green it - it as an environmental issue - richard hodges

Copyrighted Material All Rights Reserved 2007 2

IT as an Environmental Issue:

Problems and Opportunities

Richard Hodges 7079330299, [email protected]

Workshop for Research Program on Environmentally Responsible Information Technology Practices

Connected Urban Development


Environmental sustainability is a major global issue of the 21 st Century. l Global climate change l Air and water pollution l Ocean degradation l Depletion of nonrenewable natural resources

l Human health and safety issues l Toxic wastes l Disposal of solid wastes l Species extinction


IT systems are a significant, and rapidly growing, part of the problem …


… consuming nonrenewable natural resources for manufacturing … “Manufacturing computers is materials intensive; the total fossil fuels used to make one desktop computer weigh over 240 kilograms, some 10 times the weight of the computer itself. This is very high compared to many other goods: For an automobile or refrigerator, for example, the weight of fossil fuels used for production is roughly equal to their weights. Also, substantial quantities of chemicals (22 kg), and water (1,500 kg) are also used.” Computers and the Environment, Kuehr and Williams, 2003)


… creating health human health issues during manufacturing and use …


… consuming resources for global distribution of products …


… consuming electricity while in use …

Electric Power Generation

by Fuel Type (2004)


… producing waste …

l Paper – 60% of solid waste from offices.

l “Consumables” waste. l Universal and toxic waste

l Packaging waste.


… during short product lives …

l “gadgets” <6 months? l Cell phones, PDA’s – 2 to 3 years l Laptop Computers – 3 to 4 years l Desktop PC’s – 3 to 5 years l Servers and Network Gear – 3 to 5 years

l Telephone Systems and Public Network Gear – 5 to 7 years


and becoming toxic ewaste at the end of useful life.


The environmental effects of IT systems can be assessed using the same categories as green buildings.

lEnergy and Atmosphere lMaterials and Resources lIndoor Environmental Quality lSite lWater


LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

“The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. “

Certified Silver Gold Platinum


Energy and Atmosphere – Electricity

How much of a building’s electricity consumption is due to IT systems?

Data Tech Center Offices 95%?

DoE 50%? LBNL Survey Study 26%? 3%?

“Office equipment accounts for 26 percent of electricity used in office buildings. This is more than the entire lighting system (22 percent) and almost as much as the chilled water subsystem (28 percent).” Flexyourpower, State of CA


Energy and Atmosphere – Electricity Calpers Headquarters – Sacramento, California

KEY PARAMETERS: l GROSS SQUARE FOOTAGE: 1.1 million

ft2 l COST: $192 million l COMPLETED: November 2005 l ANNUAL PURCHASED ENERGY USE

(BASED ON SIMULATION): 81.6 kBtu/ft2 16% reduction from base case.

Greensource Magazine, April 2007

LEED Gold

65% of the energy use is for data center and office equipment.



Current California design standards for “plug load” in commercial buildings …

l Title 24 limits lighting to 1.1 to 1.2 watts per ft. 2

l For "plug load" at the desktop, engineers plan for 1.52.5 watts, or more.

l “Plug load” excludes power in data closets (not regulated) or the cooling load associated with any of the equipment (also unregulated if it's specific to telecom closets/data centers).



EPA Report on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency, July 2007

l Data centers consumed about 60 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) in 2006, roughly 1.5 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption.

l The energy consumption of servers and data centers has doubled in the past five years and is expected to almost double again in the next five years to more than 100 billion kWh, costing about $7.4 billion annually.



Information Week, February 27, 2006

IT Systems are the fastest growing segment of electrical power consumption worldwide.


Materials and Resources – Computers l Copper l Aluminum l Lead l Gold l Zinc l Nickel l Tin l Silver l Iron l Platinum l Palladium l Mercury l Cobalt l Antimony l Arsenic l Barium l Beryllium l Cadmium l Chromium l Selenium l Gallium

Manufacture of one two gram microchip

•Uses 32,000 grams of de ionized water •Generates 26Kg of waste, some of it highly toxic.

Producing one square centimeter of Silicon wafer (0.16 grams)

• uses 45 grams of chemicals and 556 grams of elemental gases •Consumes 1.8 kwh of electricity •Generates 17.8 Kg of waste water and 7.8 grams of solid waste

•Uses 240Kg of fossil fuels, 22Kg of chemicals and 1500Kg of water •For a 50 pound computer /VDT combination, this makes a materialsto product ratio of 71:1, not including packing, distribution, delivery, usage, and disposal at end of life.

Manufacture of PC and Monitor


Materials and Resources – “EWaste” Selected toxic substances in electronic products

Substance

Cadmium (batteries, pigments)

Lead (circuit board solder, batteries, cathoderay tube glass)

Mercury (switches, relays, fluorescent lamps for flat panel displays, also emitted from coal fired electricity generation plants)

Beryllium (circuit substrates, spring steel alloys)

Phthalates (additives to polymers) Brominated flame retardants (on circuit boards, such as FR4, and in plastics in electronic equipment)

Toxicity Reason for attention Exposure to humans of fine cadmium powder affects renal and respiratory systems. Small amounts of dissolved cadmium are toxic to aquatic and terrestrial organisms.

Lead affects the central nervous system and kidneys of humans. Environmental toxicity has been reported in several organisms.

Elemental mercury is toxic by inhalation or ingestion. Mercury affects the human central nervous system and the kidneys. It is also toxic to aquatic organisms and may cause longterm effects in the aquatic environment.

Very carcinogenic by inhalation.

Probable hormone disrupting chemicals (still under investigation) Some brominated flame retardants are carcinogens, some are suspected to cause reproductive effects and some may cause organ and especially liver toxicity in humans. Some degrade slowly in nature, all are bioaccumulative, and some produce dioxins when incinerated.

Source: Toxicity and Ecotoxicity, Danish EPA, Environmental project number 568, 2000, www.gnteknik.dk


Materials and Resources – “EWaste”

Increasing volume •PCs •Servers •Cell Phones

Increasing restrictions •Basel treaty •WEEE/EuP in Europe •State and Federal Government in U.S.


Materials and Resources – “EWaste”

Image From SVTC Website http://svtc.etoxics.org


Materials and Resources – Data Cables

l Virgin Copper – 1.5B pounds per year for building cable.

l PVC Plastics – 11 pounds per 1k feet of data cable.

l Lead – PVC sheaths are 2 to 8% lead by weight.

l Volume of IT cable in buildings >1,300 feet per office worker in the U.S, and growing.

l Disposal at End of Life – Cables as toxic “Ewaste”


Materials and Resources Data Cables

“Abandoned cable is a hidden hazard in our buildings today. In addition to creating cable management, structural and air flow problems, excess cable adds unnecessary fuel load in concealed spaces of buildings. This adds to the risk of smoke and fire spread. After many years of accumulation, removal of abandoned cable was required by the National Electric Code (NEC) 2002.” DuPont Cabling Solutions, 2005


Materials and Resources – Universal Waste “Common items that have traditionally been thrown in the trash cannot be safely disposed in landfills. These items are referred to as hazardous waste, and some of them as ‘universal waste’ (uwaste).” CIWMB

Batteries. Includes all batteries, AAA, AA, C, D, button cell, 9volt, both rechargeable and single use. Also leadacid batteries. Computer and television monitors. Most monitors are currently considered hazardous waste … including cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal diode (LCD), and plasma monitors. Electronic devices. Includes computers, printers, VCRs, cell phones, telephones, and radios.

“As of February 9, 2006, all ‘uwaste’ items are banned from the trash.” CIWMB

http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/HHW/UWaste/default.htm


Indoor Environmental Quality

l Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) and particulate emissions from Printers and Copiers.

l VOC offgassing from electronic equipment.

l Chemical residues from fire retardants on computers (PDBE’s).

l Lead from data cable sheaths.


Indoor Environmental Quality “Big Health Risk Seen in Some Laser Printers” San Francisco Chronicle, August 1, 2007

“If you work near certain models of laser printers, you might be breathing the same amount of ultrafine particle pollution as if a smoker were puffing away in the next cubicle.”


Space for IT equipment in a typical office building …

ANSI/EIA/TIA 569 minimum standard is about 1% of usable floor space.

Actual space needs are higher, and growing.

Site – Space Requirements


Site – Space Requirements Materials and Resources Infrastructure

IT systems drive requirements for building infrastructure … and more space.

l Electrical power distribution systems.

l Backup power systems for IT equipment.

l Cooling systems. l Fire suppression systems.


What is the one thing that we know is true about technology?

We always overestimate the effect of technology in the short and underestimate the effect in the long run.

Tom Edrington IV, 1984


The “internet” (aka the global information network) really is going to change everything.

Graphic attributed to Gartner Group


Greening information technology systems requires new thinking and new processes, for example …

The three R’s of environmentalism: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

The GreenIT ER 3 Principle: ELIMINATE … then Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.


The environmental benefits of new thinking and new processes …

:

MITIGATION MITIGATION • • Reduced consumption of materials and equipment. Reduced consumption of materials and equipment.

• • Improved energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions Improved energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. reductions.

• • Reduced electronic and office waste. Reduced electronic and office waste.

INNOVATION INNOVATION • Reduced space needs. Reduced space needs.

• • Less employee commute travel. Less employee commute travel.

• • Reduced business travel. Reduced business travel.

• • New ways of delivering government services. New ways of delivering government services.


We can do better.

green it - it as an environmental issue - richard hodges

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