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Intergovernmental Solutions Newsletter
GSA Office of Citizen Services and Communications
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Issue 21 • Fall 2008
TheIntergovernmental Solutions Newsletter is produced twice a year by the Intergovernmental Solutions Division, GSA Office of Citizens Services and Communications; Lisa Nelson, Editor.Send comments and suggestions to: lisa.nelson@gsa.gov.
Green IT Is Essential to Green Government . . .1
EPA and Its Partners
What Does “Going Green”with Information Technology Mean? . . . . . . . . . . .4Putting EPA Data Center EnergyEfficiency Projections to the Test . . . . . . . . . . . . .5The Green Grid: Establishing GreaterEnergy Efficiency in Data Centers . . . . . . . . . . . .7Environmental BenefitsofEPEATIT Purchasing System . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Looking Into the Future
Achieving a Green IT Strategythrough Cloud Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Collaborative Work is Green by Nature . . . . . . .12The New Challenge of IT Asset Disposal . . . .14GSA Helps Government Go Green . . . . . . . . . .16Environmental andCorporate Benefits of Telework . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Stateand Local Partners
The Virtual State of Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Solar Photovoltaic Financing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22How State CIOs CanGet to Greener Pastures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Public CIOs, Green Czarsand their Span of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Cascade County Wind Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . .27The Sunshine State Keeps IT Green . . . . . . . . .29
Green IT Is ImportantAround the World
Green IT Approaches Span the Globe . . . . . . . .31Australia’s ICTEnvironmental Impact Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
T
he worldwide growth in the use of consumer electronic products,which include computers and communications and entertainmentdevices—cellular phones, VCRs, televisions, DVD players, videocameras, stereos, copying machines and faxes, and video gameconsoles—has had both positive and negative effects. Electronicsenable us to make information exchange quicker and easier; reduce ourneed to physically move people, products, and information; and allow usto cut traffic, save energy, and reduce pollution. But the manufacture,use and disposal of these products, compiled from plastics, metals,silicon, and various chemicals, have an increasingly detrimental effecton the environment and human health. Waste from electronics is thefastest growing waste stream in the U.S., and the overall electronicsrecycling rate, at only 12.5%, is low. When these items become obsoleteand are thrown away, they quickly clog landfills. When they aredestroyed, the chemicals and heavy metals in their composition poseenvironmental risks to human health and the environment.There is a growing awareness that governments, businesses, and non-governmental organizations need to better manage their use oftechnology in an environmentally responsible manner. As largepurchasers of electronic products and services, they have anopportunity, and a responsibility, to provide leadership throughenvironmentally sound practices and cost-effective, life-cyclemanagement of their electronic assets. Accordingly, many governmentsare taking a closer look at the design, procurement, operations, and end-of-life management of electronics to identify steps that can be taken toreduce the burdens that these products have on the environment.Information technology products and processes have a significantimpact on the environment. They contain chemicals known to be a threatto human health and the environment—lead, mercury, cadmium andbrominated flame retardants among them. And like all electronics, ITproducts create electronics waste at the end of their lifecycle. Desktop
Green IT Is Essentialto Green Government
By Darlene MeskellDirector, Intergovernmental SolutionsGSA Office of Citizen Services and CommunicationsU.S. General Services Administration
green IT
 
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and enterprise computer equipmentrequire significant energy to operate,leading to increased greenhouse gasemissions. Today, large consolidateddata centers alone use more than 5%of all electricity consumed in theUnited States.This newsletter offers severalexamples of how environmentalprinciples can be applied to the worldof desktop and enterprise computertechnologies. Environmentallyconscious, or “green” ITencompasses everything fromexamining the use of pollutants in themanufacture of technology, toreducing the energy andenvironmental footprint of thebuildings that house computerenterprise operations, recyclingmanufactured equipment, and muchmore. The articles describe many ofthe ways governments are workingtoward socially responsible,environmentally friendly and fiscallysound practices.
EPA and Its Partners
Governments are trying hard to be“green” but are not sure how to goabout it. The U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency addresses thistopic in
What Does Going Greenwith Information Technology Mean?
EPA challenges us to take aholistic look at the lifecycle of our ITpurchases from “cradle to grave,” andto find ways to intervene at criticaljunctures. Citing EPA’s recent
Reportto Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency
, the Silicon ValleyLeadership Group, a consortium ofpublic—and private—sectororganizations, reports on how it usedreal-life data
Putting EPA DataCenter Energy Efficiency Projections to the Test
. TheLeadership Group is one of manyorganizations focusing attention onthe growing challenges of improvingenergy efficiency within data centers.
The Green Grid
is working toward
Establishing Greater Energy Efficiency in Data Centers
bydefining and promoting energy-efficient practices. The GreenElectronics Council describes the
Environmental Benefits of theEPEAT Purchasing System
as atool to help purchasers evaluatedozens of environmental performanceattributes of electronic products.
Looking Into the Future
EPA and its partners are establishingenvironmental standards and tools tohelp control energy use in governmentIT. But this is only a small step towardachieving an environmentally-neutralfuture. Technologies, methodologies,and work practices now beingdeveloped and implemented by theenvironmentally concerned andeconomically strapped in all sectors.IBM presents a new computingparadigm that helps organizations gogreen by providing a sharedinfrastructure with virtualizationcapabilities.
 Achieving a Green IT Strategy through CloudComputing
shows how governmentand business can access services onan as-needed basis and maintaindistributed workforces.
Collaborative Work is Green by Nature
describes how Web-enabledcollaborative work environments,allow tens, hundreds or eventhousands of individuals tocollaborate on important workproducts without moving away fromtheir computer screens. Reducing theneed for travel, workspace, paper,time and even online storage spacerequired to share documents viaemail, these wiki-supported programssave their users time, achieve buy-in,and help generate better work thanmany face-to-face task forces.Adopting new technology is only oneof the many ways governments andother organizations can reduce theircarbon footprints. Another way is tobe dispose of old technology carefully.
The Economics of IT AssetDisposal
lays out Dell Computer’sprogram for reusing and recycling oldtechnology.The U.S. General ServicesAdministration is leading by exampleand
Helping Government GoGreen
, using its unique position asthe government’s supply arm andproperty manager to help customeragencies become better stewards ofthe environment. As the government'spremier procurement agency, GSAincorporates principles of sustainabledesign in our building projects andoffers some 10,000 green goods andservices. In addition, as thepromulgator of the government’stelework policies, GSA is well on itsway to achieve its goal of having 50%its workforce teleworking by 2010.
The Environmental and CorporateBenefits of Telework
are alsorecognized as not just environmentalbut as a way to improve work/lifebalance, and the productivity ofemployees.
State and Local Pioneers
Much of the innovation in “green”government is taking place at thestate and local levels in the unendingeffort to control costs.
The VirtualState of Tennessee
, for instance,
EPA and its partners are establishing environmental standards and tools to help control energy use in government IT. But this is only a small step toward achievingan environmentally-neutral future.
 
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has embraced virtualization and notonly reduced staffing costs butlowered energy costs and harmfulcarbon dioxide emissions. Luckily,many funding options are available tostate and local governments for
Solar Photovoltaic Financing
,which has seen “exponentialincreases” in the capital available forsolar projects, and tremendouscreativity in the development of third-party ownership structures. Withrising energy costs, on the mind ofnearly every citizen and lawmaker,green initiatives will likely be met withunprecedented support, the NationalAssociation of Chief InformationOfficers predicts. State CIOs areuniquely poised to become leaders inthe green IT revolution, according tothe NASCIO brief,
How State CIOsCan Get to Greener Pastures
.Although many governments are justcoming to terms with the strategicimportance of sustainability, Oregonand other states have fieldedsustainability programs for a decadeor so. Some jurisdictions are evenlooking at putting all theirsustainability programs under asingle high-level official.
PublicCIOs, Green Czars and their Spanof Control
considers the benefitsand disadvantages of establishing asustainability point person.Cascade County, Montana, known forhaving strong and predictable winds,created wind speed and power mapsby combining federal wind map data,local land ownership, roadstransmission lines and other county-specific data.
Cascade County Wind Marketing
used these plans toattract clean-power developers.As the largest employer in Florida, thegovernment of
The Sunshine StateKeeps IT Green
. The state’s goal isto reduce greenhouse gas emissionsby 40% by 2025—through programsaimed at reducing vehicle emissions,making facilities energy efficient, andgreen purchasing.
Green IT Is ImportantAround the World
Other countries are equally, if notmore, concerned about the impact ofIT on the environment.
Green IT  Approaches Span the Globe
bringsin to focus the steps large English-speaking nations are taking to reducethe carbon footprint of informationtechnology at every point in the life-cycle of their government systems,from purchase and productionthrough usage and ultimate disposal.The Australian government chiefinformation officer has issued achecklist for
Managing theEnvironmental Impact of Information and CommunicationsTechnology 
, as part of acomprehensive green IT effort.The stories in this newsletter clearlyrepresent only a sampling of theincreasingly aggressive programs thatgovernments have undertaken toreduce the impact of their operationson the state of the environment. Aslarge organizations, with a relativelylarge effect, their ability to controltheir own operations and to leadothers to adopt eco-friendly practiceswill have a beneficial impact on theenvironment.
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For additional information contactlisa.nelson@gsa.gov 
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