IT Services
A Department of Learner Support Services
During 2009/10 we conducted the first comprehensive audit of IT energy consumption for all parts of the University. This was based on a benchmarking tool: SusteIT ICT Energy and Carbon Footprinting Tool. There is a tolerance of 10% in the figures produced by this benchmarking tool.
The University doesn’t have a minimum efficiency specification for the IT equipment that it purchases, however, IT Services endeavour to procure the most efficient equipment practicable for any given usage.
For example, we try to only purchase workgroup printers that service a significant number of people. These printers tend to move into low power states when idle (typically 2-3 Watts).
| Category | Energy Use (kWh/y) | % | Energy Cost (£/y) | CO2 emissions (kg/y) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Performance Computing | 183,303 | 5.8% | 15,581 | 98,437 |
| Servers | 855,550 | 27.1% | 72,722 | 459,448 |
| PCs | 1,046,155 | 33.1% | 88,923 | 561,806 |
| Networks | 498,278 | 15.8% | 42,354 | 267,585 |
| Telephony | 185,011 | 5.9% | 15,726 | 99,355 |
| Imaging | 295,487 | 9.4% | 25,116 | 158,683 |
| Audio-Visual | 96,395 | 3.1% | 8,194 | 51,766 |
| TOTAL | 3,160,179 | 100% | £268,615 | 1,697,079 |
NightWatchman power saving software will be launched on 19 March 2012.
IT Services dispose of end-of-life IT equipment via an approved recycling company called Second Byte (a not-for-profit social enterprise), that re-uses equipment if at all possible prior to finally properly recycling into the system. The disks are scrubbed / sanitised and an erasure certificate is supplied when required. Second Byte comply with all necessary legislation around equipment disposal (e.g. WEEE directive).
Some of our IT equipment is cascaded within the Facility Managed academic Schools, replacing closer to end of life equipment, or offered on to other Schools or Departments prior to disposal.
We alos have a student volunteering project which takes end of life kit and re-purposes this using very low or no cost software. This is part of a project which enables students (and some staff) to build IT skills and competencies, at the end of which they get a basic, working internet PC. Around 30 PCs have been re-purposed so far.
This investment is not yet approved, but will be piloted by the Estates department.
A PC power saving product has now been ordered.
IT Services is delighted to have retained the Silver Award at the internal Ecoversity Award event in June 2011.
IT Services obtained a Silver Award and two special awards at the internal Ecoversity Award event in June 2010. One award was for Innovation which related to a range of energy saving initiatives introduced by the Infrastructure Team led by Geoff Bell, including the purchase of energy compliant equipment, improvements to student printing, and a continuing reduction in the number of computer servers to run systems using new virtualisation technologies. The other award was the Best Energy Saving Idea which was awarded for the introduction of the Pharos "pull printing" solution led by Simon Bower and Dougie McHattie in the Infrastructure Team.
All services are running as normal, unless stated here.
| Room | Number of Free PCs |
|---|---|
| J.B.Priestley 01.41 | 10 |
| J.B.Priestley 01.16 | 18 |
| J.B.Priestley 01.53 | 71 |
| J.B.Priestley 01.44 | 18 |
| J.B.Priestley Health Studies Library | 8 |
| J.B.Priestley Floor 0 Foyer | 13 |
| J.B.Priestley Floor 0 Scanners | 4 |
| J.B.Priestley Floor 1 Extension | 11 |
| J.B.Priestley Floor 2 Extension | 10 |
| J.B.Priestley Room 2.7a | 28 |
| Richmond J31 | 20 |
| Richmond L24 | 44 |
| Chesham C0.02 | 24 |
| School of Management Library | 5 |
| Richmond F42 (Sunray Cluster) | 99 |
| Student Central S038 (Sunray Cluster) | 30 |
