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Computing Goes Green on Campus
Task force aims to reduce environmental impact
BY ANDREW VOWLES
Going green may begin with your screen. Reducing the environmental effects of computing at U of G — from energy use to disposal of hazardous waste — is the goal of a three-pronged campus-wide program starting this year.
An energy awareness campaign, new energy conservation strategies and a new environmentally friendly computer purchasing policy will help the University lessen the environmental impact of desktop computing and reduce energy bills, says Catherine Steeves, associate chief librarian for information technology services and chair of the University's Green Computing Task Group (GCTG). The task group was struck by U of G's Information Services Committee.
Besides saving energy and ensuring cleaner computer components, the task force expects its efforts will help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with campus computing — no small concern with this month's release of a report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change linking human activities to global warming.
Referring to recent national polling results — reflected partly in recent policy announcements by the federal Conservatives — Steeves says: “The environment now surpasses health care in Canadians' consciousness.”
Late last year, the GCTG recommended three key initiatives in a report called “Campus Computing and the Environment.” Working along with other campus groups such as the Information Technology Special Interest Group (ITSIG), Gillian Maurice, sustainability co-ordinator in Physical Resources, is now preparing to implement two ideas, as follows:
- Awareness campaign. Focus groups will look at awareness of energy use and conservation in computing and potential barriers to green computing. The campaign will offer ideas to students, faculty and staff on basic computing practices, from reminders about turning off monitors to use of power-saving features and settings.
- Energy conservation strategies. A survey in January of information technology managers across campus yielded information about current power-management practices among computer users. That information will be used to develop standard practices and power-consumption settings designed to save energy. Those procedures, involving University IT staff and Physical Resources, are expected to be ready for implementation by spring.
Steeves says the third priority — a recommendation to implement a green purchasing policy for desktop computers — will be explored with Purchasing Services. That policy might, for example, include environmental evaluation criteria favouring equipment made with less toxic materials or adhering to energy-efficiency standards or favouring companies using environmentally sensitive practices. Vendors might be required to offer a recycling program and a disposal program for electronic waste.
(Currently, monitors and other computer hardware from U of G are sent to two organizations for recycling and recovery. In 2005, the University sent almost 900 kilograms of monitors for recycling.)
Computer purchasers typically consider needs, costs and service arrangements before buying or leasing equipment, says Steeves.
“What we're suggesting is that there should be some environmental criteria in there.”
Ask Maurice why U of G is focusing on “green computing” and she'll probably show you the door, or at least the chart fastened there. It's a copy of the graphic used by former American vice-president Al Gore in the documentary An Inconvenient Truth to show the connections between global temperature trends and levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide during the past 600,000 years.
For Maurice, the warning in the picture is clear: climate change is real and needs to be addressed. How? “Climate change is a larger story made up of many smaller factors,” she says. “One of those smaller factors is computing on campus.”
That was the message of a report about campus computing completed by undergraduate students in 2005 as a course project for Prof. Joe Ackerman, associate dean of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences. That project sparked formation of the task force late that year to review green computing policies here and at other universities and to recommend ideas for awareness, conservation and procurement.
“Green computing is essentially part of the larger sustainability picture on campus,” says Maurice, a member of the GCTG.
Steeves and Maurice also presented the GCTG's recommendations, particularly those on energy conservation ideas, to ITSIG in mid-January. A working group including ITSIG members to be chaired by Maurice will develop energy-saving computing standards.
Bo Wandschneider, associate director, information systems services, in Computing and Communications Services (CCS), says CCS “is extremely supportive of the work being done by the task group. The important thing is now raising awareness and showing people what they can do.”
Last month, At Guelph reported on campus energy conservation initiatives, including the formation of the Energy Conservation Working Group. That body, consisting of students, faculty and staff, will identify and address broader energy conservation issues on campus.