I recently came across a very cool article on ExtremeTech.com (taken from PC Magazine) about how to build an energy efficient PC. This is a do-it-yourself, step-by-step guide for how to put together your own “green” (and RoHS and WEEE compliant) PC using lead free parts and more energy efficient power supplies. (A typical PC uses 200 to 400 watts, whereas a TV uses around 100). While I’m not about to assume any IT department is going to start making their own earth friendly PCs from scratch, it’s still an interesting read. You might even discover a new hobby.

Perhaps a more practical way to make your PCs more energy efficient is through a third party vendor like Verdiem. Its Surveyor product monitors a user's habits and places the PC into lower energy settings, such as hibernation and standby, when it’s not being used. According to a Verdiem press release, Surveyor reduces greenhouse gas emissions at a rate equal to taking more than 8,000 passenger cars off the road for an entire year, or conserving 4,317,988 gallons of gasoline. The latest version of Surveyor, released the other day, utilizes the power management features in Microsoft Vista. CEO Kevin Klustner says that the cost savings generally equal $20 per PC, per year.  Verdiem announced this week that Boston City Hall, which installed Surveyor on its PCs in February, is saving an average of 180 kWh of electricity or $25 per PC annually.

Speaking of efficiency, energy consumption in the data center is the number one green issue facing IT right now. And today, the Green Grid  began a two day technical summit, during which members will decide on objectives for measuring data center efficiency, guidance for improving data center efficiency in day to day operations and guidance pertaining to data center design and building.

In addition to that, the EPA recently released draft reports on data center and energy efficiency and are asking industry experts to add to the report, which is due in its entirety to Congress in June. If you have information to contribute, the EPA is asking that you contact Eric Masanet at Berkeley Lawrence National Laboratory. See the EPA’s website for more information.

And one final note: We know you have a lot of questions about how to run a greener IT department. So we're putting together a group of experts, including technologists, researchers and vendors, who can provide some advice and perspective. We'll be interviewing them during the next couple of weeks and will report the conversation in an upcoming story on Cio.com. Post your questions here to get the dialogue moving -- we'll ask our panel, and hopefully get some answers from the community as well.

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