Where to Start?





In this section we show you how to start addressing Green IT in your organisation.

The primary driver for Green IT is to save money by reducing the energy requirements associated with the ICT infrastructure (including supporting services and organisation).

The key here is that it is absolutely essential you first fully understand (and quantify) the present situation before you begin to embark upon any Green related initiatives (e.g. desktop power savings, virtualisation etc). So the starting point must be a baseline assessment of your present situation.

Undertaking a baseline is essential because only by understanding your present situation will you:
• Have a baseline from which to measure the success of your improvement initiatives
• Be able to make informed decisions about which improvement initiatives will actually be worthwhile and give you the required Return on Investment

There are two types of baseline that can be undertaken – these are:
• Measuring the ICT related Carbon Footprint
• Green ICT Maturity Assessment

Green ICT Maturity Assessment OR Measuring ICT Carbon Footprint – which one is best for you?

It is first important to understand that measuring the ICT related Carbon Footprint and the Green ICT Maturity Assessment are not in competition – they are in fact complementary. Indeed (see below) measuring the ICT related Carbon Footprint is a requirement for achieving the higher levels of Green ICT Maturity.

However the Green ICT Maturity Assessment does have a much wider scope than the ICT related Carbon Footprint. It would be fair to say that if are you are only interested in the 2% (see ‘What is Green IT’ page) of carbon emissions that are caused by ICT equipment then measuring the ICT related Carbon Footprint would be sufficient for you.

But if you are interested in both the 2% AND the 98% (see ‘What is Green IT’ page) then the wider scope of the Green ICT Maturity Assessment would be more appropriate for you.

The ICT related Carbon Footprint

The ICT Carbon Footprint is a measurement of the energy consumed:
• Directly by the operation of the ICT equipment in your organisation, and...
• By the activities associated with providing IT services (and support) to the business users of ICT, and...
• Potentially by the energy consumed in the manufacturing, shipping, de-commissioning etc of the ICT equipment (this is ‘optional’)

The first activity in the measurement process is to decide the scope of the assessment. This includes defining the boundaries of the organisation to be assessed, the scope of ICT within the organisation and what type of Tier1, Tier2 and Tier3 emissions will be included in the assessment.

Once the scope has been decided the collection of data can begin. This will be undertaken in a range of ways e.g. through direct energy consumption figures (where possible), by collection of individual component energy consumption figures per type of component (and overall energy consumption then calculated), and by calculations of energy usage based on IT Operational practices and frequency of such practices being undertaken etc.

The energy usage results are then converted into CO2 (tonnes) using official Defra conversion rates to give the overall ICT related Carbon Footprint.

Having now measured the ICT related Carbon Footprint comparisons can be made with similar organisations and opportunities for reduction can be identified and prioritised, focussing on the areas of greatest commercial and environmental benefit.

The Green ICT Maturity Assessment

This is an assessment to determine the maturity level of an organisation’s response to meeting the challenges of Green ICT. There are 6 defined levels of maturity, and each level has a number of qualifying criteria.

There assessment covers 11 core elements of Green ICT competency - these are:
• The Data Centre
• The Desktop & Distributed Environment
• Printing Solutions
• The Server Estate
• Planning and Implementing Green ICT
• ICT Attitude & Behaviours
• IT as an enabler
• Supplier Engagement and Management
• ICT Support Operation & Working Practices
• Environmental Impact Analysis
• Effective Measurement & Improvement

For each area of core competency a large number of individual criteria are investigated and assessed – the end results show both the overall Green ICT maturity rating for the ICT organisation as a whole and the comparative maturity ratings for each of the core competency areas.

By doing so it provides a well defined baseline for assessment for on-going improvements, and it also facilitates the adoption of a more strategic and integrated approach (rather than isolated tactical responses) to dealing with the challenges of Green ICT.

Once you have completed your Baseline you are in a position to start making informed decisions about the most beneficial way to reduce your energy consumption and save money. You are also in a position to use the baseline to demonstrate improvement over time (which will in itself be a justification for future improvements!).

Green IT Solutions and what they cost

To see where to start on taking action to reduce your IT related energy bills please see the ‘Green IT Solutions and what they cost’ section of this Web Site.

For more information on measuring your ICT Related Carbon Footprint or undertaking a Green ICT Maturity Assessment please contact us at enquiries@Greenwise-it.com