AREAS OF FOCUS IN THE GREEN COMPUTING INITIATIVE
Product longevity
Gartner maintains that the PC manufacturing process accounts for 70% of the natural resources used in the life cycle of a PC. More recently, Fujitsu released a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a desktop that show that manufacturing and end of life accounts for the majority of this laptop ecological footprint. Therefore, the biggest contribution to green computing usually is to prolong the equipment's lifetime. Another report from Gartner recommends to "Look for product longevity, including upgradability and modularity." For instance, manufacturing a new PC makes a far bigger ecological footprint than manufacturing a new RAM module to upgrade an existing one.
Data center design
Data center facilities are heavy consumers of energy, accounting for between 1.1% and 1.5% of the world’s total energy use in 2010 . The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that data center facilities consume up to 100 to 200 times more energy than standard office buildings.
Energy efficient data center design should address all of the energy use aspects included in a data center: from the IT equipment to the HVAC equipment to the actual location, configuration and construction of the building.
The U.S. Department of Energy specifies five primary areas on which to focus energy efficient data center design best practices:
- Information technology (IT) systems
- Environmental conditions
- Air management
- Cooling systems
- Electrical systems
Additional energy efficient design opportunities specified by the U.S. Department of Energy include on-site electrical generation and recycling of waste heat.Energy efficient data center design should help to better utilize a data center’s space, and increase performance and efficiency.
Positive effect of Green computing
- Reduced energy usage from green computing techniques translates into lower carbon dioxide emissions, stemming from a reduction in the fossil fuel used in power plants and transportation.
- Conserving resources means less energy is required to produce, use, and dispose of products.
- saving energy and resources saves money.
- Green computing even includes changing government policy to encourage recycling and lowering energy use by individuals and businesses.
negative EFFECT OF GREEN COMPUTING
Bad Eco-Design
One example of poor eco-design comes courtesy of the new USB Eco Button.
Saving some money on your energy bills is one thing, but saving the entire planet is a much more admirable goal. Unfortunately the recently released USB Eco Button, which promises to save both the planet and your wallet, fails on both counts, adding to the ever-growing list of useless gadgets.
The device, which is essentially a USB-powered plastic button, puts any Windows based machine, except those running Windows 7, into a low-power energy saving mode. Once activated, the included software will then monitor your computers power usage, in addition to recording how much CO2 the Eco Button has saved.
The problem? The Eco Button is largely unnecessary, since such low-power modes can be implemented via software-only fixes. Considering the materials and energy used to manufacture it, the Eco Button could be doing more harm than good. The final icing on this not-so-green cake? The $14 'Eco Button' seems to be a second-rate imitation of another previously released--and trademarked--'Eco button'.
One example of poor eco-design comes courtesy of the new USB Eco Button.
Saving some money on your energy bills is one thing, but saving the entire planet is a much more admirable goal. Unfortunately the recently released USB Eco Button, which promises to save both the planet and your wallet, fails on both counts, adding to the ever-growing list of useless gadgets.
The device, which is essentially a USB-powered plastic button, puts any Windows based machine, except those running Windows 7, into a low-power energy saving mode. Once activated, the included software will then monitor your computers power usage, in addition to recording how much CO2 the Eco Button has saved.
The problem? The Eco Button is largely unnecessary, since such low-power modes can be implemented via software-only fixes. Considering the materials and energy used to manufacture it, the Eco Button could be doing more harm than good. The final icing on this not-so-green cake? The $14 'Eco Button' seems to be a second-rate imitation of another previously released--and trademarked--'Eco button'.
VIdeos of Green Computing
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