GreenTechVs.SustainableTech."InfoWorld.8Oct.2007.Accessed 18Jan.2008<www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp>.

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Walsh, Katherine.(2007)."ABC:anIntroductiontoEnvironmentallySustainableIT."CIO.29 Oct.2007.Access Weinberg,Neal.(2008).EightHotTechnologiesfor2008. NetworkWorld."7Jan2008:p.1

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