Green IT: Looking Beyond the Data Center

Published December 02, 2008

For IT departments, the first response to the emergence of "green IT" has been to focus on data center energy consumption. And many programs have never moved beyond that. But the reality is companies can do much more to reduce IT's environmental footprint while significantly reducing costs.

The answer lies in sustainable computing practices, considered the next phase in the evolution of green IT. Sustainable computing takes a more fundamental approach to green IT by emphasizing the value of the three R's -- reducing the demand for new technology by extending equipment lifecycles; reusing assets when possible through redeployment, resale or charitable donation; and ensuring a zero-impact approach to recycling.

These sustainable computing practices are laid out in a just-released, Redemtech-sponsored IDC white paper, Beyond Power: IT's Roadmap to Sustainable Computing.

As outlined in the paper, few organizations have fully leveraged the benefits of Sustainable Computing to date because green IT is still relatively immature, but pockets of excellence have emerged that demonstrate just how powerful these practices can be in their environmental, financial and social impact. And adoption of these practices is expected to accelerate as pressure grows on businesses from customers, investors and government regulators to reconsider current practices.

Think Environmentally

When it comes to environmental objectives, the ultimate goal is to minimize the factors that contribute to the global climate problem and prevent waste from poisoning the environment or harming human health. While carbon emission is one of the primary culprits, eliminating harm from e-waste is another important goal. Many organizations believe they have already accomplished this objective, but according to the Basel Action Network, 80 percent of the e-waste collected for recycling is exported overseas where dismantling shops lack the processes to prevent hazardous materials from harming workers and the environment.

The first step in addressing this issue is to look for ways to extend the life of IT hardware. This reduces the demand for new hardware and amortizes the environmental impact of manufacturing over a longer period. Many organizations are surprised to discover how resource-intensive computer manufacturing is: According to the United Nations University, a PC requires as much raw material as a mid-size automobile to manufacture, while 81 percent of the energy it uses over its lifetime is consumed during production.

With IT budgets tightening, lifecycle extension may prove to be a necessity for many organizations. This practice reduces total cost of ownership and also diverts capital expense, making it an effective and sustainable green IT strategy.

Lifecycle extension can be supported by a proactive program that drives greater reuse of IT assets, both inside and outside the corporate enterprise. Redeploying IT equipment to other areas of the company that can still obtain value out of them can go a long way in controlling carbon emissions, waste and cost. Done correctly, it should include testing, cleaning and refurbishment, upgrade of the equipment as necessary and re-kitting with new peripherals to ensure end-user satisfaction.

Charitable donation and remarketing are also effective strategies for reducing the volume of e-waste entering the waste stream. Remarketing allows companies to obtain some replacement value to offset total cost of ownership for equipment that has no internal reusability and would otherwise need to be donated or recycled. Charitable donation can also help divert computers from the waste stream while supporting social responsibility objectives. In both cases, testing and reconditioning of the equipment is critical to ensure a productive secondary life, while effective data sanitization is a must. Take-back of donated systems is also important to closing the environmental liability.

Act Socially

While proper lifecycle management can greatly boost a company's ecological and environmental sustainability position, it can also contribute to achieving goals on the social front. This can be accomplished through managed proactive donations, avoiding unethical labor practices and controlling unethical exports.

David Daoud is a research manager with IDC and one of the lead authors of Beyond Power: IT’s Roadmap to Sustainable Computing, IDC Doc #214526, Oct 2008, available from Redemtech at www.redemtech.com/beyondpower.

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