CSUEB in top 10 nationwide for green computing
- May 5, 2009
In a nationwide drive to reduce computer power usage by 50 percent by 2010, California State University, East Bay has captured sixth place among higher education participants. The nonprofit Climate Savers Computing Initiative sponsored the competition.
Cal State East Bay was the only Northern California University to participate in Climate Savers’ “Power Down for the Planet” challenge, an effort to promote green computing awareness and practices on campuses nationwide. At CSUEB, 567 students, faculty and staff members committed to support to green computing.
To pledge support for green computing, members of the CSUEB community agreed (online at www.powerdownfortheplanet.org/pledge) to use the power management features on their personal computers and purchase energy efficient computers when it’s time to replace their old computers, a practice already adopted by the university. The “Power Down for the Planet” challenge began March 23 and ran through April 17.
Because green computing is important at Cal State East Bay, the university also took additional steps to reduce its carbon footprint. A pop-up, power management request was sent to all faculty and staff computers through CSUEB’s Central Power Patch Management (CPPM) system during the week of April 6. The power management request allowed faculty and staff members to choose from five power management options for their work computers:
Super Green 6 – Computer monitors and hard drives go into standby mode after 15 minutes of non-use, system goes into sleep mode after 30 minutes, and computer shuts down daily at 6:00 p.m.
Super Green 11 – Same as Super Green 6, except computer shuts down daily at 11:00 p.m.
Green – Same as Super Green 11, except computer does not shut down daily.
Yellow – Monitors and hard drives go into standby mode after 15 minutes of non-use .
Red – Monitors go into standby mode after 15 minutes of non-use.
Since desktop computers waste as much as half of the power they receive, effective power management can “save nearly half a ton of CO2 and over $60 a year in energy costs,” on average, according to the Climate Savers Computing Initiative. With over 3,000 computers currently in use at Cal State East Bay, the savings is expected to be significant.