Enterprises of all sizes are struggling to define, let alone adapt, green concepts. While individuals are quick to embrace the green lifestyle by recycling printing paper, using canvas bags for grocery shopping, or replacing their gas guzzling cars with power-efficient hybrids, enterprises often are lost when it comes to how environmentally friendly practices could benefit them. Others ignore the concept, mistakenly thinking that being green is costly and therefore bad for business.

Researchers have found that the atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) have been increasing at a rate of about 0.5 percent per year, and are now about 30 percent above pre-industrial levels. With businesses accounting for a significant percentage of the total C02 emissions, enterprises clearly have a big role to play in the concerted effort to reduce their carbon footprint.

Environmentally friendly firms have various ways to go green. Some build green building and offices, others go paperless, still others deploy good housekeeping measures such as switching off electrical equipment when it is not in use. 

 

Green IT – Is it taking off?

One practice believed to have tremendous impact on the environment that has yet to gain support within enterprise circles is green IT.  Green IT is defined as the integration of technologies that improve energy efficiency, as well as manufacturing processes and materials that significantly reduce waste and the use of toxic chemicals.

Green IT failed to take off due to a lack of support from IT vendors. In recent years, however, more IT vendors have been adapting their manufacturing processes in response to customer demands for more energy-efficient equipment. This trend is partly driven by the fact that the cost of power needed to run and cool these devices is starting to exceed their acquisition cost.

Vendors today are implementing two strategic directions in supporting green IT:  the bottom-up approach that entails using the most efficient components available for their equipment, or the top-down approach that emphasizes network traffic optimization across the network to reduce the stress on equipment. As an IT user, an enterprise could kick start its green strategy by adapting both approaches, optimizing network traffic in its current IT environment and specifying green equipment in its IT roadmap.

If you want to embrace green IT, here are some factors you need to seriously consider when buying IT equipment:

Toxic substances 

Since July 2006, the European Union (EU) has been requiring all manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment to reduce the use of toxic substances and flame-retardants to specified levels. Part of the mandate of the Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive is that manufacturers create recycling programs for their equipment. Asia has adopted similar regulations, with China and South Korea leading the way. When selecting IT products, check if your vendor uses more environmentally friendly manufacturing processes and is reducing or eliminating the use toxic substances in their product upgrades.

Energy-efficient components

Improvements in the energy efficiency of networking equipment components have been slow due to the high costs of designing equipment with energy-saving technologies.  Find out if your vendor can provide the enhanced functionalities you need for your equipment without increasing your power use.

Processors

Although high-performance, enterprise-level switching equipment provides similar functionality and capacity, the energy consumption of various products may differ greatly because of the processors they use. Find out if your vendor uses smaller transistors that are designed for greater energy efficiency and performance.

Power adapters

Power adapters with an efficiency rating of 70 percent will lose 30 watts during conversion for every 100 watts consumed. However, some switch vendors are starting to ship higher efficiency adaptors with 80 to 90 percent efficiency ratings, saving significant amounts of energy in environments that need redundant power supplies. Find out if the switches you chose use energy-efficient adaptors.

Cooling

If your switches need fans to cool them, you will naturally incur higher energy costs. Today, manufacturers are designing switches that can dissipate heat more quickly, sometimes eliminating the need for a fan altogether. If your equipment uses fans, check that these fans have high-efficiency power adapters and adjust speed based on cooling requirements.

Software

To maximize the efficiency of network equipment, some vendors are using specialized software that can intelligently control hardware components. Some entry-level equipment is designed to hibernate unused ports or the entire device when they are not in use, while high-end equipment improves operating efficiency through virtualization and control of individual hardware components. To address the needs of both markets, vendors are designing switches that can save energy by intelligently adjusting its wire speed based on network capacity requirements.

Going green merits serious consideration. Whatever your motivation - whether you want to cut back on equipment cost or reduce operating expenses - the right IT decision will have a long-lasting impact on your budget and the world’s environment. Think about it.