Green IT Seen as Priority, But Little Action Taken: Survey

Published April 17, 2008

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Although most IT professionals and executives are concerned about rising energy expenses from data centers and growing demand for data processing, few have plans or are even putting green computing practices in place, says a new Lean & Green Report.

Lean & Green: Reducing IT Energy Drain for Business Gain, is part of the Lean & Green Leadership project by the Business Performance Management Forum and BlueArc Corporation. The program is gathering information on issues and opportunities within green computing and aims to educate companies about the benefits of green IT.

The latest report surveyed more than 150 IT professionals online and through meetings. While almost 75 percent said green computing is at least somewhat of a priority and about half said it's important or essential, 41 percent have specific green plans and 42 percent have set no or moderate goals.

Even though many have not set goals, most feel green IT can be beneficial for the budget, with 20 percent thinking their organizations could save $100,000 or more a year and 6 percent saying they could save $10 million a year.

Even in the face of rising energy costs, companies are increasing their consumption of energy for power, cooling and lighting as well as consumption of space. Energy efficiency has been given more priority, with 60 percent of companies taking efficiency into account when purchasing new equipment.

The report includes summaries of some of the executive dialogs looking at specific companies' IT concerns and actions, along with a white paper, Taming the Data Center Colossus, giving a deeper look at data center issues.

Report: Mutual Funds More Supportive of Climate Change Resolutions Climate Based on votes from the last four years, mutual fund firms are less opposed to climate change resolutions, though the industry has a long way to go still....	Canada Could be First to Call Bisphenol A Toxic Business Health Canada is expected to label bisphenol A, a common chemical in reusable water bottles, baby bottles and numerous other items, as a toxic chemical, prompting retailers to purge their shelves of BPA-containing items....
Hearst Tower Aims for Zero Waste with Recycling, Composting Programs Buildings The Hearst Corporation's headquarters has started a composting program aimed at keeping 95 percent of its food waste out of landfills....	Carbon Disclosure Project, IBM Research Carbon Management Practices Climate By interviewing companies with a history of carbon measuring and reporting, IBM and the Carbon Disclosure Project hope to provide best practices and insight into carbon management tactics....
Nike Works to Green its Supply Chain in Asia Business Nike has teamed with four contract factories in China and Vietnam to help the facilities become more energy efficient....	Agilewaves' Software Measures Green Roof Performance Buildings Agilewaves Inc. has deployed a building monitoring system on an elementary school to measure the structure's resource consumption and green building features while teaching students about design and conservation....
All Corsair Power Supply Units Awarded 80 Plus Certification Computer components maker Corsair has received 80 Plus certification, a rating used to show energy efficiency, of all of its power supplies....	U.S. Senate Approves Extension of Renewable Energy Credits Business The U.S. Senate voted to extend renewable energy tax credits that, if passed into law, would pump an estimated $6 billion into renewable projects over the next decade....

News

Green IT Seen as Priority, But Little Action Taken: Survey