Green IT

Carbon footprint in IT

ICT in UK higher education has a large carbon footprint. It is estimated that in the sector there are one and a half million computers, 250,000 printers and 240,000 servers which collectively produce 500,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.

Here at Nottingham we are developing a number of programmes to reduce the environmental impact of our IT use, including the following.

• Data centre management ─ utilising best practice design to reduce energy demand and thermal loss from data centres
• Free cooling ─ saving power by supplementing air conditioning requirements by using cooler air from outside during cooler months
• Server virtualisation ─ maximising the use of servers, thereby reducing the number of servers required and reducing energy demand
• Buying green ─ our procurement process ensures that we purchase low power demand equipment which takes into account whole life costing and sustainable end of life processes
• Power management ─ rolling out a power management system to ensure that student computers are fully turned off after a defined period of inactivity and that staff computers are used as efficiently as possible through reducing unnecessary out of hours up-time
• Printing ─ actively encouraging a move away from single printer options towards multifunction devices with duplex printing by default. Recycled paper is used in all printers and photocopiers managed by Information Services
• Travel reduction ─ reducing the need to travel through promoting video conferencing and Skype technology