important??? important what??? important to know green computing...important!!!

1. Determine energy usage

Before you do anything, determine your baseline: How much energy are your IT systems using? Analyze your application portfolio for duplication and inefficiencies, and then detail the energy consumption of all your hardware, recommends Jeff Wacker, fellow and futurist with EDS, based in Plano, Texas.

CIOs often don’t have this utilization information handy, but they must get it and track it in order to determine top-priority needs. Don’t forget to look at employee-generated waste, such as paper usage, too.

Jerry Lawson, national manager of the EPA’s Energy Star program, recommends spending the money on a professional energy audit. Alternatively, software vendors, such as SAS, are now launching products to help companies do environmental assessments on their own.

2. Estimate where you can simplify.

Are you operating a lean IT environment? According to Jacques Davignon, CEO of Surf Technologies Inc., an IT consulting firm in Atlanta, a simpler infrastructure is usually a cheaper one because it costs less to manage.

He offers the example of a utility customer that was considering a 100 percent replication of its data center. “But that is twice the power, twice the space,” Davignon says. Instead, after an assessment, the utility realized it didn’t need duplicate copies of everything. It minimized the number of images to replicate, instituted data retention policies and then outsourced the replication.

3. Use common business sense.

Richard Hodges, a green IT consultant based in Sonoma, Calif., says “You can gain significant savings in energy, materials and in e-waste by going to a thin client versus desktop PCs. But if you just refreshed your entire PC fleet, that doesn’t make sense.”

Another example: By eliminating desktop printers and setting dual-sided printing to the default, an organization can gain measurable space and cost savings, and a 40 percent reduction in the use of paper, Hodges says. “But it might be hard for many people to lose that control of not having their own printer.”

Hodges warns that the decisions aren’t always clear-cut based on cost savings. A paperless system will save money on printing, paper costs and filing cabinets, but the savings may be offset by increased data storage costs. Also, in assessing your environment for virtualization technologies, CIOs should factor in any legal and regulatory issues that may block certain applications from going virtual, Wacker says.

4. Before you buy, run the numbers.

It’s getting easier to purchase energy-efficient hardware, in some cases that use up to 60 percent less electricity. So, updating your infrastructure with these products when it’s time to replace old equipment is really a no-brainer. Some organizations can even make the case for replacing equipment earlier, based on energy savings alone.

Before you buy, assess your options. Melissa Quinn, sustainability programs manager for SoftChoice, a Toronto-based business-to-business reseller of IT products, recommends purchasing servers that can handle higher storage loads and remove duplicate data.

Then, just as important, ask questions. Companies are including requests for evidence of sustainability practices in RFPs from suppliers, says Richard Hodges, a green IT consultant based in Sonoma, Calif., citing Wal-Mart as one example.

You can also run some numbers and do some investigative work on your own by going sites such as Energy Star (energystar.gov) to estimate the impact of switching to more energy-efficient products. Also check out epeat.net, a resource run by a nonprofit organization in conjunction with the Green Electronics Council. EPEAT helps you evaluate and compare IT hardware to see if it conforms and complies with environmental performance standards and criteria set by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

5. Measure your progress.

Companies need to figure out how to measure and monitor progress in green IT, even though the practices for doing so are still being established. Consortiums such as The Green Grid, the Carbon Trust (UK) and the World Wildlife Fund Climate Savers program are just three groups working on methods, standards, ratings, and benchmark and measurement tools for carbon reduction and green computing, according to Wacker.

Metrics will vary from organization to organization depending on your initial environmental audit, projects and goals, says Marsha Willard, CEO of AXIS Performance Advisors Inc., a sustainability management consulting firm based in Portland, Ore. Beyond quantifiable metrics such as energy utilization and recycling, Willard, who is also executive director of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals, recommends looking at HR factors: employee satisfaction and “quality of work life.”

To monitor your ongoing energy use, download the free Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool. The software is maintained and updated by an Energy Star private sector contractor for accuracy, and your information is password-protected for privacy.

Sustainability is a major business movement that’s gaining traction in the corporate workplace. The most important thing is to get started somehow on green computing - after all, for the foreseeable future, energy costs are only going up from here.

go green computing...go alternative to use in daily lifestyle to reduce waste...go go go

1. Replace a CRT monitor with an LCD monitor

   LCD monitors can use one-half to two-thirds the energy of a CRT monitor. Flat screen monitors also result in less eye-strain.

2. Turn off your computer when you will not be using it for several hours

   Think about it…Leaving your computer turned on overnight for a year generates about 920 lbs. of CO2 . Yet, research indicates that as many of 60% of workers using computers do not always shut them down at the end of the day. (Wasting Energy While We Sleep)
   New technologies make this easier!

   But my computer will be damaged by frequent shut-downs! Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has found that even older hard drives will not be damaged, and on the contrary, computers may actually last longer if shut off regularly (also see a newer guide by Cornell).
   Enabling users to turn off their computers at the end of the day is a viable way to decrease related energy costs by 60%. Network administrators can now purchase cost-effective hardware and software (W0L) that enables them to perform software and security updates, as necessary. The payback period for network software to enable updates to turned-off computers can be less than one year.
   Wasted energy, unnecessary utility bills, and increased pollution make turning off your computer at the end of your workday an easy way to reduce the University’s environmental footprint.

3. Print smarter!

   You can save money and the environment when printing by doing the following:
   
   • Consider using the OneCard printers on campus rather than purchasing and maintaining your own printer.
   • If you do purchase a printer, ensure that it supports duplex printing and that it is networkable, so one printer can serve all the computers in your home or office.
   • Use recycled paper.
   • Don't leave your printer on when you're not printing.
   • Use the electronic print preview to avoid wasted paper. To get there, often go to the File menu, then choose Print Preview.
   • Print double-sided.
   • Print draft copies when appropriate; these use less ink, and are still readable.
   • Re-use hardcopies (i.e., printouts) with lots of blank space as scrap paper for notes.
   • Of course, try to recycle your paper, as opposed to throwing it out.

4. Enable power management features on your computer

   Power management functions are an integral part of computers that meet the standards established ENERGY STAR. These functions involve setting the hibernation or sleep modes to place the computer on low power after a given period of inactivity.
   Computers with ENERGY STAR certification are required to use 4 Watts or less of electricity when in lower power sleep or hibernation mode. This isless than 5% of the average computer's peak electrical demand.
   Many people keep their computers on when idle for long periods of time. Consider using power management options, such as hibernation or sleepmode.
   General power management settings for Windows and Mac Computers are outlined below:
   How to save power on Windows Vista
   
   1. Go to Start, Run, then Control Panel.
   2. Click on Power Options (you may need to click System and Maintenance first)
   3. Create a power plan.Suggested settings:
      
      • Put your computer to sleep (or hibernate) after 15 to 60 minutes of inactivity
      • Set your monitor to sleep after 5 to 20 minutes of inactivity.
   How to save power on Mac OS X (10.4 - 10.6)
   
   1. Click the apple symbol
   2. Then choose System Preferences (you may need to choose Show All)
   3. Then select Energy Saver (from the Hardware row)
   4. Suggested settings:
      • Put your computer to sleep after 15 to 60 minutes of inactivity
      • Set your display to sleep after 5 to 20 minutes of inactivity.

5. Avoid phantom power from connected devices

   When plugged in a computer and other electronic devices still consume energy.
   You could save as much as 10% on your energy bill simply by unplugging such devices when they are not being used. To make this easier, buy a power strip, and plug your computer and its peripherals into that power strip, and shut off the strip when you are not using your computer.

6. Recycle your old computers

   When you no longer are able to find a use for your computer, consider ways to recycle it properly.

green computing???

This video is explaining about what is Green Computing, so top-up your knowledge by see this.....: )

ssshhhh.....green computing are...

Green computing is the behavior of using computing resources efficiently, to how to maximize energy efficiency, extend wear hardware, minimizing the use of paper, and some other technical things.  

How you can do to green computing

THINGS YOU CAN DO

There are steps you can take to save money, and protect the environment.

They involve buying environmentally friendly and energy efficient computers, setting your computer's power management appropriately, using your computer responsibly, and recycling.

Here are some specific examples:

1. Buy energy efficient computers 
2. Buy hardware appropriate for the job
3. Replace a CRT monitor with an LCD monitor
4. Turn off your computer when you will not be using it for several hours
5. Print smarter!
6. Enable power management features on your computer 
7. Avoid phantom power from connected devices 
8. Recycle your old computer

Green Lovers

The field of "green technology " encompasses a broad range of subjects — from new energy-generation techniques to the study of advanced materials to be used in our daily life. Green technology focuses on reducing the environmental impact of industrial processes and innovative technologies caused by the Earth’s growing population. It has taken upon itself the goal to provide society’s needs in ways that do not damage or deplete natural resources. Mainly this means creating fully recyclable products, reducing pollution, proposing alternative technologies in various fields, and creating a center of economic activity around technologies that benefit the environment. 

Sugar powered batteries (Credit: Sony)

Perhaps the most talked about aspect of green technology is the promise of alternative energy sources. Sun, wind, water, sugar — we’ve heard about them all. However, scientists are working on other aspects of the problem as well, testing building materials and studying chemical processes to reduce the use and generation of hazardous substances. Nanotechnology is also being used in an attempt to manipulate materials at the nanometer scale; scientists are hoping it can transform manufacturing on a global level, from government purchasing to a technological revolution.
The huge amount of computing manufactured worldwide has a direct impact on environment issues, and scientists are conducting numerous studies in order to reduce the negative impact of computing technology on our natural resources. Companies are addressing e-waste by offering take-back recycling programs and other solutions, with lower energy consumption and less wasted hardware. A central point of research is testing and applying alternative nonhazardous materials in the products’ manufacturing process.  

VIA Technologies Green Computing

VIA Technologies, a Taiwanese company that manufactures motherboard chipsets, CPUs, and other computer hardware, introduced its initiative for "green computing" in 2001. With this green vision, the company has been focusing on power efficiency throughout the design and manufacturing process of its products. Its environmentally friendly products are manufactured using a range of clean-computing strategies, and the company is striving to educate markets on the benefits of green computing for the sake of the environment, as well as productivity and overall user experience.
Carbon-free computing

Carbon-free computing (Credit: VIA)

One of the VIA Technologies’ ideas is to reduce the "carbon footprint" of users — the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide (CO2). Greenhouse gases naturally blanket the Earth and are responsible for its more or less stable temperature. An increase in the concentration of the main greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorocarbons — is believed to be responsible for Earth's increasing temperature, which could lead to severe floods and droughts, rising sea levels, and other environmental effects, affecting both life and the world's economy. After the 1997 Kyoto Protocol for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the world has finally taken the first step in reducing emissions. The emissions are mainly a result of fossil-fuel-burning power plants. (In the United States, such electricity generation is responsible for 38 percent of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions.)
VIA aims to offer the world's first PC products certified carbon free, taking responsibility for the amounts of CO2 they emit. The company works with environmental experts to calculate the electricity used by the device over its lifetime, generally three years. From this data, one can conclude how much carbon dioxide the device will emit into the atmosphere during its operation. This estimate will serve as an indicator, and the company will pay regional organizations for the “sequestering,” or offsetting, of the emissions. Offsetting carbon dioxide can be achieved in different ways. One way is to plant trees that absorb CO2 as they grow, in the region in which the processors were purchased. The necessary amount of trees per processor is represented by VIA's TreeMark rating system.
In addition, VIA promotes the use of such alternative energy sources as solar power, so power plants wouldn't need to burn as much fossil fuels, reducing the amount of energy used. Wetlands also provide a great service in sequestering some of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. Although they make up only 4 to 6 percent of the Earth's landmass, wetlands are capable of absorbing 20 to 25 percent of the atmospheric carbon dioxide. VIA is working closely with organizations responsible for preserving wetlands and other natural habitats, and others who support extensive recycling programs for ICT equipment. The amount paid to these organizations will be represented by a proportion of the carbon-free product’s price.
Carbon-emissions control has been a key issue for many companies who have expressed a firm commitment to sustainability. Dell is a good example of a company with a green image, known for its free worldwide product-recycling program. Dell’s Plant a Tree for Me project allows customers to offset their carbon emissions by paying an extra $2 to $4, depending on the product purchased. AMD, a global microprocessor manufacturer, is also working toward reducing energy consumption in its products, cutting back on hazardous waste and reducing its eco-impact. The company’s use of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology in its manufacturing, and strained silicon capping films on transistors (known as “dual stress liner” technology), have contributed to reduced power consumption in its products.

Solar Computing

Solar powered computing

Amid the international race toward alternative-energy sources, VIA is setting its eyes on the sun, and the company's Solar Computing initiative is a significant part of its green-computing projects. For that purpose, VIA partnered withMotech Industries, one of the largest producers of solar cells worldwide. Solar cells fit VIA's power-efficient silicon, platform, and system technologies and enable the company to develop fully solar-powered devices that are nonpolluting, silent, and highly reliable. Solar cells require very little maintenance throughout their lifetime, and once initial installation costs are covered, they provide energy at virtually no cost. Worldwide production of solar cells has increased rapidly over the last few years; and as more governments begin to recognize the benefits of solar power, and the development of photovoltaic technologies goes on, costs are expected to continue to decline. As part of VIA's “pc-1” initiative, the company established the first-ever solar-powered cyber community center in the South Pacific, powered entirely by solar technology.

Lead-Free and RoHS computing

In February 2003, the European Union adopted the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS). The legislation restricts the use of six hazardous materials in the manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment. The directive is closely linked with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE), which sets collection, recycling, and recovery targets for electrical goods and is part of a legislative initiative that aims to reduce the huge amounts of toxic e-waste. Driven by these directives, VIA implemented a set of internal regulations in order to develop products that are compliant with these accepted policies, including the use of nonhazardous materials in its production of chipsets, processors, and companion chips. In 2001, they focused on lead-free manufacturing, introducing the Enhanced Ball Grid Array (EBGA) package for power efficient VIA processors and the Heat Sink Ball Grid Array (HSBGA) package for their chipsets. In traditional manufacturing processes, lead is used to attach the silicon core to the inside of the package and to facilitate integration onto the motherboard through tiny solder balls on the underside of the package. VIA's lead-free manufacturing technologies do not require a lead bead, and the solder balls now consist of a tin, silver, and copper composite. 
However, not everyone is satisfied with this new objective. Howard Johnson of the online EDN magazinesays that the move toward lead-free devices is not only unhelpful but actually worse for the environment. “The additional tin mining required to produce high-purity tin alloys, plus the mining of other precious metals required to alloy with tin in substitution for lead, is a poor trade for the use of existing lead, much of which comes from recycled products,” Johnson writes. He also believes that lead-free assembly is less reliable than lead-based assembly, partially due to the increased growth of tin whiskers — small, hair-like metallic growths that naturally emerge from the surface of solid tin. On lead-free tin surfaces, these whiskers can grow to a length sufficient to short an electronic circuit to another, leading to product failure.

Energy-efficient computing

A central goal of VIA’s green-computing initiative is the development of energy-efficient platforms for low-power, small-form-factor (SFF) computing devices. In 2005, the company introduced the VIA C7-M and VIA C7 processors that have a maximum power consumption of 20W at 2.0GHz and an average power consumption of 1W. These energy-efficient processors produce over four times less carbon during their operation and can be efficiently embedded in solar-powered devices.
VIA isn’t the only company to address environmental concerns: Intel, the world's largest semiconductormaker, revealed eco-friendly products at a recent conference in London. The company uses virtualization software, a technique that enables Intel to combine several physical systems into a virtual machine that runs on a single, powerful base system, thus significantly reducing power consumption. Earlier this year, Intel joined Google, Microsoft, and other companies in the launch of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative that commits businesses to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star guidelines for energy-efficient devices.
Kevin Fisher, Intel’s EU standards director, says that while the company is dedicated to its green-computing plans, it is important to not blame the IT industry alone for carbon emissions worldwide. He argues that the industry also helps in saving huge amounts of power due to the Internet, enabling, for example, online shopping and billing.

Governments go green

Energy Star logo

Many governments worldwide have initiated energy-management programs, such as Energy Star, an international standard for energy-efficient electronic equipment that was created by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 1992 and has now been adopted by several other countries. Energy Star reduces the amount of energy consumed by a product by automatically switching it into “sleep” mode when not in use or reducing the amount of power used by a product when in “standby” mode. Surprisingly, standby “leaking,” the electricity consumed by appliances when they are switched off, can represent as much as 12 percent of a typical household’s electricity consumption. In Australia, standby power is a primary factor for the country’s increased greenhouse gas emissions — more than 5 megatons (CO2 equivalent) annually.
Worldwide, standby power is estimated to account for as much as 1 percent of global greenhouse emissions. Most of the energy used by products on standby does not result any useful function. A small amount can be needed for maintaining memory or an internal clock, remote-control activation, or other features; but most standby power is wasted energy. Energy Star–enabled products minimize this waste.
In 1998, the China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) founded the China Energy Conservation Program (CECP), a nonprofit organization in charge of the administration, management, and implementation of the certification for energy- conserving, water-saving, and environmentally friendly products. CECP is dedicated to encouraging manufacturers to produce more resource-efficient products and help consumers make more sustainable purchase decisions. CECP undertakes various projects within the national and the international arena, actively supporting improvements in energy efficiency and environmental protection and assisting social and economic sustainable development. In Japan, the Energy Conservation Center is responsible for raising public awareness on energy conservation, training and state examinations for energy managers, and their energy-conservation campaign and exhibition (ENEX).

On the horizon

Green technology is gaining more and more public attention through the work of environmental organizations and government initiatives. VIA is one of the first corporations to concentrate on green computing that seems less a passing trend than a first step toward significant changes in technology. In May 2007, IBM unveiled its Project Big Green, dedicated to increasing energy efficiency across the company's branches around the world. Experts say that businesses will continue to invest in clean computing, not only because of future regulations, policies, and social demands to reduce their carbon footprint, but also due to the significant long-term savings it can make.