A Green ICT project focused on office energy efficiency is a great way for your business to engage employees, reduce costs and your environmental footprint. Here are the top tips from our TechWorld ICT Team to get you started, for more information about our programmes click here.
- Turn on Power Management. PCs have power management features that are often disabled by default; turn them on for PCs throughout the organisation and you’ll get immediate savings in energy costs. Screensavers can use as much or even more power than your PC during normal use; instead of a screensaver set your monitors to go into stand by when not in use.
- Create a TechWorld ICT project. Assemble a team to lead the initiative. Make sure they have management support, adequate resources, clear goals and the authority to drive changes. Enrol any enthusiastic volunteers who want to help.
- Create a TechWorld ICT policy. Whether formal or informal, this will help ensure you have a clear vision of how your use of ICT aligns with your company’s environmental and social responsibility.
- Measure your impact. Make a note of all the office equipment drawing power, try to get an understanding of that power using manufacturer’s information or an energy monitor, and relate that to your company’s energy use.
- Turn off PCs. PCs are often left on overnight unnecessarily, which means they are constantly drawing
- Use Energy Efficient Equipment. Look at the total lifecycle cost of your purchasing decisions. Equipment which is slightly cheaper to buy may cost more over its life span in increased energy costs. Ask about energy efficiency and ongoing costs before you make your purchases.
- Buy for the Future. Most of the energy your PCs will ever use is embedded in their manufacture. Buy equipment which has spare RAM or hard drive slots for future upgrading. Keep your PCs as long as you can and dispose of them thoughtfully.
- Turn off office equipment. Office printers and faxes are typically only in use 1-2% of the time, and are often left on at nights, weekends and holidays. Put a notice up in the office for the “last one out” to make sure items which won’t be used are switched off.
- Reduce business travel. Teleconferencing, mobile phones, VPNs and web based applications can all be used to reduce business travel whilst enhancing employee productivity. Save your face to face meetings with colleagues for something more than presentations which can be done remotely just as effectively.
- Think Creatively. Replacing physical processes with digital ones has revolutionised mail, music, tax returns, shopping and many other fields, making them more responsive to consumer needs and reducing carbon intensity. Look at the major environmental impacts of your business processes and think about how ICT could be used to make them leaner and greener. More tips
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