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IT Projects

Green Computing

The University of Florida is committed to beneficial practices towards the community and seeks to benefit many stakeholders and constituencies. As part of this, the University endeavors to do no harm and curtail impacts on the environment, locally, regionally and globally. The University seeks to manage its Information Technology resources in ways consistent with those guiding principles and our mission imperative activity in teaching, research and service.

Diagram of Governance for IT

Think You Know Green IT?

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Definitions

Sustainability, Climate change and Green Computing are closely related concepts. For clarity, the following accepted definitions will be used:

Sustainability: Use of natural resources in such as way that it does not compromise their use by future generations (UN, 1992). This generally leads to efforts directed to extending the life of human systems while reducing their environmental impact.

Climate Change: Lasting changes in the dynamics of the atmosphere due in part to human activity that produces greenhouse gases, affecting the earth’s climate (EPA, 2008).

Green Computing: Efficient use of resources in IT.

Metrics often used to assess the impact of sustainability oriented programs include but are not limited to reductions of:

  1. Carbon footprint: CO2 and other greenhouse gases emitted by a human activity accumulated over the full life cycle of a product or service (Wiedmann and Minx, 2008), expressed as equivalent Kg of CO2.
  2. Energy use: Generally expressed in KWH.
  3. Total cost of ownership (TCO).

Proposal

Develop and execute a program directed to UF stakeholders that focuses on IT policies and practices that minimize the IT CO2 footprint, increase energy efficiency, and improve TCO

Specific Goals for this effort are:

  1. Raise awareness of the benefits of sustainable computing (It makes sense socially, economically and environmentally).
  2. Reduce environmental impact of IT resources, including but not limited to decreasing future energy demands, clean waste & obsolete equipment disposal. More importantly, reducing the carbon footprint of the organization.
  3. Redirect cost savings to improved IT services.

Project Sponsors

  • CIO