Sustainable ICT for Universities & Colleges: Reduce Energy, Cut CO2 Emissions, Save Money

1. Nicola Hogan, EAUC’s Sustainable ICT Project Manager • Rob Bristow, e-administration Programme Manager JISC

2. Its not easy being Green …or is IT ? • Answer is YES , it is easy. It requires time, effort and organisation but its not rocket science. Most green ICT initiatives involve doing nothing (not engaging in wasteful behaviour) • NOT turning on PC, TV, lights when not needed, • NOT printing on paper, instead saving information electronically, • NOT travelling long distances for meetings, instead communicating via V.C.

3. What is Sustainability ? “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs”… Brundtland Report • Reduction of consumption, in everything we do including our use of ICT related equipment. • Less materials used in manufacture = less expensive product = less of an impact on the environment. • ICT equipment manufactured & used more efficiently = less energy used = less CO2 emissions created.

4. ICT use impact on the environment The extraction and processing of materials that goes into the manufacture of ICT equipment has a very heavy environmental footprint • A study (IVF, 2007) a European PC and 17” monitor = 20kgs of materials. • A PC & Monitor’s life cycle will include the disposal of 37kgs of non hazardous waste and 0.7kgs of hazardous waste.

5. ICT use impact on the environment The production of a PC & monitor will consume.. • 3,244 mega joules of energy • 920 litres of process water Create.. • 193 kgs of greenhouse gasses • also release heavy metals, contribute to acid rain and other air, soil and water pollutants. We still need to educate and research via the use of technology, just more sustainably.

6. How this project helps institutions To help Universities and Colleges across the UK become more sustainable in their choice and use of ICT systems • To reduce their energy use • To reduce their CO2 emissions • To save money on their energy bills.. U&C’s will also benefit from… • Improving their “green credentials” : increase in college applications, help with funding and avoid penalties.

7. Sustainable ICT Options …“printing is out of control”… Possible sustainable options are : Printing Centers : Having a centralized printing center is more efficient in terms of • 1 Energy use : switch to powersave, economode or switch off • 2. Paper use : setting printers to print double sided by default, reuse scrap paper, monitor paper use.

8. Sustainable ICT Options • PC Power-down: Computers that automatically shut off when not in use. • Virtualization : Applies to Serversand Data Centers : where servers used to perform only 1 function now it serves 2 or 3 and operates more efficiently, is smaller in size, is typically no longer on site. Not having a large number of servers means not paying for its associated running costs i.e. energy, space, staff and air conditioning systems.

9. Sustainable ICT Options • Cloud Computing : Computer resources are delivered over the Internet by external service providers. University e-mail address, university linked schedules, timesheets etc., the responsibility for delivering the service will be given to a service provider such as Google or Amazon. Mix & Match of sustainable ICT, implement more than one sustainable option and all have proven successful in CO2 emission reduction.

10. Successful Sustainable ICT examples • Stevenson College: Anticipating a cost savings of £70,000, in reduced energy costs since using server virtualization. • QMU : Did a complete refurb. on their ICT systems when moving to a new campus : replaced conventional PC’s with thin client ones and installed automatic shutdown of non 24/7 PC hardware. • They reduced their energy consumption by 191,438 kWh ; CO2 emission reduction of 102,806 and saved £22,973 on running costs since 2007.

11. Successful Sustainable ICT examples • Angus College : Reduced overall ICT power consumption by 15% through power-down • West Lothian College : Replaced their server room door with a vented door , thus reducing AC running costs by 20%. * Reduction in energy use were calculated using previous years energy bills and comparing difference in running costs etc.

12. The use of the Suste-IT Tool Very straight forward : Gather your institutions ICT system baseline-dataset. Your data should include facts and figures on : number of ICT equipment pieces, energy usage (kWh’s) and running times (hrs) of your HPC’s, Servers, PC’s & Monitors, Networks, Phones, Imaging, and AV equipment.

13. Sustainable ICT Options U&C’s will achieve savings in.. • Energy costs…running ICT systems and associated costs : cooling the server rooms, lighting computer rooms, etc. • Space…no longer need as much server rooms, desk space for PC and printers are reduced etc. • Staff… staff’s time is freed-up by not having to deal with as many technical issues. • CO2 emissions

14. Sustainable ICT Options The SusteIT Tool is very user friendly : with 1.sections of information for guidance 2. all ICT equipment listed 3. easy to flip between data sheets 4. Colour co-ordinated for ease of use Yellow : Energy Use; Blue: Number of pieces of equipment, Green: Categories of equipment. www.susteit.org/files/category.php.cat?ID4

15. To summarise .. • The SUSTE-TECH project’s aim is also to promote the use of greener technology in U& C. • We want to know what institutions are doing to green their ICT systems, what difficulties they faced, how they overcame them, what issues they still face, … how the JISC Programme can help. • We also want to know about institutions that “failed” and why so we don’t waste time repeating those mistakes ….or reinventing the wheel

16. The EAUC • What is EAUC, : Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges, • was launched in 1996, staff of 10 and growing, • offices in Cheltenham and Scotland. • What are its aims : Raising the profile of environmental management and facilitate improvement of environmental performance in member institutions.

17. The EAUC Initially this aim was achieved through : • Providing a forum for the sharing of experiences and information between different colleges and universities (swapping case studies and information) but has expanded to include information and guidance on … • Procurement, Environmental Legislation, ICT technologies and research that enables universities and colleges to improve their environmental performance.

18. The EAUC EAUC Membership: Universities and Colleges can apply as a member (FE and HE sector) or • Can apply as an associate member (government organisations, local council, charity etc.) • EAUC have in total almost 300 Universities & Colleges as paid members and over 60 associate members from various sectors of industry. • How do you become a member? : By paying an annual subscription.

19. The EAUC EAUC achievements : Green Gowns Awards, : • Universities are awarded for their environmental performance and business are allowed to sponsor these events and in doing so link up with Universities & Colleges.

20. The EAUC • Resource Bank : Information on all areas of campus sustainability. • UCCCF : Scottish institutions committing to reduce their CO2 emssions • CPD : Continuing Professional Development etc

21. 15 Annual Conference is taking place at the University of York from April 11th -13th, 2011. Don’t miss it. Your opportunity to come together with associate members, businesses and government organisation etc., to network, attend workshops and see how they showcase their work . It will be attended by Senior Management, Academics, Sustainability Professionals, Funding and Awards Bodies, Local Authorities and Sector Suppliers etc. The EAUC

22. Contact Details Nicola Hogan’s Contact Details. • E-mail : Nhogan@eauc.org.uk • Phone : (01242) 714321 • Twitter: NicICT • Web page www.eauc.org.uk/greening_ict_with_jisc • JISC:www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/greeningict.aspx