RITTER CALLS FOR GREENER COMPUTING
By RICHARD VALENTY, Colorado Daily Staff Writer
March 24, 2008

The wonders of the Electronic Age might be tempered by increases in the demand for electricity, so Colorado's Gov. Bill Ritter has called on state entities to limit one use of the juice.

On Monday, Ritter announced that Colorado would sign on with the Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI). In short, CSCI entities commit to purchasing energy-efficient computing equipment and educating employees about efficient power management strategies. Also, CSCI manufacturers commit to producing efficient equipment.

About 170 companies, organizations and states have joined CSCI, according to Ritter's Monday release, and Ritter said the state government is in a “unique position” to lead by example when it comes to managing energy use.

“By joining the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, we are not only making a significant investment in more efficient government, we are showing what can be achieved when government and industry band together to address the issues facing our environment,” said Ritter in the release.

Wil Alston, Ritter's Deputy Communications Director, said Monday that CSCI officials initially contacted the state about signing on. He also said Ken Weil, Ritter's Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Initiatives, took the lead for the state in pulling the project together.

“The Climate Savers people knew that this was one of Gov. Ritter's primary agendas,” said Alston. “He had issued last April his Greening of Government order, and a lot of the spirit of that document was in line with Climate Savers.”

Ritter's Greening order established goals for state entities to: reduce energy and paper use by 20 percent; reduce water use by 10 percent; and reduce petroleum consumption in the state's vehicle fleet by 25 percent. All figures reflect reductions from 2005-2006 baseline use by June 30, 2012.

While Colorado's Greening of Government could lead to significant resource use reductions if it is successfully implemented, CSCI is shooting for some major numbers.

The computing giants Google and Intel founded CSCI in 2007, and other major computing firms such as IBM, Microsoft and Dell have also signed up with the international effort. The state release said CSCI hopes to reduce computer power consumption by 50 percent by 2010, which would lead to $5.5 billion in global energy savings and an annual reduction of 54 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

Information from the CSCI Web site, www.climatesaverscomputing.org, said the “typical” desktop computer wastes 50 percent of the power coming out of the wall. Also, it said the wasted power is expended as heat, so companies might need to use additional energy and spend extra money on cooling systems or air conditioning.

To hit the efficiency targets, CSCI members will be encouraged in 2007-2008 to purchase computing systems that meet 2007 Energy Star 4.0 ratings. Current standards call for a minimum efficiency for power supply units of 80 percent, but CSCI will increase its standards yearly until 2010-2011, when the target will hit 87-90 percent, with efficiency differences depending on the percentage of rated output.

Efficiency rating targets for volume servers will also increase, from 81-85 percent in 2007-2008 to 88-92 percent in 2010.

The CSCI effort also includes an objective of educating computer users to take advantage of existing energy-saving features such as sleep or hibernation modes. Alston said the Colorado Governor's Energy Office will lead the state educational effort.

The fact that managing energy use can reduce utility bills and greenhouse gas emissions isn't exactly news at CU or in Boulder. For example, the CU Environmental Center has a Green Computing Guide on its Web site, http://ecenter.colorado.edu, which includes additional energy saving tips.

The Guide suggests using sleep modes, but also said people can go one step further by following the “When not in use, turn off the juice” strategy of just flipping the switch. It also suggests not purchasing monitors that are larger than a person really needs.

Don Ingle, the City of Boulder's Information Technology (IT) Director, said IT is planning to work with the city's Office of Environmental Affairs on updating the city's computer efficiency specifications. He also said the city is working to replace old cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors with liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, which can reduce power consumption by roughly 60 percent.

And whether a person, entity or company plans to join CSCI or not, people can visit its Web site to find listings of energy-efficient products on the market today. The CSCI site said the increased demand for efficient hardware might eventually drive the cost differences between inefficient and efficient hardware down to “near zero.”

“While initial adoption will likely be more prevalent in advanced markets, in time our goal is for energy efficient systems to become the norm everywhere,” said a passage on the CSCI site.

Contact Richard Valenty about this story at (303) 443-6272 ext. 126 or valenty@coloradodaily.com