Environmentally sustainable IT across the enterprise is possible.

All businesses must be prepared to address the challenges and opportunities associated with energy use, and IT is the catalyst that can help reduce their impact and costs in the short-term and transform their business for the low-carbon economy.

Energy has emerged as arguably one of the world’s most urgent and far-reaching issues. It holds the key to not only the long-term health of the global economy, but also the global environment. While there are a number of considerations when discussing these macro-economic and environmental issues, such as climate change or depletion of resources, in many ways they’re all rooted in energy. This growing demand for energy will strain supply, driving prices higher and challenging availability in many regions, particularly rapidly growing urban areas. It will also increase levels and pace of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

In all industries, enterprises are adopting environmentally focused IT solutions to reduce costs and create efficiencies. Many are turning to HP, long a leader in products and services designed with the environment in mind. Below are HP solutions that can improve energy efficiency, cut greenhouse gas emissions and conserve resources – all while improving performance and saving money.

Turn on power management
All HP PCs and monitors ship with energy-saving settings enabled. Using power management can save up to $75 (about R600) per desktop computer and monitor each year.

Convert to energy-efficient PCs
HP was the first leading PC maker to offer desktops with 80% efficient power supplies, required under stringent ENERGY STAR 4.0 guidelines. HP lab tests found that PCs equipped with these power supplies and other ENERGY STAR 4.0 hardware requirements can reduce total system power use by more than half.

Lighten up
Notebook PCs and flat-panel displays use fewer raw materials in manufacturing and less packaging to ship. Flat-panel HP TouchSmart IQ 500 series PCs, which feature an integrated PC and monitor, use 55% less metal and 37% less plastic than standard PCs and monitors.

Print immediately out of powersave mode
HP estimates that for monochrome LaserJet products, the energy saved by using Instant-on technology between 1993 and 2007 avoided nearly 6.5 million tonnes of CO² emissions, the equivalent of removing 1.4 million cars from the road for a year.

Take control of your printing and imaging
By centrally managing your printing fleet with HP Web Jetadmin software, you can set device sleep and wake modes. And to save even more money, turning off imaging and printing devices outside of business hours can help lower energy costs associated with office equipment by up to 66%.

Recycle IT equipment and print supplies
The plastics and metals in IT equipment can be used in new products, lowering demand for raw materials and diverting waste from landfills. To date, HP has recovered 157 500 tonnes of print cartridges through its Planet Partners return and recycling program. Visit bit.ly/hpplanetpartners for more information.

Meet virtually instead of flying
Using HP Halo to eliminate 1000 commercial flights between New York and London for one person can prevent more than 1200 tonnes of CO² emissions – and save $2 million (about R16 million) in airfare. HP SkyRoom will bring high definition collaboration to the desktop, making virtual meetings even more accessible to a larger number of people.       

Curb power-hungry data centers with HP EcoPOD
A typical 2000-square-meter data center consumes as much power annually as a 40 000-square-meter office building. Key benefits of the EcoPOD include:
The EcoPOD with its enhanced cooling capabilities is HP's first air-cooled modular data center that automatically adjusts to the most efficient cooling method. The EcoPOD is the latest in a line of HP Pod Solutions that can be customised to meet the specific capacity, climate, and site requirements of organisations around the world.

Compared to traditional brick and mortar data centers, the EcoPOD helps reduce energy usage by up to 95 percent. In addition, the power usage effectiveness (PUE) rating, which can go as low as 1.05 to 1.3, compares well against the 2.4 rating of a typical brick and mortar facility.

Conclusion
With HP solutions, everyone from consumers to enterprise customers to entire industries are becoming more energy- and resource-efficient. They’re making smarter decisions – for the environment as well as their lives and businesses. They’re replacing carbon-heavy processes with lighter, more sustainable alternatives. And they’re coming up with new ways of doing, living, working and connecting while sparking innovation and sustainable growth today and for the long term.

References

http://www.hp.com/earth
http://www.hp.com/go/ShopEco

For more information, please contact Gregory Deane at HP on 082-882-4444, or
email gregory.deane@hp.com.