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ENERGY STAR

The future of energy efficiency.
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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will introduce new ENERGY STAR 4.0 requirements on July 20th, 2007. What's going to change? What do you have to do to get compliant? Relax, it's easier than you think - HP can give you a head start. Even if you're a small business not concerned about compliance, you can still save money on power and cooling by implementing ENERGY STAR 4.0 compliant desktops from HP.

Why were new standards introduced by the EPA?

Simply to drive innovation in improving energy efficiency. The EPA has shifted their strategy for this generation of the ENERGY STAR program. ENERGY STAR 3.0 used an inclusive approach with a philosophy that the more systems that are compliant, the greater the total aggregate power savings. ENERGY STAR 4.0 uses an exclusive approach where top tier systems will really push the envelope of power efficiency.

ENERGY STAR 4.0 in a nutshell

There are two fundamental changes from the current ENERGY STAR 3.0 program to the ENERGY STAR 4.0 that will have a decided impact on your organization should you choose to implement the new standards:
1.   Idle power under the operating system will now be measured and used as a metric to earn the ENERGY STAR 4.0 rating as opposed to Standby power.
2.  An 80% efficient power supply is a requirement.

The difference between ENERGY STAR 3.0 and 4.0

ENERGY STAR 3.0 was concerned with Standby power. By 2005, all HP systems could meet the requirements. Since the customer adoption of Standby-state was slower than the EPA expected, the EPA had to focus attention to the growing number of computers that sat idle rather than transitioning into Standby.
In Standby, the number of storage devices, processor cores, graphics power, memory etc. makes very little difference to the power used. These devices are either turned off or are in a very low power state. However, in idle, all these devices are drawing power. The amount of memory or the number of hard drives has a big impact on power used. This is why the ENERGY STAR 3.0 configuration you're buying today might not be a configuration that will meet ENERGY STAR 4.0 in the future. If you need (or simply want) to consider compliance, you have to look at the idle wattage, not just Standby.
The 80% efficient power supply is a principal requirement of Energy Star 4.0 and a major new innovation.
What is an 80% efficient power supply? When a power supply converts AC power from the wall to the various DC voltages that the computer needs, there is always a loss of power. The power loss varies with how busy the computer is. An 80% efficient power supply is guaranteed to lose less than 20% of the AC power at 20%, 50% and 100% loads. Currently, power supplies for desktop computers range from approximately 65% to 75% efficiency.
The lower idle specification plus the 80% efficient power supply together provide big benefits to your business beyond simple compliance:
Increased power supply reliability due to greater efficiency
Decreased system maintenance due to increased reliability
Lower TCO due to reduced maintenance and longer equipment life
Improved worker environment with less noise from the PC
Potential reduction in cooling bill due to less heat being generated by PCs

HP Business Desktops, ENERGY STAR 4.0 compliant today

There is no grandfathering with the new requirements – as of July 20th, 2007, you’re either ENERGY STAR 4.0 compliant, or you aren’t compliant at all. And even if you’re not worried about compliance, you don’t have to wait to reap the rewards that an ENERGY STAR 4.0 product can bring you.
Select HP 5000 and 7000 series Business Desktop meeting ENERGY STAR 4.0 standards are available right now. You can get a head start on compliance, as well as savings. Find out more about HP business desktops that are ENERGY STAR 4.0 compliant:
»  HP 5000 series Business Desktops
»  HP 7000 series Business Desktops
ENERGY STAR 4.0-compliant HP Business Desktop PCs are not just better for the environment - they're better for your organization.
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The future of energy efficiency.

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