In September of this year, the Campus Sustainability Advisory Board (CSAB) added Sustainable Computing as its seventh working group.  Sustainable computing issues have been discussed as a part of the overall sustainability initiative since its inception in 2007.  However, the growing importance of technology on campus coupled with concerns about increased resource use motivated the IUOS and CSAB to create a working group focused solely on researching and promoting sustainable computing practices. 

Strategic Plan and the Working Group | Back to Top

Mission

To leverage resources, skills and knowledge at the university, unit and individual level with the goal of lowering the environmental impact of our technological practices and effectively employ technologies to lower the environmental impact of the campus and its constituents.

Strategic Goals

The Sustainable Computing Working Group seeks to:

1. Advise the Office of Sustainability, Campus Sustainability Advisory Board, and Office of the Vice President for Information Technology on environmental impact of technological practices.  Recommend projects and priorities to achieve objective.
2. Evaluate and recommend technology uses that allow the campus to meet its sustainability goals.
3. Facilitate communication on sustainable computing initiatives across the University.
4. Seek input from broad constituents on sustainable computing.

All working groups are co-chaired by a staff member in operations and a faculty member in an academic unit.  The following individuals sit on the Sustainable Computing Working Group:

Progress at IU | Back to Top

Initiatives and accomplishments in the area of sustainable computing include, but are not limited to:

are not limited to:

• In collaboration with Apple Inc. and University Information Technology Services, IU Sustainability Intern Laura Knudsen organized a three day e-waste recycling event at IU Bloomington and IUPUI, collecting more than 832,000 pounds or 416 tons of e-waste.

• IU Sustainability Intern Kristin Hanks worked with the IU School of Education to develop the GoGreen Reporting Service and Gadget software.  The GoGreen Initiative Setup Wizard installs the GoGreen reporting service and (optionally) the GoGreen Gadget and power-savings plan.

• The GoGreen Gadget displays the amount of CO2 emissions saved while your computer has been off or in a sleep state, and shows the current annual emissions savings for your building and campus, as well as the number of users participating in that total. 

• A full roll out of the GoGreen Reporting Service and Gadget is conservatively estimated to save IU $500,000 per year. 

• Research conducted by IU Sustainability intern Susan Coleman Morse on the environmental impact of duplex (double-sided) verses simplex (single-sided) printing shows an opportunity to decrease the carbon footprint associated with printing on campus: Duplex Printing Study.

• UITS Student Technology Labs announced the Print Less Go Green Campaign helping students reduce the carbon footprint of printing in campus computing centers: Print Less Go Green.

IU has sponsored four internships in sustainable computing:

• ’08 Sustainable Computing Project
• ’08-‘09 E-waste Solutions
• ’09 Sustainable Computing Project (More information coming soon.)
• ’09-’10 E-waste Solutions (More information coming soon.)
• '10-'11 Document Management Policy Analysis

Next Steps | Back to Top

The 2010 Summer Intern in Sustainable Computing, Renee Davis, is partnering with the Sustainable Computing Working Group to create Best Practice Resource Documents for faculty and staff at IU.  The first topic to be addressed will be Electronic Waste.

Resources | Back to Top

What can you do to Green Your IT?

• Save electricity
• Choose a laptop.  Laptops typically consume less power.
• Only purchase energy efficient equipment. Visit http://www.energystar.gov/ for environmentally friendly purchasing guidelines.
• Enable power management. Visit http://www.climatesaverscomputing.org/learn/ to learn how to set power management tools for your computer’s operating system. Note: Power management settings are different from screen savers. Screen savers use more energy than allowing the monitor to go black, and are unnecessary on all but very old monitors.
• Use a power strip.  Fight phantom power, the power electronics use when they are in standby mode, which accounts for up to 10% of the power electronics use. Plug electronics into one power strip & turn the strip off when you are finished using them.  Learn more about what types of electronics are prone to using phantom power here.
• Be sure to shut down.  Turn off your computer, monitor, speakers, gaming systems & more when not in use.  Note: At Indiana University, computers in campus offices may be set to receive updates while you are not using your computer; check with your local support provider (LSP) for options before changing your current practices. Ask if your area’s computers are equipped with the Go Green Reporting Service and Gadget.
• Print only when necessary
• Printing less conserves natural resources. Each year, nearly 15% of the paper used in Student Technology Center printers ends up left behind as unwanted pages.

Join IU in efforts to reduce the environmental impact of our printing practices.

To help conserve paper try the following:

• Read eReserves online: Unless directed otherwise by your instructor, consider reading eReserves online. For portability, you can also download them to your laptop. Some materials are even suitable for reading on your PDA.
• Use electronic storage: For portability, save documents or files to My Workspace in Oncourse CL, store them on a USB flash drive, or burn them to CD or DVD. You can also email documents to yourself as attachments and save them to your personal computer. For more, see At IUB and IUPUI, what options do I have for storing my files?
• Submit assignments electronically: Ask instructors to accept assignments electronically (e.g., via Oncourse CL, FTP, or email).
• View document properties: Before printing a document, verify that the page count is correct. This prevents printing blank or unwanted pages.
• Copy documents to your PDA: If you need documents and eReserves available when you can't access the Internet, copy them to your PDA.
• Avoid printing email and web pages: Read email and web pages online. If you need to keep a copy, save it to removable storage media. If you must print documents stored on the web, download them to your desktop before printing them. This will reduce printing bottlenecks and errors caused by network delays.
• Print just once: Be patient when sending print jobs to STC printers; don't resend the same job multiple times if your output is delayed. Report the problem to the Technology Center Consultant. At IUB, if a consultant is not on site, call 812-855-3802 for assistance; at IUPUI, call 317-274-0779.
• Decrease font size: If you keep a printout for your own use, decreasing the font to the smallest legible size may reduce the number of pages printed.
• Use smaller margins: Microsoft Word sets side margins at 1.25" by default. By changing them to 1" (or smaller if acceptable to the intended user), you may be able to reduce the number of pages you print.
• Use duplex printing: Duplex printing (two-sided output) is effective for lengthy material. (This will not save pages of your printing allocation or reduce your cost of printing at IUPUI, but it will reduce waste paper.) For more, see At IUB and IUPUI, where can I print my output in duplex?
• Print multiple pages per side: This will save your printing allocation or Jagtag dollars as well as conserve paper, toner, and other printing resources. See In Windows or Mac OS X, how can I print double-sided or 2-up (two pages per sheet)? When printing PowerPoint presentations, print four or six slides per page; see Microsoft's help document Print multiple slides on one handout page.
• Use print preview: Most applications in the STCs have a print preview feature that allows you to see how your printed document will appear so you can catch formatting errors or blank pages before you print. It's also particularly useful when you're printing web pages, which are often much longer than they appear to be.
• Run spell check: Use your application's spell checker to reduce mistakes and avoid reprints.
• Print only final copies: Instead of printing draft copies of your work, edit your work online and print only the final copy.
• Use an E-Notebook and Editing Tools: Services like Evernote.com and applications like Microsoft OneNote allow you to mark up documents, make notes, clip and store content from the web, perform keyword searches through an entire notebook, and access your work from multiple computers.  Other mark up and editing resources, such as Foxit Reader and Adobe Reader are available to students at no charge through IUware.
• Dispose responsibly
  Electronic equipment, such as computers, monitors, and some other peripheral devices, frequently contains toxic materials such as lead and mercury; thus, you should never throw old computers in a landfill.
  For more information, see the US Environmental Protection Agency's eCycling page, including the guide to donating or recycling computers and electronics.  Watch for and participate in electronic recycling events near your dorm, university and local municipality. 

Get Involved | Back to Top

For more information or to volunteer, please email sustain@indiana.edu