Sustainability in ICT - a brief study

Sustainability by ICT

Radhakrishnan GopalSenior ICT & ELV engineerAecom, AUH15 Dec 2015

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Sustainability in ICT design

“The heart of the concept is the principle that the way society conductsits affairs should be in the best interests of the environment as a whole,and that the world we leave to our children should be at least as healthyand as fair as the one we inherited.”


“There are many ways to reduce ourcarbon footprint at every stage of theICT product and service lifecycle.”

A sustainable ICT System is designed ,installed , operated , maintained ,rehabilitated, and reused/recycledwith an emphasis throughout its lifeemphasis throughout its life -cycle onusing cycle on using natural resourcesefficiently and preserving the globalenvironment. the global environment.


• 2% of global carbon emissions come from the manufactureand use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

• 98% do not.• Is ICT part of the problem… … or part of the solution?


What is carbon emission?

“Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in the atmosphere,produced by vehicles and industrial processes.”


What is carbon foot print?A carbon footprint is defined as: Thetotal amount of greenhouse gasesproduced to directly and indirectlysupport human activities, usuallyexpressed in equivalent tonsof carbon dioxide (CO2)

The term carbon footprint, therefore,is a shorthand to describe the bestestimate that we can get of the fullclimate change impact


World carbon foot print:( Courtesy: Google carbon emissions interactive map)


Why we should considersustainability?• Involves the three

spheres• Being sustainable saves

money• Leave a better place for

our children


How much energy does ICT use?

• ICT equipment accounts for 10% of thea country's electricity consumption

• Non-domestic energy consumptionfrom ICT equipment rose by 70% from2000 – 2006; forecast growth 40% by2020

• Data centers account for quarter of theICT sector’s emissions. Annualelectricity cost of $7.4 billion in 2011.

• More than 60% of ICT departmentsuse less than half their server storagespace


How much energy does ICT use? Somefacts:

• 30% of the overall energy consumed byPCs is wasted by being left on when notin use

• 1,000 PCs running 24/7 cost around£70,000 in electricity over a year

• A third of employees in the UK don’tswitch off their PCs when they leave theoffice at the end of the day, costing theUK £123 million a year in electricity

• If all UK businesses shut down theircomputers when not in use, it wouldcontribute 10% of the Government’sClimate Change Levy target and 40% ofthe energy efficiency targets set by theCarbon Trust

• Less social network, more social future

Sustainability in ICT designDid You Know?• It is estimated that a medium-sized

server has roughly the same annualcarbon footprint as an SUV vehicledoing 15 miles per gallon, covering15,000 km

• According to Forrester Research adata centre with 1000 servers will useenough electricity in a single monthto power 16,800 homes for a year

• A significant proportion of lifetimecarbon emission of ICT equipment isin its manufacture. The manufactureof one PC requires about 1.7 tonnesof raw materials and water, andconsumes over ten times thecomputer’s weight in fossil fuels.


ICT is part of the solution.

ICT could deliver a 15% reduction in global CO2 by 2020,delivering a cost saving in fuel, energy and thecost of carbon of over a trillion dollars


Standards• TIA, ANSI/TIA-4994, Standard for Sustainable Information Communications

Technology,• First-of-its-kind industry benchmark for sustainable energy and materials• Practices related to low voltage ICT systems.• The standard establishes a five-phase approach:

– Planning,– implementing– measuring the sustainability impact of an ICT project– setting a clear benchmark for sustainable energy and materials practices.

• It applies to most building technology systems such as:– video surveillance,– servers– Telephones– energy consumption– heat loads– The result is higher performance criteria for achieving sustainability.


Questions to ask when our organization is considering a new ICTinvestment.• Raw minerals extracted with minimal impact to the environment

and biodiversity?• Products’ components, are recycled?• Travel long distances? Airplane or Sea or rail• Weigh less than competitor or legacy products• Product use less power than competitor or legacy products• Fewer raw materials used• Product rely less on rare or precious raw materials• Manufacturing process consider water use and to conserve or

reuse water• Do the products meet environmental requirements under law• Reduce or eliminate hazardous substances used in the product

beyond legislative or guideline requirements?• Products registered /rated against an environmental system• Any inbuilt power-saving technology• Fully recyclable or reusable?• Components go to landfill at the end of the product’s life• Does the vendor use compact, reusable and recyclable packaging• Can the vendor demonstrate its credentials against the factors

above


Reducing environmental impact during the usephase:• Typical Energy Consumption (TEC): KWh/year.• Size and weight: smaller, lighter option.

Virtualized and blade servers• Resilience and supportability: Long life, low

failure rates. demand for spare parts, supportservice.

• Thin client infrastructure: Thin client solution,Hot-desking, cooling, environmental impact.

• Remote management: manage remotely• Power management toolsets: idle / shut down

automatically).• Inbuilt power management settings: Sleep

mode• Printers and paper consumption: reduce the

number of printers, Duplex printing• Retire or reuse servers or port their hosted

applications to a virtualized environment


Improving the energy efficiency of data centers – avoid wastage• Cloud adoption increasing the demand for data center infrastructure• Need to improve energy efficiency• Driven by the need to reduce costs• Also by encouragement from industry trade bodies (notably The Green Grid) and environmental pressure

groups such as Greenpeace.• ICT systems may consume only 50% of a data center’s total energy – this equates to a Power Usage

Effectiveness (PUE) of 2.0.• Modern data centers PUE ratings of 1.5 or less• Cooling equipment can account for more than half of non-ICT power consumption


Questions to consider while designing and possibly ask the clientService level management• Do service levels include energy-reduction and carbon-emission commitments and drive behavioral change?• Are there two-way commitments to sustainability between the ICT service provider and you as the customer?Configuration management• Are existing assets being ‘sweated’ enough (that is, used for as long as possible)?• Are cradle-to-grave decisions supported (that is, from purchase through to disposal and refresh)?• Does the configuration management database contain information to prepare sustainability reportsCapacity management• Possible to avoid implementing short-term ‘Band-Aid’ solutions to the infrastructureAvailability management• Are the services required all of the time• Can we track relevant trends to suggest improvements to the service and/or ICT infrastructureProblem management• Does the processes support the quick identification of potential problemsChange management• Are the environmental impacts of planned changes assessed as standard?• Are those responsible for change empowered to make decisions with a mandate to reduce sustainability impact

(and potentially cost)?Incident management• Is the service desk needed 24/7?• ‘first-time fixes’, minimizing the need for multiple engineering visitsIT service continuity• Does the service consider energy efficiency? (Financial management• Can the ICT element of power and water bills be separated?


What's at stake: Opportunities:

According to the Climate Group, the carbon footprint of the ICT

• Sector is predicted to increase by 75% by 2020• Use of ICT could contribute a reduction in carbon emissions by 5

times• Identified opportunities• “Dematerialization” – swapping high carbon activities with low

carbon alternatives• e-billing instead of paper billing,• teleconferencing instead of travelling to meetings• e-media instead of producing CDs or newspapers• “Smart motors” , energy used by production lines /being on or off.• “Smart logistics” better coordination, communication• “Smart buildings”, occupancy based lighting, heating solutions,

capture sunlight, shades• “Smart grids” , avoid transmission loss, smart meters with

interactive real-time energy management, displays

Sustainability in ICT designAccountability - What to Measure?Desktop end user environment

– Desktops– Laptops– Monitors– Thin Clients– Printers– Multi-Functional Devices

Telecommunication and networking– Routers– Wireless devices– Boosters

Data Centre– Servers– Storage Drives– Any telecoms equipment housed within the data

centre– Switch gears– Cooling, lighting and other facilities– Backup power supplies


Data Centre Optimization: Some tips

• Optimizing data centre operations can include:• Repairs to air conditioning units and floor tiles,• increasing the temperature setting by a degree or two• Periodic cleaning of the data centre to reduce dust and

debris• Improvements to the operation of the data centre

facilities• The EU Code of Conduct for Data Centers was launched in

November 2008 outlines the best practices• The Code of Conduct is a voluntary initiative that

organizations can sign up to• The Best Practice Guidelines and the Reporting Form are

excellent tools• The Uptime Institute estimates that the three-year

operating cost of powering and cooling servers is• currently one and a half times the capital expense of

purchasing the server hardware• ( £500 purchasing cost, is actually £1250 in the TCO over a

typical three year lifecycle)


Green ICT Procurement• checking suppliers’ green credentials, with the

aim of limiting the environmental impact ofpurchases.

• Ask potential suppliers to explain how theirproducts are:– less toxic,– conserve natural resources,– are designed to encourage recycling and

reduce waste– minimize packaging and shipping– ask for evidence on how they do it.

• Green Electronics Councils, Electronic ProductEnvironmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) -Certification programme to help institutionsbuy the greenest computers and monitorspossible.

• Energy Star rate energy efficiency. Helpstowards a uniform set of standards in the ICTand CE industries

• But still only a voluntary scheme


Greenwash

• Greenwash is the practice of makingfalse, misleading and/or deceptiveclaims about the environmentalpractices of a company or theenvironmental attributes of its goodsand/ or services.

• This includes environmental claimsthat are inaccurate, vague, irrelevantor false or

• Greenwash can lead to thecontinuation of negativeenvironmental practices, despitepurchasers thinking they are doingthe right thing by the environment


How do I avoid being greenwashed?

• Having a basic understanding of what the main environmentalimpacts are for the goods or services

• Are the goods made from virgin material• Are the goods going to use energy or water when in operation• Might they contain toxic substances• Will they be expensive to dispose of when no longer required• Making sure we identify which trusted certifications, standards and

ecolabels• Maintaining an ongoing discussion with suppliers to ensure they

understand that you are serious• about purchasing genuine green goods and services• Being wary of supplier claims that are not supported by evidence or

are vague, for example ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘low carbon’ or‘natural’

• Updating our knowledge to keep up with green goods and servicesdevelopments


COP21: What does the Paris climate agreement mean for me?

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Sustainability in ICT - a brief study

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