College and university IT body JISC says higher education organisations should consider ten green IT processes to cut their carbon footprints and save cash.

JISC says UK universities and colleges are under mounting pressure from government, regulatory sources and the public to cut their carbon emissions.

Through its Climate Change Act (2008), the UK government has a target to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. JISC says the education sector has therefore been asked to devise strategies that will make real energy savings.

According to the JISC SusteIT sustainable IT report about half of the ICT-related energy consumption in UK further and higher education institutions is accounted for by PCs.

In response to this, JISC has released its ‘Top Tips for a sustainable IT department’.

Steps include enabling remote PC power-down for computers, document printers and copiers, and other equipment when not in use.

According to the Carbon Trust, an average computer suite of 50 terminals can save nearly 40 tonnes of carbon a year just by switching equipment off when not in use. As many colleges run hundreds of PCs the potential savings are significant. JISC says printers and copiers should be set to duplex and monochrome printing by default.

JISC also recommends that IT managers and CIOs should investigate moving to thin-client devices, which rely on a server for delivering their applications on demand and for their main storage. Colleges should also consider moving all their servers to dedicated data centres, designed to specifically run large servers more efficiently.

In addition, higher education sectors should also look at investing in more sophisticated and intelligent  IT infrastructures that enable better remote conferencing and wider flexible home working. 

Robert Bristow, programme manager for JISC says, “IT systems are a huge drain on energy resources within the higher education sector. There are many energy savings therefore to be made just by introducing simple measures that make IT systems more efficient and agile."

JISC’s ‘Top Tips for a sustainable IT department’

1. Enable PC Powerdown for devices not in use
2. Investigate moving to thin-client devices or more efficient thick-client devices
3. Extend life of equipment
4. Consolidate and virtualise servers. Get servers out of departments and offices into properly designed data centres
5. Implement hot/cold aisle separation and containment. Look at the possibility of direct cooling of racks.
6. Install more efficient power supply units (PSU) and uninterruptible power supply systems (UPS)
7. Consolidate printers and enable duplex and monochrome printing by default
8. Reduce travel by maximising the opportunities for remote conferencing and flexible and home working
9. De-duplicate and rationalise data storage
10. Rationalise and simplify IT systems and architectures

For More Top Tips on reducing your CO2 Emissions, download the "Top 10 Tips for Reducing CO2 Emissions Article"