Developing Green IT Standards & Initiatives

The field of sustainability is new to business in general and even newer for IT departments. Best practises and standards are still in the earliest stages of development. Some emerging standards and initiatives are described below. We anticipate there will be many more developments in the next 6 months.

Energy Star
In July 2007, Energy Star 4.0 came into effect with more stringent requirements for computers and other office equipment. In order for an electronic device to meet the standard, it has to be capable of going into sleep mode when not in use for a period of time however it does not require that the settings be enabled. It is up to the organization or individual to enable the settings that would make it Energy Star compliant. This has been the biggest criticism of the Energy Star program for computers. Most systems these days are compliant but many do not have the power management options enabled.  Energy Star 5.0 is now in the final stages of review.

EPEAT
The Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), based on IEEE 1860, is the fastest developing standard to assess the environmental performance of desktops, laptops and monitors. EPEAT is a voluntary reporting standard with after-market verification that manufacturers register their systems against 23 required and 28 optional performance criteria. To meet the Bronze level the product must meet the 23 required criteria. To meet the Silver level the product must meet 14 optional criteria in addition to the required criteria. The Gold level requires the product to meet 18 or more optional criteria in addition to the required criteria¹. Dell, HP, MDG and Lenovo all have desktop systems that meet the EPEAT Gold level standard and the numbers are growing quickly. For example, HP has released the rp5700 desktop system (registered at the Gold level) that is built with 95% recyclable components and a tool-less chassis for quick disassembly. In addition, the system is packaged in more easily recyclable products and includes already recycled materials².

The Government of Canada has used the EPEAT tool in RFPs for solutions and the US Federal Government has issued an order that requires federal agencies to purchase at least 95% EPEAT-registered products². In addition, the Electronic Products Stewardship Council (EPSC) in Canada has endorsed EPEAT3. As EPEAT was developed with significant input from industry, manufacturers are keen to register their products. As such, it likely that EPEAT will become the de facto standard over the next several years. The Green Electronics Council, who manages and operates EPEAT, is now considering expanding to other electronic devices. While Energy Star is a certification program for energy efficiency, it does not measure any of the other environmental impacts that IT equipment has on the environment such as the raw materials used to manufacture or the waste at end-of-life. EPEAT measures the full scope of environmental impacts in additional to energy efficiency.

Restrictions on Hazardous Substances
Restrictions on Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS, pronounced ‘rose’) is a directive implemented in the EU in June 2006⁴ to “ban sale of electrical and electronic equipment that contains more than the agreed upon levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB), and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PDBE) flame retardants⁵.” As a result of this directive, many manufacturers have taken steps to ensure their products can be sold in both European markets and North American markets. As such, many products are available in North America that meet the directive. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) is UK initiative and is focussed on the end-of-life management of products⁴.

The WEEE Directive came into force in January 2007 and requires distributors to allow consumers to return their waste equipment back with no charge⁶. The goal of the program is to “minimise the impact of electrical and electronic goods on the environment, by increasing re-use and recycling and reducing the amount of WEEE going to landfill.” The primary method for achieving this goal is to make manufacturers responsible for the costs involved in collecting, treating and recovering electronic waste. This is the precursor for the voluntary take-back programs implemented in North America. Eco-labeling In order to make it easier for consumers to choose environmentally friendlier products, there is a great deal of discussion around what is called eco-labeling. Essentially, the idea is to produce a label that would quickly tell a consumer about the standards the products meets and/or its environmental footprint similar to food labels. Although no consensus has been reached yet, some standards have recognizable logos (e.g. Energy Star) that are being used to market the status of a product.

Green Data Centres and the Green Grid Consortium
Recently data centre managers have been concerned about the long term availability and stability of energy supply. Data centres are growing exponentially and facilities managers are trying to cope with the requirements for growing operational and backup energy supplies. As a result, technology companies such as HP, Sun Microsystems and IBM who each have their own massive data centres are developing ways to reduce, conserve and consolidate data centres. Recently the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the US published a report recommending that data centre best practises and standardized performance metrics be developed and shared across organizations. Gartner believes there needs to be a sense of urgency in this area as approximately 70% of Global 1000 companies will need new facilities in next 5 years – now is the time to be developing stringent new standards⁷. Many industry experts anticipate an energy crisis before regulations come into effect, thus companies are taking the initiative to mitigate the risk.

The Green Grid is a non-profit consortium IT professionals and organizations with the goal to reduce power consumption in the world’s data centres. The consortium has been working to develop standards, best practises and metrics to enhance the efficiency of data centres. So far, the consortium has agreed upon two basic metrics for data centres, Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) and its reciprocal, Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency (DCiE). PUE is calculated by dividing the total facility power (for the data centre) by the power required for IT equipment. Calculating the reciprocal, DCiE, and multiplying by 100% results in the percentage of total power demanded that is required for IT equipment⁸.

For example, it the PUE were equal to 3.0, this would indicate that the facility requires 3 times as much power as is required to meet the core business of IT equipment power. A lower number indicates a more efficient data center. Organizations can use these metrics to compare their performance with other data centers and track progress over time. Obtaining more details on these metrics requires a membership. To become a general member requires an application and a $5000 membership fee. To be a contributor requires a more strict application and a $25,000 membership fee. The recent EPA report appears to be encouraging the sharing of information with the broader public but so far the Green Grid consortium remains strictly applicable to large data centres that can afford to join⁷. The PUE metric developed by Green Grid is no doubt useful where the facility is dedicated or nearly dedicated to a data centre. It becomes less useful in small organizations where the server room is a small part of the overall operation. However, in principle the DCiE metric can be useful in understanding IT’s role in an organization’s power consumption

Climate Savers Computing Initiative
In June of 2007, Intel, Google, Dell, EDS, EPA, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft, PG&E, Wildlife Fund and others joined together to create the Climate Savers Computing Initiative (the Initiative). The initiative was started based on the World Wildlife Fund’s Climate Savers program. The goal is to “[…] save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by setting aggressive new targets for energy-efficient computers and components, and promoting the adoption of energy-efficient computers and power management tools worldwide⁹.” Based on the statistics that more than half of the power supplied to computers is wasted, Climate Savers Computing Initiative is attempting to encourage research and development into more energy-efficient equipment. The Initiative is also encouraging companies to “[…] commit to optimizing its existing systems, […] and pledge to purchase more energy-efficient systems in the future.” Depending on the type of organization (computer/server buyer, computer/server manufacturer, energy company, or environmental organization), the initiative sets targets for both energy usage reduction and procurement activities over the next 4-5 years. Organizations can pledge their commitment to the targets and in return they can have their name listed on the website. The Initiative proposes to meet the targets for 50% reduction in computing energy consumption by 2010⁹.

As the targets are posted on the website, organizations who would like to use the targets but are not comfortable committing publicly, the Initiative is an excellent information source. The impact of the initiative is yet to be seen as there are questions as to the motives of the companies behind the Initiative. Other initiatives encouraging companies to commit to principles or broad goals voluntarily have had varying degrees of success and generally become obsolete once the initiative’s goals become part of mainstream management goals.

Carbon Disclosure Project
The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is a not-for-profit organization with the goal to increase transparency in the market place by encouraging companies to disclose their carbon emissions. The CDP is “[…] an independent global initiative that aims to inform investors of the risks and opportunities presented by climate change in the corporate world.¹⁰” Each year, the organization sends out questionnaires to large corporations and requests a response with information about their global greenhouse gas emissions. The responses (totalling over 2400 in 2007) are evaluated, graded and published in a report. The results are available to the public to view and can provide a valuable source for information when making purchasing decisions. In the most recent round of reports, known as CPD5, HP (along with others) received the top mark of 100 on the Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI). Other technology companies such as Dell, IBM and Microsoft followed at 90 points¹¹.

Offsets and Green Power Certificates
It is impossible to talk about sustainability initiatives without talking about carbon offsets and green power certificates. Experts advise a cautious and carefully considered approach to carbon offsets and green power certificate programs because they have been used by some organizations to side-step perceived responsibilities. However, there is a recognition that when coupled with emissions and energy reduction programs, they can provide an opportunity to promote responsibility for the energy consumption you are not able to reduce. Offsets and green power certificates can also be used to buy an organization time to implement a Green IT program if immediate action is demanded. However, once again it can backfire to become a strike against the business rather than a progressive step.

Resources
1.  Omelchuck, Jeff. “Green Electronics Council: The EPEAT Host Organization.” [Online] Available
http://www.cec.org/files/PDF/JPAC/GEC-EPEAT-JPAC-Pres.pdf
March 28, 2006
2.  “Annual Report Monitors Green Buying Patterns and Trends.” Government Procurement, June 2007, pg. 14
3.  “Designing for the Environment: How Canada’s information and communications technology and consumer electronics industries are demonstrating leadership in protecting our environment.” Electronic Products Stewardship Council, October 2006
4.  Esty, Daniel C., Winston, Andrew S. "Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value , and Build Competitive Advantage".  New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.
5.  RoHS website http://www.rohs.gov.uk/, [Online] Available November 2007
6.  WEEE Directive website http://www.dti.gov.uk/innovation/sustainability/weee/page30269.html [Online] Available November 2007
7.  Kumar, R., Mingay, S. “EPA’s Data Center Report Misses an Opportunity.” Gartner Research, August 9, 2007
8.  “The Green Grid Data Center Power Efficiency Metrics: PUE and DCiE,” The Green Grid [Online] Available http://www.thegreengrid.org/gg_content/TGG_Data_Center_Power_Efficiency_Metrics_PUE_and_DCiE.pdf , November 2007
9.  Climate Savers Computing Initiative website www.climatesaverscomputing.org, [Online] Available November 2007
10.  Carbon Disclosure Project website http://www.cdproject.net, [Online] Available November 2007
11.  “Carbon Disclosure Project Report 2007: Global FT500,” Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, [Online] Available http://www.cdproject.net/cdp5reports.asp November 2007