IT industry grows greener

13-07-2007

by Emmet Ryan

The IT industry is going green and Irish businesses could reap the financial benefits.

IT giants such as IBM, Intel and Lenovo are flooding the market with products that conserve energy, cutting down on damage to the environment and the cost of power for firms.

Despite this apparent win-win situation where companies can boost their reputation by going greener while saving money, many firms are still tentative about making the move.

"The main barrier is cost," explained Neil Brennan, an ICT research analyst with iReach. The research firm published a report in March which revealed that Irish businesses were happy to go green so long as it didn't cost them too much.

Brennan said the initial investment required in greener IT products was off-putting to some businesses but that in the long run the savings are significant.

He said recycling was an area where Irish firms were already taking the initiative in terms of having a green attitude to IT devices. "We are well ahead of targets set down under the WEEE [Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment] initiative," said Brennan. The WEEE directive is EU set collection, recycling and recovery targets on electronic goods.

Brennan said Irish firms can build on the success of WEEE and reduce their energy costs by investing in greener IT products.

"If spending an extra EUR200 on a server is going to save you EUR1,000 over five years then it makes sense to make the investment," he said. "The people starting to purchase more green IT are probably just doing the sums."

Even before businesses invest in new greener products though there are ways to cut down on power expenses within their existing IT infrastructure.

Simple actions like turning off computers at night can result in significant savings. "In the US 30 million PCs kept on overnight results in an extra USD500 million in power costs for businesses annually," said Brennan.

While the actions required to make savings are straightforward, having the right attitude is critical for a business wishing to benefit from using more energy efficient and greener products. Firms need to develop a strategy focusing on the areas in their business where they make significant improvements to energy efficiency.

"The more structured approach a business takes, the more they will gain," said Brian Motherway, head of industry programmes at Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI).

Motherway said firms of all sizes can find ways to reduce their power bills by cutting down on the amount of energy used.

"Historically the businesses most interested in conserving energy were the larger firms but even a small business can make significant savings," he said. Motherway said tracking bills and seeing how and where energy was used could help firms devise a strategy to cut down on costs.

SEI is working with business to help them find ways to drive efficiency. The organisation has developed an energy efficiency standard, IS393, for large firms. To date 40 have signed up to the standard with five already certified. This group was made up of businesses that were leading the way in energy efficiency but Motherway said even these energy-conscious firms found there were savings they had been missing out on.

The drive towards energy efficiency has been led by a change in attitudes towards power expenses." Businesses have become more motivated. They thought of energy as a fixed cost but now they are thinking of ways to reduce the amount they spend," said Motherway.

The demand amongst businesses, and indeed consumers, for products that consume less energy has seen IT companies answer with more efficient devices.

"It makes commercial sense to their bottom line," said Steve Bowden, green computing consultant with IBM.

Energy costs in the UK for example grew 35 percent between the third quarter of 2005 and the same period a year later. This added financial burden can weigh down businesses and IT firms are looking at ways to lighten the load.

"Energy efficiency has become a key element that many customers are looking for," said Bowden.

Money is not the sole motivating factor for firms looking to go green. The Green wave at the last election may not have materialised but the public is still leaning heavily on industry to be more environmentally friendly.

"There's a generation coming through that are aware of green issues," said Belinda Grehan, one of the organisers of the Alchemist Cafe which is a monthly public forum on scientific issues held in Dublin. She explained that members of the public were keen to learn more about environmental matters. "We have noticed that many people are asking for green issues to be covered."

Grehan said she has noticed that the public was putting greater pressure on firms to go green due to environmental issues having an increasingly powerful impact on their lives. "It's affecting people's pockets more. Things that impact their daily lives like the weather and petrol prices are making people realise the importance of green issues," she said.

With the public eager for more environmentally-friendly products and significant savings to be made from reduced energy costs there may never be a better time for Irish businesses to go green.