In today's post, I'm asking the question, Do you know how much energy your classroom and home computers eat up? How many of us think about the energy it takes to keep our systems running? Well officials in Massachusetts say they have found a simple way to save $2 million a year and reduce carbon emissions by more than 5,000 tons annually: turn off computers that aren't being used.
According to an article in the Boston Globe, the state announced on Sept. 12, that it has issued a new computer power management policy that calls for tens of thousands of state computers to be shut down or switched to "sleep" mode when not being used.
The new policy requires that most computer monitors go into sleep mode after 10 minutes of inactivity and be turned off whenever the workstation is off or in standby mode. It also bans screen savers. Most computers will also have to be set to sleep mode after 30 minutes being idle and shut off during nonbusiness hours.
Officials said they believed Massachusetts is the first state to go so far in power management for its computers.
Nationally, office equipment accounts for up to 10 percent of electricity use in commercial buildings, said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles. He said shutting the equipment off when they're not used could reduce their energy drain by 95 percent. And he said the state could save even more if state colleges and universities and nonexecutive branch agencies joined in.
I wonder how much electricity use is accounted for by Georgia public school office equipment and classroom technology equipment? I wonder how much is accounted for by the University of Georgia statewide system?
I plan to send out a survey to this class to find out whether their school has a Power management policy. I'd like to know too, how well students (and teachers) are informed about their use of tech tools and toys and their affect on energy consumption and carbon emmissions?
Diane
4 comments:
This was a lot of amazing information. I did not know all of this stuff. Keep up the good work! Your blog looks great!!!
Lindsay
Diane
There's a radio ad playing now about shutting down the computer in your home when it's not needed. They say it will save you $175 a year.
I guess I've been a little green all along. I get it from my dad. "Turn off those lights!!!"
It's amazing the amount of heat 29 computers in a classroom puts off. I've always shut mine down overnight. Being a mechanical device, I figured they could use the rest. I know the argument about stress on the hard drive during startup and shutdown. But I think that argument has become an urban legend. Back in the stone age, we had to go through a "Park" process to move the heads of the hard drive to an area reserved with no data in case the heads crashed into it during the shutdown. With the improvements in technology that's no longer necessary.
Good point on the amount of power a school would save in computers, AC ,lights, etc. Hey, sounds like a good argument for a 4 day work week!!
I can't believe that shutting down would make such a difference! However, I have friends who hav gone green, and they even unplug everything in their home. They say that it saves energy. So, I can imagine that keeping the computer on uses a lot of energy. I always shut down my computer or put it on standby. I bet that schools do use a lot of energy even when they are closed for the night or the weekend. I'm with Jack on the 4-day work week!
~Michelle
I know this is an old post but I guess I overlooked it before. At our school, it is mandatory for us to turn off our computers before we leave everyday and set our air to 80-82 when the room is not occupied. This is monitored at the county office. They told us that this alone will save our county thousands of dollars.
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