Power Down for the Planet campaign proves that your computer can save energy in its sleep

The average desktop computer wastes nearly half the power delivered to it, which translates into higher energy bills and unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions.

On Monday, March 23, The University of Iowa and college campuses across the world will ask students, faculty, and staff to pledge to “Power Down for the Planet” by making simple changes to their personal computers’ power management settings. Managers of UI campus computers that sit idle at night are making a similar commitment.

Power Down for the Planet is a collaboration between the Climate Savers Computing Initiative (an international nonprofit organization committed to reducing IT-related waste by half by 2010) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program. The University of Iowa is a founding partner of the initiative, along with Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, the University of California at San Diego, and the University of Michigan.

The campaign’s primary objective is to encourage campuses to win pledges from students, faculty, and staff who agree to use their computer power management tools whenever possible and to look for energy-efficient equipment when making purchases. At the end of the campaign, the university with the highest percentage of pledges will be announced the winner on Earth Day, April 22.

Although the campaign’s recommended steps are simple, their impact could be dramatic.

Organizers of Power Down for the Planet estimate that one computer set to go into sleep mode when not in use could save $40 to $60 a year in energy consumption and nearly half a ton of CO2 emissions. A university with 70,000 networked computers could save as much as $3.7 million per year just by activating power management features on all of its computers. That’s the equivalent of removing 6,300 cars from the road for an entire year. Nationally, by enabling power-saving features on desktop personal computers, college students could collectively contribute to annual savings of more than $206 million in energy costs.

“Power Down for the Planet is primarily an awareness campaign, but one that underscores how easy it is to waste valuable resources without really thinking,” says Liz Christiansen, director of the UI Office of Sustainability, which is partnering with UI Information Technology Services on the UI Power Down campaign. “Fortunately, in the case of computers, there’s also a relatively easy fix.”

Steve Fleagle, UI associate vice president and chief information officer, says computer power management is just one of many strategies the university is exploring to save money, help the environment, and serve as a responsible steward of finite energy resources.

“Last year President Mason called on the campus to make sustainability a priority in every aspect of University life, from academics to operations, and Power Down for the Planet is perfectly in synch with that aspiration,” Fleagle says. “Computers are so central to the work of the University that it’s imperative we manage those resources wisely.”

A number of offices across campus are already practicing computer power management. ITS, for instance, powers down 934 computers in its computer labs and general assignment classrooms between midnight and 6 a.m. daily. At a rate of $.07 per kWh, this saves the University an estimated $13,777 each year and has the same impact on the environment as planting 10,578 trees or taking 24 cars off the road each year.

And beginning last December, as a result of staff suggestions for reducing expenses, UI Hospitals and Clinics began designing and implementing a method for turning off select computers overnight and powering them on automatically in the morning. The initial phase of the project will affect outpatient clinic areas only, and users who need to use their computers beyond the designated off-times will have the option of manually canceling the shutdown.

“Estimates show that if 7,000 of the 14,000 supported computers are powered off at night and on weekends, we will save almost 4 million kWh per year,” says Lee Carmen, director of health care information systems for the UI Carver College of Medicine and UI Hospitals and Clinics.

by Stephen Pradarelli