1. GREEN IT at University
of Bahrain
By Jaflah AlAmmary

2. Energy consumption and
subsequent carbon dioxide
emission from ICT at UOB

3. Info-tech (2007) Identified 11 technologies and initiatives as
indicators of Green IT. These include
•Equipment recycling,
•Server consolidation and virtualization
•Print optimization
•Rightsizing IT equipment
•Green considerations in sourcing and RFPs
•Budget allocation for Green IT projects
•Carbon offsetting
•Data center : (Liquid cooling for IT equipment, DC powered IT
equipment, Airside/waterside economizer, Data centre airflow
management, Optimizing data centre energy efficiency, Hot aisle/cool
aisle data centre layout (Hot aisle/cold aisle is a layout design for
server racks and other computing equipment in a data center. The
goal of a hot aisle/cold aisle configuration is to conserve energy and
lower cooling costs by managing air flow)

4. • Going green in the data centre have many facets
such as reducing overall power consumption,
maximizing power utilization, reducing the amount
of hardware via consolidation, and decreasing the
amount of storage required to meet data
processing requirements”
• In the data centre, going green is about energy
efficiency first and foremost. Fortunately, efficiency
is a natural by-product of solving the cooling,
power and space challenges that today’s data
centres face. Brocade (2007) Mitchell (2008)

5. • Whilst some have argued that eco-
responsibility is simply hype and that
mist companies don’t have any actual
plans in place (Mazenier, 2007)
• And there’s more awareness then ever
about what organisations can do to
“green” their operations and reduce
their impact on environment.

6. Drivers for uptake of green
technology (multiple answers
allowed, top 4 below) (Mazenier, 2007)
- Reduce power consumption 75%
- Lower costs 73%
- Lower carbon emissions and
environmental impact (e.g. recycling)
56%
- Improved systems performance and
utilization 55%

7. • Strategies that would help green
the IT department (multiple answers
allowed, top 4 below)
• - Energy efficiency technologies 80%
- Power cooling solutions 63%
- Systems virtualisation 60%
- Data centre consolidation 48%

8. • It is encouraging that many businesses have green
initiatives in place but it is not surprising that taking
the next step and introducing green technology, is
lagging behind. Companies need to act now, as for a
large organisation it can take up to 18 months to green
the IT department and data centre.
• The research report said that although there was still a
gap between awareness and action, this gap had
narrowed in the past six months.

9. • Cost continues to be the core underlying motivation
behind the implementation of green IT," said report
author Daniel Krauss. "While this is understandable,
especially during a time of budget restraint, we expect
to see other motivations like brand perception increase
in the future as green IT plays a more holistic role
within the overall sustainability strategy of
organisations."

11. CompliancePillars of the Green
IT Framework
Invest in up-to-date IT hardware, which typically consumes less energy than older
models. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star qualification also shows
products that meet stringent energy consumption guidelines.
End users should be familiar with the energy settings on their computers and use
options that are appropriate for their function and style.
Screen savers should be disabled. Instead, monitors should be put to sleep after
periods of inactivity.
Devices that can be completely powered off during non-work hours can be
consolidated onto power strips, which should be completely unplugged during non-use
to avoid drawing standby power. This only applies to non-compute devices, such as
printers or chargers.
Companies that have data centers (which consume up to 100 times the energy of
typical buildings) should first determine the heat profile of the data center since cooling
is an important factor. The heat profile is based on the floorplan, arrangement of
servers, and types of loads for each server. A tool such as AdaptivCool’s Demand
Based Cooling can help model data center heat so that a proper solution can be
planned.

12. From a sourcing perspective, Green IT implies the practice of
environmentally preferable IT purchasing. This
involves adoption of sourcing practices such as analysis of the
environmental foot print of an IT hardware
supply chain, evaluation of the green track record of software and IT
services providers, incorporating green
issues (such as recyclable design and packaging) in vendor evaluation, and
inclusion of social concerns (such as
use of child labour and presence of harmful materials in IT supply chain) in
IT procurement decisions. It also
covers an assessment of the environmental performance of products such
as the adoption of the Electronic
Product Environmental Assessment tool (Info~Tech, 2007b). Further,
developing a clear policy statement on
environmental IT purchasing and Green IT request for proposals can be
used as indications of Green IT
adoption.

13. From an operation perspective, Green IT implies improving energy
efficiency in powering and cooling
corporate IT assets and reducing IT induced greenhouse gas
emissions. Rasmussen (2006) identifies two types
of energy consumption reduction- temporary and structural
consumption avoidance. While temporary
avoidance refers to optimization of energy utilisation without reducing
the installed power base, structural
avoidance results in reduction in installed power capacity. A number
of green technologies and practices related to the two categories can
be used as indications of the adoption of Green IT operation. Some of
these are outlined in table one (Info~Tech, 2007c). Others include
carbon offset programs (ACS, 2007), right-sizing the
network critical physical infrastructure (NCPI) system to IT load,
upgrading to energy efficient servers, retiring
old systems, using efficient NCPI devices, and designing energy
efficient systems (Rasmussen (2006).

14. From a service perspective, Green IT refers to the role of IT in supporting
a business’s overall sustainability
initiatives. Adopting a Green IT from a services perspective therefore
includes adoption of analytical tools for
green supply chain management, environmental management and carbon
foot print analysis. It also includes ICT
based low carbon business solutions such as video-conferencing, thin
client and web based business services,
virtual collaboration and IP telephony (Olson, 2008; Nunn, 2007; ACS,
2007). Adoption of Green IT systems
that integrate information from Green IT sourcing and operation
technologies for management decision making
is also another dimension (Mines, 2008). Further, desktop virtualization,
and policies and practices for corporate
wide PC power management, PC use and print optimisation regimes can
be included in this category.

15. From end of IT life management perspective, Green IT refers to
practices in reusing, recycling and disposing IT
hardware. Due to the growth and rapid change of ICTs, electronic
devices are making up the fastest growing
proportion of waste materials (Kangand and Schoenung, 2005).
Paradoxically, green IT initiatives to replace IT
equipment with more energy efficient equipment would generate a
surge in electronic waste and consume
additional resources if equipment is replaced before the end of its
natural life., unless complemented with would
generate Some of these include hazardous materials and can
contribute to a firms total environmental foot print.
For example, UK’s retailer Marks and Spencer has set an ambitious
plan to be carbon neutral and aims that none
of its waste (including IT) goes to landfills (Accenture, 2007). Leading IT
vendors such as Sun, IBM and EDS
and services providers such as Accenture have adopted e-waste
recycling programs (Mines, 2008).

16. Why going green it
• Setting a positive example for
employees which boosts morale and
company loyalty
• • Gaining a competitive advantage by
differentiating yourself as a Green-
certify company
• • Improving efficiency and potentially
lowering operating costs
• • Providing a cleaner and healthier
work environment