A Priority and a Plan
A new cross-industry survey on IT energy efficiency suggests that the highest
energy savings are among organizations that make energy reduction a priority
and have well-defined energy management strategies in place.
Higher education institutions are
making progress toward more IT
energy efficiencies, but saving energy
is still a relatively low priority
compared to other IT projects, and
most institutions report they do not
have a defined IT energy management
plan. This is according to 152
higher education institutions that
participated in CDW-G’s 2009 Energy
Efficient IT Report.
In a follow-up to its 2008 study
on the same topic, the national
technology reseller canvassed five
industries-- K-12 schools, higher ed
institutions, federal government
agencies, state and local governments,
and mid-size to large businesses--
to track practices, challenges,
and successes in IT energy
efficiency.
If higher ed institutions were
to adopt a full menu of IT energy
reduction initiatives, they could
save up to 16% or
$352K annually on IT
energy costs*.
Of the higher education IT participants,
only 21 percent ranked energy
use reduction as "very important"
compared to other IT projects,
although none of the sectors ranked
energy reduction much higher-- the
27 percent of K-12 respondents who
said reducing energy was a top priority
represented the highest percentage
among all the market sectors
surveyed. (The survey claims an individual
industry sample equates to a
margin error level of ±8 percent at a
95 percent confidence level.)
Even without energy savings as a
high priority, the survey found
improvement in higher ed IT energy
practices and efficiencies over the
previous year. Thirty-six percent of
higher ed respondents now have
defined IT energy reduction programs
in place, compared with 31
percent in 2008. And of those with
programs, a greater number are realizing
more efficiencies: In 2009, over
half (54 percent) reported reduced IT
energy costs of 1 percent or more,
compared with 38 percent in 2008.
One percent of the average higher ed
IT budget spent on energy ($2.2M)
represents about $22K in annual
savings. The study estimates that if
higher ed institutions were to adopt
a full menu of IT energy initiatives
(such as purchasing Energy Star
qualifying devices and virtualizing
servers and storage), they could
save up to 16 percent or $352K
annually on IT energy expenditures.
The CDW-G report suggests that
having IT energy management strategies
in place is probably the single
most important factor in determining
whether an organization will reduce
energy costs. CDW-G’s analysis
points to four key practices of successful
IT energy management:
- Institutions need to directly
ask IT to manage energy efficiency
as a priority and then support the
effort across the institution.
- IT organizations need to inform
all of their operations about the
tools available to monitor IT energy
efficiency.
- IT should designate an energy
advocate within its organization to
take responsibility for tracking consumption
and advocating for
improvements.
- Institutions should recognize
and reward IT efforts that result in
energy reductions and savings.
To see the full report, go here.
*Based on average higher ed IT budget spent
on energy: $2.2M