Peterborough Council makes PCs greener

Peterborough City Council will cut the running costs of its PC infrastructure by £50,000 and reduced CO2 emissions by one metric tonne per year by centrally shutting down every machine.

The council is using a Windows software management application called NightWatchman from supplier 1E to do this.

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The unitary council employs 4,500 staff and serves 170,000 residents. It estimates 30 per cent of its PCs are being left on overnight and at weekends. The saving means that the investment is set to be recouped in less than three months.

Peterborough City Council head of ICT Nigel Green said in a statement: "When combined with carbon emission savings and better delivery to our in-house customers, this has proven to be one of our best-ever investment decisions."

Although a worthy effort, it may seem like a drop in the ocean. According to research released in October of last year from the National Energy Foundation and 1E, employees who don't turn off their PCs at the end of the day contribute 700,000 tonnes of CO2 per year to UK business emissions. The report compared this to the annual emissions of 120,000 4x4s.

Using the management system, Peterborough Council will be able to turn all PCs within its buildings off at the end of the day centrally at a specified time. The system makes sure that all work is saved and closes down applications safely.