Is it Getting Easier to be Green?

Not too long ago, procuring and managing computers that were not only energy efficient, but were also sustainably manufactured was nigh on impossible. In a short space of time however, things have changed. Just a year ago I wrote about this topic and in the intervening twelve months we’ve seen a concerted effort by organizations to cut costs and energy use, and to embed some form of sustainability through the whole business.
In the world of desktop management, energy efficiency starts in the procurement process. Luckily Greenpeace have recently published a fascinating report which can help with the job. Their report – Towards Green Electronics, contains a league table which for the first time measures not only the power usage when the computer is in use, but also looks that chemicals used in manufacturing, and the whole lifecycle including any take-back programs that are available and the availability of spares in the future. The results are clear, with HP taking the lead in the desktop table and ASUS emerging as the leader in the notebook section.
As any user of our NightWatchman power management software will know, 1E keeps a database of countless computers and their energy usage so that the reporting is as accurate as possible. This report from Greenpeace ensures that you can make sure that your next desktop refresh will contain not only the most energy efficient models, but ones which won’t cost the earth..
This report is definitely worth a read. If you’ve never really bothered much about what goes in the box whether it’s just a home computer or you need 10,000 by next week, prepare to be educated. As the report states, ‘It is obvious that enormous progress has been achieved by the industry as a whole since our last report at CES 2009.’ So maybe it is becoming a little easier to be green but one thing is clear, we still have a long way to go and I think that this next year will really sort the men from the boys in the world of electronic device manufacturing.