Green Products

To comprehensively and effectively address the environmental impacts of computing/IT, we must adopt a holistic approach and make the entire IT lifecycle greener by addressing environmental sustainability along the following four complementary paths:

Green use

Reducing the energy consumption of computers and other information systems as well as using them in an environmentally sound manner

Green disposal

Refurbishing and reusing old computers and properly recycling unwanted computers and other electronic equipment

Green design

Designing energy-efficient and environmentally sound components, computers, servers, cooling equipment, and data centers

Green manufacturing

Manufacturing electronic components, computers, and other associated subsystems with minimal impact on the environment

These four paths span a number of focus areas and activities, including:

• Design for environmental sustainability
• Energy-efficient computing
• Power management
• Data center design, layout, and location
• Server virtualization
• Responsible disposal and recycling
• Regulatory compliance
• Green metrics, assessment tools, and methodology
• Environment-related risk mitigation
• Use of renewable energy sources and
• Eco-labeling of IT products...

Modern IT systems rely upon a complicated mix of people, networks and hardware; as such, a green computing initiative must be systemic in nature, and address increasingly sophisticated problems. Elements of such a solution may comprise items such as end user satisfaction, management restructuring, regulatory compliance, disposal of electronic waste, telecommuting, virtualization of server resources, energy use, thin client solutions, and return on investment (ROI).

The imperative for companies to take control of their power consumption, for technology and more generally, therefore remains acute. One of the most effective power management tools available in 2009 may still be simple, plain, common sense.