Keene State College

Sustainability

Green Computing and Office Energy Use Savings Suggestions

What can I do to be a wise energy consumer?

How can I improve my power management?

How much energy would power management save?

How can I enable Power Management Features

Links

How should I properly dispose of computers, computer related equipment and supplies?

Occupant Responsibilities

Individuals are expected to turn off lights when exiting rooms that are no longer occupied and to turn off office equipment (including monitors, task lights and personal computers, where possible) when leaving your workspace for more than 20 minutes and at the end of the day.

Turn your computers and peripherals off when not in use and be sure to power down your whole system when you are away, especially at night and on weekends.

Set your computer power management so that your computer monitor turns off and your CPU enters hibernate or standby mode when you leave your desk for extended periods of time.

Enable power management features on laser printers and copiers and power them down whenever possible, particularly on evenings and weekends.

Avoid using the switch on a power strip to turn on all your equipment at once.

Find information on computer power management settings and how to optimize energy management on your computer equipment.
Please email mjensen@keene.edu if you have additional questions or if you need assistance.

It does not use more energy to turn equipment on and off.

Additional Things Individuals Can Do

Full overhead lighting should only be used if sunlight is insufficient.
Switch to Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFL's) instead of using incandescent bulbs.
Individuals adjacent to windows with blinds should open the blinds unless there is direct sunlight that must be controlled due to glare or excessive solar gain.
Unless necessary - take the stairs instead of the elevator.
If you use a small fan to move air for comfort if you are too warm, do not leave it running when you are away from your desk.
Dress appropriately for the weather and have additional clothing available in case you are too cold in your space.

Check the Energy Star website for energy efficiency ratings for home and office equipment and appliances, home improvement suggestions, savings calculators and more. ENERGY STAR is a government-backed program helping businesses and individuals protect the environment through superior energy efficiency. For information on end of life management of CFLs, or if you break a CFL, check out the fact sheet from NHDES.

Report observations of excessive energy use and concerns to the Energy Coordinator rpalmer@keene.edu or at 8-2230.

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Computer Power Management and Energy Savings

Turning off a computer before going to sleep or when it isnt going to be used for a few hours is a good habit to develop.

One of the goals of the Presidents Council for a Sustainable Future is to reduce the amount of energy per kilowatt hour (kWh) used on campus. Turning off computers and all of the peripheral equipment (printer/monitor/speakers) when not in use can save Keene State College thousands of $$$. See the grid below. Learn more about the energy saving features available on computers:

Computer energy consumption reduction strategies

Turn your computer and/or printers, scanners and other peripherals on ONLY when you need them. This is the most basic strategy for any type of equipment

Use laptop computers when possible - they consume 90 percent less energy than standard computers

Use inkjet printers - they consume 90 percent less energy than laser printers. For higher quality or large print jobs, use REDBALL EXPRESS
Don't run computers continuously unless they are in use continuously
Turn off while you sleep, on weekends and during campus breaks
Enable your computers' power management settings. (see instructions below)

Computer Energy Use on campus:

How much energy is used by campus computers? How much energy is wasted when a computer runs with no one working on it? Help us reduce energy costs on campus AND optimize energy use in your office, classrooms and labs.

Computers on Campus

Faculty, staff, computer labs and general use work stations: 1450

Student owned: 2238

Total: 3688

Per Academic Year
1 computer on 24/7 (including screen savers)				$59.14
1 computer on 16 hours per day				$39.43
1 computer on 8 hours/day, plus 8 hours in sleep mode				$29.56
1 computer on 8 hours per day				$19.71
What does this mean for the campus?
Student Computer total				2238
2238 computers on 24/7 (including screen savers)				$132,355
2238 computers on 16 hours per day				$88,244
2238 computers on 8 hours per day, 8 hours in sleep mode				$66,155
2238 computers on 8 hours per day				$44,110
Savings come from having computers turned off or powered down whenever possible
Faculty/Staff/Lab computers				1450
1450 computers on 24/7 (including screen savers)				$85,753
1450 computers on 16 hours per day				$57,173
1450 computers on 8 hours per day, 8 hours in sleep mode				$42,862
1450 computers on 8 hours per day				$28,579

Plus, computers generate heat and require additional cooling which adds to energy costs.

In 2005, an average of 1.55 pounds of CO2 is produced per kWh
1 computer running 24/7 (including screen savers) uses 537 kWh per academic year. That equals 833 pounds of CO2 per academic year.
What's CO2? A major contributor to global warming.

Extend the life of your computer!
Save energy and resources!
Help reduce Global Warming!
Keep your tuition costs down!
Shut your computer off when you aren't actively using it!

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Enabling Power Management Features

Power management, when enabled, allows computer monitors to go into a low-power sleep mode during periods of inactivity. Then, instead of paying utility bills for computer monitors that are kept on all day and night, we pay only for the time that the computers are in use. For large organizations like ours, this single step leads to annual savings of thousands of kilowatt-hours and dollars. A typical college or university, for example, can expect to save 200,000 kilowatt-hours per year, or about $20,000 in energy bills, for every 1,000 monitors.

Other savings include lowered cooling costs and longer lives for the equipment.

EPA Energy Star Computers and monitors can be programmed to automatically power down to a low power mode when they are not being used.

For Windows 98, 2000 and XP

Click "start" at the bottom left side of your screen
Click on "settings" - "control panel"
Open "display" and click on "screen saver"
Click on "power"
Under "Power Schemes", use the drop down arrow to find "home/office desk"
Select the times - choose a short duration (e.g. 15 minutes), so that the monitor sleeps when you step away from the computer for short times, or powers down when you are gone for longer times.
Click on "Apply"
Click on "OK"
Congratulations! You are now saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions!

Macintosh Users

Select the Apple Menu
Go to Control Panels
Click on Energy Saver
This will also bring up a dialog box for setting sleep times for the entire system, the monitor or the hard disk

Laptop owners should also review "power schemes" within your control panel to set settings for "stand by" and "hibernation". This will help extend your battery life.

To save energy with your monitors' built-in power management system, your monitor must go blank. If screen saver images appear on your monitor for more than 5 minutes, you are wasting energy!

About Screen Savers

"Screen savers" were originally designed to save the phosphors in the monitor screen from "burning" an image onto the screen, but they do not save energy. A screen saver that displays moving images consumes as much electricity as it does when in active use. A blank screen saver is slightly better, but even that only reduces monitor energy consumption by a few percent.

Use your Energy Star compliance features. The equipment is designed to be efficient without any effort from you. It's easy and it makes a difference.

How much energy does our computer system use?

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More information about energy savings for offices and computers:

California State College, Chico, CA
University of Texas at Austin,Texas
St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
University of Colorado's Office Guide to Energy Savings
Ohio University Green Computing Guide
Grist Magazine
Computer Take Back Campaign Report Card
UB Green, University of New York at Buffalo

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Disposal of computers, computer related equipment and supplies

Computers should not be thrown in the trash. KSC users have several options for disposal of their computer equipment.

Monitors and Hard Drives contain lead, cadmium, nickel, gold and other heavy metals. Your options include:

deliver to the R.O.C.K.S. office, behind Carle Hall
leave at your indoor recycling area with a note that says "recycle"
call R.O.C.K.S. at 358-2567
If it still works, advertise it at the student center and other locations
Computer mice, keyboards and printers can be recycled with monitors and hard drives

CD's, DVD's, floppy disks are all recyclable. Please put in an envelope and mail to R.O.C.K.S. at MS2502

Ink Jet cartridges are all recyclable. Free mail-in bags are available at Computer Connections in the Student Center, near the bursars office in Elliot Hall and other convenient locations on campus. You can also get bags from R.O.C.K.S. Call 358-2567 and leave a name and mail stop. We'll send you some.