Evolving with IT Community Participation.......

• Desktop Technology Best Practices
• Data Centre/Server Room Practices (Under Development)

• Computer Power and Patch Management (Under Development) 

Desktop Technology Best Practices

1. Get buy-in

• Find out how much energy your systems are really using and share that information 
  • Test with a Kill-A-Watt or Watts Up Power Meter
  • Make the meter available to loan to your users
• Set practical energy-saving settings for the typical cases
• Establish good processes to manage the inevitable exceptions
• Focus on energy and natural resource savings rather than costs

• Make green computing practices the norm

2. Promote energy-saving behavior

• Share energy-saving information and available U of S Green Computing Guide materials with your users
• Integrate sustainable computing educational material into user training programs

• Encourage users to visit the  U of S Green Computing Guide and www.ClimateSaversComputing.org  

3. Buy Eco friendly

• Buy Energy-Star 5.0 and EPEAT-rated equipment
• Consider U of S Campus Computer Store Eco Models
• Choose more modest specifications for systems that don't require the fastest processor
• Promote laptop purchases where appropriate - laptops are more flexible for lectures, meetings, etc

• Replace CRT monitors with LCDs

4. Provide "smart" power strips

• Make power strips accessible and encourage users to turn them off when not using

• Choose "smart" power strips that have combination outlets (manually switched and always-on), motion sensors, and other advanced features; power strips are available from the Campus Computer Store with auto detection of when a computer is off or asleep,  then automatically powers off connected peripherals to prevent wasteful power consumption

5. Configure default energy-savers

• Set sleep settings:
  • Monitor/display sleep: Turn off after 15 minutes or less
  • Turn off hard drives/hard disk sleep: 15 minutes or less
  • System standby/sleep: After 30 minutes or less
• Allow exceptions for users who need them
• Automate and deploy power management policies, and tools
• Example: Enforce Power Management Settings with Group Policy  

6. Re-evaluate the printing environment

• Consolidate to fewer, shared, printers
• Set double-sided printing as the default to save paper
• Set default printing to draft mode to save ink/toner

• Consider charging; "free" printing invites waste

7. Reuse and responsibly recycle computer equipment

• Transfer older, but working, computers to other U of S departments
• Send truly obsolete gear to Logistics Management - Surplus Equipment Disposal - to be processed properly
• Contact Campus Safety to pick up e-waste media for secure data disposal