When shopping for office equipment and computers, insist on ENERGY STAR ratings and RoHS compliance on any candidates that make it onto your short list for final selection. This is the easiest way to ensure that your future energy costs from those selections will be as low as current technology permits, and that the resulting purchases will contribute minimally to the toxic waste burden of the environment.
 | Tip: Using ENERGY STAR-labeled products along with renewable energy resources — solar power, wind power, and so on — can result in even greater savings organization-wide. |
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This applies to PC components you might use in an upgrade as well as to entire computer systems.
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Select PCs with energy-efficient power supplies |
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| Upgrading the power supply — the device that converts alternating current from the wall socket to direct current for devices inside the PC — is probably the best solution to cutting energy power usage. That's because most current power supplies usually offer electrical efficiency anywhere between 55 and 75 percent, whereas newer, more energy-efficient power supplies offer 80-percent efficiency. |
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| When configured with other ENERGY STAR 4.0 hardware requirements, HP Labs test results show that an 80-percent-efficient power supply can reduce total system power consumption by as much as 52 percent1. |
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| By itself, wholesale replacement of older units with newer ones can stretch energy outlays much further, and they lower cooling costs significantly. |
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Explore thin client solution |
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| Another terrific energy-efficient solution for many organizations is to make the move to a thin-client computing environment. A thin client is an alternative server-based computing solution with a mouse, keyboard, ports, and network connectivity — much like an ordinary desktop PC — but without a hard drive. Thin clients connect to one or more central servers, which provide all applications and data storage. The design of thin clients results in: |
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Energy cost savings: Because thin clients require less energy than an ordinary desktop PC — up to an 80-percent power savings2 — your organization saves energy costs. |
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Fewer repairs: Because of fewer moving parts, thin clients are less prone to repairs and downtime. |
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Reduced support load: Network administrators can support many users from a single server or a group of servers. |
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Improved security: Because the host server provides applications and data, thin clients function only when connected to the server and are highly secure. |
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Like other HP products, thin clients comply with the RoHS directive.
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Recycle and reuse |
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| As you phase-out older equipment, it's also necessary (and in some areas, legally mandated) to keep it out of ordinary trash. This kind of equipment qualifies as e-waste and must be properly disposed of. |
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| Many computer vendors and resellers offer various kinds of disposal programs, from handling the old device that a new purchase replaces to for-a-fee recycling offerings. HP's Product Reuse & Recycling program, for example, is designed to help organizations easily and safely recycle or dispose of HP electronic products. This program offers various product asset recovery programs, such as product buy-back, trade-in, leasing, and recycling. In addition, HP helps customers in the United States to donate working computer hardware to charitable organizations through the NCF (National Cristina Foundation) and the Rethink Initiative with eBay. |
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| Note: It's becoming increasingly common to pay a small fee when purchasing new equipment to cover the cost of its return and recycling when its productive life ends. |
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Numerous municipalities and other local governments also make e-waste collection centers available to their taxpaying citizens.
Get started |
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| Assess your current purchasing and recycling processes and determine where you can improve your organization's green status. Look for products that are EPEAT-registered and carry the ENERGY STAR 4.0 label or logo to help you through this process. Create an energy conservation plan that forecasts costs and cost savings over a one-year, two-year, and three-year time period. This plan should also address e-waste awareness and disposal techniques. |
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| 1. | Savings calculations based on PCMARK 05 benchmark testing results. Internal testing, customer results will vary. Variables include customer determined percentage of sleep state, idle state, productivity state, and peak usage state. Also, manufacturing variability will affect the savings a customer may see. HP advises customers to test a system with an 80% efficient power supply in their environment to determine potential savings. |
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| 2. | Andrea Harris, "HP business desktop PCs - designed with the environment in mind." http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/feature_stories/2007/07energy.html. |
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Energy-efficient computing | |
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Related links | |
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