What is Green Computing?
Green Computing can help you to ensure that your IT system produces a minimal carbon footprint. The Carbon Trust estimates that office equipment now accounts for about 15% of total energy use in the UK. The figure is set to rise to 30% by 2020, with PC monitors and system units accounting for about 65% of consumption.

How can Green Computing reduce carbon emissions and save you money?

Use Virtualisation to Reduce Numbers of Servers
Traditionally servers are dedicated to specific functions, broadly due to resilience based on isolation. This has led to a proliferation of servers and spiralling requirements for power and air-conditioning .  
 Many servers are operating below capacity and virtualisation can be used to carve up a single physical machine into a number of virtual servers.  Each virtual server can operate independently whilst utilisation per platform is increased. Clustering techniques increase resilience and in the event of platform failure advanced virtualisation software can quickly recreate the virtual machine on another host.  Virtualisation reduces complexity and saves time, energy, and money! It also reduces your carbon footprint.

Using Virtualisation to Reduce Power and Disposal Requirements of Desktops
 Virtualisation of the desktop involves replacing PCs with dumb terminals and migrating the ‘virtual’ PCs to the server estate.  Nothing is lost and the virtual PC will be accessible remotely, allowing for homeworking and travel.  Virtualisation of the desktop reduces power consumption and also the need to buy new equipment and dispose of old.
 
Replacing Paper Systems with On-line Communication Systems
If you use less paper you will also use less ink and reduce the need for printer maintenance.  You can make savings in several ways:  encourage the use of emails and collaborative software technologies, use presentation technologies to reduce the need for paper hand-outs, use on-line systems for billing, purchasing and customer care, set users default printer settings to print double-sided, set up paper and toner recycling collection.

Reducing Travel Requirements of Staff, Customers and Suppliers
Organisations can reduce travel requirements for staff and customers by improving remote working technologies, the costs of which can be set against travel budgets. According to the AA UK petrol prices are rising to record levels and could soon average £1.20 a litre. Paul Saunders Conduce Group’s Operations Manager comments “Managers may need to offer flexible working arrangements meaning a greater burden on IT departments to offer remote working solutions.  Mobile telephony, secure connectivity and virtual environments offer practical solutions to allow workers access to all their usual IT resources from practically anywhere”.

Green Computing is not just good for the planet, it can help your business to operate more effectively and save significant amounts of money by reducing your spend on energy, equipment and maintenance.