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Where Green and IT Meet
6/26/2006
At Syracuse University in New York, the IT and building maintenance factions on campus work together for the common good. The Department of Energy and Computing Management is staffed with sophisticated maintenance personnel, but aided by IT staff. Both sides eventually report up to a director of energy and computing management.
Steve Lloyd is associate director for energy at Syracuse, where he oversees the computerized management and scheduling of building mechanical systems. On the IT side is Systems Administrator Michael Kearns, who works for an IT group but estimates he spends 50 percent of his time supporting the computing needs of the energy group. That includes selecting and purchasing servers and workstations, as well as managing the software applications that they use. Kearns admits he d'esn’t know what other schools are doing, but adds that it’s becoming pretty standard to have facilities and IT work together. “We work pretty much in lockstep with [the energy group]. The computing requirements are so great [for facilities], and there are also disaster recovery, backups and restores [to deal with].” He reports that Syracuse uses a Windows-based software product called Continuum, from TAC. The energy system shares the school’s fiber network, one of the reasons that IT is involved. The computing group also is responsible for the energy system’s hardware— IBM midrange xSeries computers that serve as dedicated energy servers.
At the University of Michigan, IT Planning Manager David Anderson works on the building maintenance side, but sees more and more of a melding of IT and building maintenance functions as energy management systems grow in complexity. “These systems are becoming more complicated in terms of the IT world,” he says, adding that he’s fortunate to have a background in computers; it has helped build trust with the IT staff, who understandably don’t always want to “hand over the keys” to someone outside IT. Michigan’s energy conservation program, in place since the 1970s, uses roughly $50 million worth of equipment to save around $10 million a year in energy costs, Anderson estimates.
Find Out More About Energy Management Systems
BIG NAMES IN COMPUTERIZED ENERGY management in higher education include Honeywell, TAC, and Johnson Controls. A company called Tridium offers sophisticated browser-based software dubbed Vycon Energy that monitors energy consumption using data from embedded systems throughout the campus—heating and air conditioning, lighting, process controls, computers, and so forth.
Products with these sorts of sophisticated, web-enabled or network-based infrastructures mean that both building management and IT need to be involved in their selection, installation and maintenance.
According to Kevin Klustner, CEO of Verdiem, whose energy-saving software runs over the network to shut down PCs when they’re not in use, “We typically get in the door through operations and facilities, but we try to get IT involved as quickly as possible. Our value proposition resonates with IT.” Klustner says Verdiem’s product can save from $10 to $30 per PC per year, depending on the cost of electricity in an area—savings that can quickly add up. He maintains that most customers realize a positive return on investment in 15 months, and rebates from local utility companies can boost the ROI even more.
More on Intersecting
If you’re ready for more information on the overlap between energy management and IT, there’s plenty available. For starters, there are a number of resources specific to energy savings in higher education at the Energy Star website. Energy Star, a joint program of the D'E and the Environmental Protection Agency, encourages energy-efficient appliances, including computers. Resources include a calculator to estimate potential savings, lists of product vendors, and suggestions on ways to get started.
Additionally, on the Higher Education Climate Action Partnership’s website, you can view case studies and lists of mainstream higher ed associations that offer advice about how to measure and reduce greenhouse gas consumption. Also available through HECAP are presentations on energy management from the Association of College and University Business Officers’ November 2005 “Smart and Sustainable Campus Conference.” An October 2005 white paper from the Society for College and University Planning offers resources and discussion about the role higher education can play in energy management, and the bigger picture of sustainability. Finally, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education will hold its 2006 annual conference in October 2006.
Linda L. Briggs is a freelance writer based in San Diego, Calif.
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