[LINK] Energy efficient PCs for Australian Government

[Tom Worthington]

According to a 
<http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24165007-15306,00.html>news 
report an Australian Public Service interdepartmental committee is 
looking at reducing government greenhouse gas emissions and energy 
consumption: 
<http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24165007-15306,00.html>.

To speed up the process, I suggest the Acting Prime Minister, Julia 
Gillard, direct all federal government departments to switch on the 
energy saving features in current computer hardware as of 1 September 
2008 and implement mandatory energy standards for new computer 
purchases, from 1 October 2008.

Reducing energy use in lighting, air-conditioning, heating and 
electrical equipment in government buildings is a very difficult 
task. Most building equipment has a long life and requires building 
work to change. One area which is relatively easy, and the government 
could get quick results, is energy saving for desktop PCs, laptops 
and peripherals.

Most existing desktop PCs and laptops in government agencies already 
have energy saving hardware and software features in them. But in 
many cases these features have never been activated, or have been 
disabled. It would be relatively simple to issue a directive to 
agencies to switch on energy saving. This could be based on 
US 
<http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/07-374.pdf>Executive 
Order 13423 which requires US federal agencies to activate ENERGY 
STAR "sleep" features on computers and monitors: 
<http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/07-374.pdf>. 
The US Council on Environmental Quality issued detailed 
<http://www.ofee.gov/whats/eo13423.pdf>procedures on how to get 
agencies to do this. : <http://www.ofee.gov/whats/eo13423.pdf>.

There are regular government tenders for new PCs to replace old ones. 
It is relatively simple for agencies to include energy efficiency 
requirements in new tenders. The Department of the Environment, 
Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) issued a request for tender last 
week which includes 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2008/08/australian-government-tendering-for.html>mandatory 
energy saving requirements: 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2008/08/australian-government-tendering-for.html>. 
An RFT from the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and 
Research this week has 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2008/08/energy-saving-optional-for-science.html>optional 
energy saving criteria: 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2008/08/energy-saving-optional-for-science.html>.

The Australian Government could adapt the regulations which the US 
Government already has in place. These require US federal agencies to 
purchase ICT equipment which meets energy efficiency standards. In 
most cases the Australian Government is buying the same model 
computers from the same vendors as offered to the US government, so 
the equipment will have already been tested and approved.

Normally it would take a government committee months or years to 
implement such a mandatory requirement and set up the detailed 
procedures. But the US government has already done the work and so 
the Australians can simply download a copy of the US rules and edit 
them for Australian conditions:
    * 
<http://energy.senate.gov/public/_files/ConferenceReport0.pdf>US 
Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires ENERGY STAR or other efficient 
products: 
<http://energy.senate.gov/public/_files/ConferenceReport0.pdf>. 
<http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/E7-11772.htm>US 
Notice of Proposed Rule provides guidance on this: 
<http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/E7-11772.htm>. 


More in my blog: 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2008/08/energy-efficient-pcs-for-australian.html>.

ps: If this sounds unlikely, some years ago I downloaded a copy of 
the US DoD web guidelines and edited them to produce the 
<http://www.acs.org.au/president/1998/past/websec.htm>Australia 
Department of Defence web  guidelines. ;-)



Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                      http://www.tomw.net.au/
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Australian National University