Over the next few months, I will devote at least one article per month on simple, inexpensive energy saving tips to implement now that will produce real, measureable, quick energy savings, monetary gains, & greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. These are suggestions that will not “put out” your staff, but make you look like a hero.
Turn your PCs off at night.
According to the Alliance to Save Energy’s 2009 report: (http://web51305.aiso.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/1E_PC_Energy_Report_2009_US.pdf), about half of all PCs used in U.S. offices, about 108 million corporate PCs and monitors, are left on overnight and on weekends. To make this more understandable, this would cost an organization with 1,000 PCs left on overnight and weekends about $22,000 to $36,000 per year based on a typical range of electricity unit costs. Again, this is money being spent for electricity that is not doing the organization any good.
Since the 2009 report, some, but limited, progress has been made in turning PCs off when not in use, but with the growing number of units, PCs drawing power when not on are still a major waste of electricity. Changing culture is difficult, but a contributor to this problem is that many IT departments specifically instruct users to leave PCs on all night so that they can implement system upgrades overnight and not disturb anybody’s use.
The solution, like many things, may be new technology. New power management software can allow IT departments to remotely “wake up” computers that are powered off in the middle of the night to centrally upgrade or install programs, then put all computers back to sleep before employees arrive to turn on their equipment.
Dell Computers is reportedly saving $1.8 million per year in avoided costs implementing this software for its 50,000 computers with a healthy payback (6 to 12 months).
Bonus energy saving tip: Buy Energy Star-labeled PCs and monitors.
Work with your Purchasing Dept to buy only Energy Star-labeled PCs as you replace existing units. According to Energy Star (http://www.energystar.gov), a PC that meets the new Energy Star 5.0 criteria uses 30-65% less electricity than a standard model. So while such a PC may cost a little more, it is likely to enable you to make back the extra money invested in one to two years. Since the average PC lasts 4 years, that would be 2 to 3 years of savings, not to mention an effortless way to also reduce GHG emissions.
CCES has experience in performing a site-specific energy audit and provide specific suggestions to reduce your energy usage, saving you money and with a good ROI.