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This story was printed from silicon.com, located at http://www.silicon.com/

Story URL: http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/leanandgreen/0,3800014367,39169713,00.htm

Green IT can shave 20 per cent off costs
Green fingered tech key to sustainability

By Nick Heath

Published: Thursday 17 January 2008

IT managers need to start thinking green to give their company a headstart over the competition.

Green IT from A to Z

Click on the links below to find out more...

A is for Abroad
B is for Blades
C is for Carbon footprint
D is for Data centres
E is for Energy sources
F is for Freecycle
G is for Government
H is for Homeworking
I is for Ice caps
J is for Jobs (Steve)
K is for Kilowatts
L is for Landfill
M is for Mercury
N is for Nanogeneration
O is for Offsetting
P is for Paperless office
Q is for Queen
R is for Recycling
S is for SmartPlanet.com
T is for Travel
U is for Upgrade
V is for Virtualisation
W is for WEEE
X is for Xmas
Y is for You
Z is for Zero emissions

Sustainability should be a key consideration when building IT infrastructure, according to a report by analyst firm Butler Group.

Mark Blowers, senior research analyst at Butler Group, pointed to significant cost savings of 10 - 20 per cent that can be achieved by going green and IT's key role in meeting a company's sustainability objectives.

Radical solutions such as designing software to consume less processor cycles and using hardware that does not require a power-hungry AC-DC conversion should be standard practice, the report says.

In addition it encourages companies to drive down the wastage of paper and ink when printing, increase recycling rates and use more recyclable equipment. It also recommends companies reduce reliance on products manufactured using toxic chemicals, switch off unused equipment, reduce underused servers and increase the use of fresh-air cooling.

The report Sustainable IT Provision - Meeting the Challenge of Corporate, Social and Environmental Responsibility says companies need to move beyond thinking they are doing enough by buying into the green claims of many vendors.

Blowers told silicon.com sustainable practice goes hand-in-hand with good asset management.

He said: "Sustainability should be built in as a consideration when setting up IT systems in the same way that something such as cost is.

"There are significant savings to be made, even through simple things such as switching PCs off, companies can achieve something like 10-20 per cent savings and it will go a long way towards meeting the entire company's sustainability objective."