Greening Your Business Through Technology - WITSA

7Quick Wins14Medium-termInitiatives21Case StudiesVersion: V1.0© CopyrightAIIA Nov 2009Leading you towards a sustainable future through GreenITGreening Your Business Through Technology

Contents1 Introduction to ‘Greening Your Business Through Technology’ 31.1 Foreward from John Lenders MLC (Treasurer, Minister for Information and CommunicationTechnology and Financial Services) 31.2 Letter from Bob Hayward (Director AIIA National GreenIT Taskforce) 42 Executive Summary 62.1 Purpose of the Document 62.2 Background 72.3 How to Achieve the Vision of a Low Carbon Economy 92.4 Why Adopt GreenIT? 122.5 Case Study: Canon – GreenIT Drivers 143 Getting Started 153.1 Overview of Quick Wins 153.2 Case Study: SEMA – eLearning (Business Innovation) 163.3 Case Study: Tradeslot – Client Facing Teleconferencing (Business Innovation) 173.4 Case Study: PowerfulCMS – Teleworking (Business Innovation) 183.5 Case Study: Innovation Science – Energy Management(Low Investment Option – Technology Innovation) 194 Next Steps 204.1 Getting Ready for Further Action 204.1.1 Case Study: Fujitsu – Journey Over Time 214.2 GreenIT Responsibilities 224.2.1 Director – Risks and Liabilities 224.2.2 Finance – Carbon Disclosure Reporting 254.2.3 Information Technology – Implementing GreenIT Products and Services 264.2.4 Marketing – The Legal Requirements of Promoting Green Products and Services 284.2.5 Case Study: Intel – Sustainable Program Office 304.3 Developing a GreenIT Roadmap 314.3.1 Case Study: Telstra – Cost Benefit Analysis Calculators (Business Innovation) 334.3.2 Case Study: PCA People – Green Business Certification Program(Business and Technology Innovation) 354.3.3 Case Study: Toyota – Developing a GreenIT Roadmap (Business and Technology Innovation) 355 Taking Further Action 365.1 Overview of Medium-term Initiatives 365.2 Case Study: Corporate Express – Data Centre Optimisation (Technology Innovation) 385.3 Case Study: Jetstar – Virtualisation (Business and Technology Innovation) 395.4 Case Study: Intel – Server Hardware Refresh Using Energy Efficient Equipment(Technology Innovation) 405.5 Case Study: Connex – Carbon Management System (Business Innovation) 415.6 Case Study: BLADE – Integrated Blade & Top of Rack Switches (Technology Innovation) 425.7 Case Study: DELL – Energy Management(Enterprise Solution – Minimum 200 Desktops – Technology Innovation) 43Page 1

Contents6 The Future 446.1 Overview of Long-term Initiatives that Create a New Agenda 446.2 Smart Planet (Business and Technology Innovation) 456.3 Cloud Computing (Business and Technology Innovation) 486.4 Case Study: Handset Detection – Cloud Computing (Business Innovation) 517 GreenIT Values – Philosophical Considerations with Embracing GreenIT 527.1 Overview of Philosophical Considerations with Embracing GreenIT 527.2 Sustainable Consumption and Production 527.3 Product Stewardship 537.3.1 Case Study: Sustainability Victoria – Byteback Australia (Business Innovation) 567.4 Sustainable Supply Chain 577.4.1 Product Stewardship (Identify the Opportunities) 587.4.2 Smarter Procurement (Making it Happen) 587.4.3 Product Differentiation (Capitalise on the Benefits) 607.4.4 Green Supply Chain Myth – Green Products/Services Always Cost More 607.4.5 Sustainable Supply Chain Resources 617.4.6 Snapshot: Wal-Mart – Sustainable Product Index (Business Innovation) 637.4.7 Snapshot: State Government of Victoria – Environmental Selection Criteriafor Multi-function Devices (Business Innovation) 637.4.8 Case Study: State Government of Victoria – Environmental Selection Criteriafor Desktops and Laptops (Business Innovation) 658 Closing Remarks 66Josh Millen, National Manager for Environment and CSR (AIIA) 66Scott Evans, Editor of the AIIA ‘Greening Your Business With Technology’ eBook 679 Glossary 6810 Appendices 71Page 2Please note: text appearing in orange indicates hyperlinks for your reference

1Introduction1.1 Foreword from John Lenders MLCThe Victorian Government and the Australian Information IndustryAssociation (AIIA) have a long-established relationship, committedto working with organisations to create a clean, green ICT industryas a fundamental component of a sustainable future.‘Greening Your Business Through Technology’ presents acomprehensive range of relevant implementation strategies withsupporting case studies, identifying opportunities which provide organisations with assistance indeveloping a business case for change.From tips on getting started, to ideas and opportunities tailored for small, medium and largecompanies (with a special emphasis on SMEs), this eBook is a valuable resource providingGreenIT solutions for all organisations.Examples of these solutions are outlined in the various case studies throughout this eBook.Evidence suggests organisations that are astute in terms of technology and business innovationcan make intelligent decisions by adopting GreenIT initiatives.By focusing on a GreenIT plan, companies can benefit from increased efficiency and productivity.Deriving maximum value from minimum resources, benefits such as improvements in bottom lineand a reduction in environmental footprint can be achieved.One example of this is the Victorian Government’s Byteback program. In just four years,this program has collected more than 2,000 tonnes of computer and related equipment, andestablished eight collection sites across Victoria. Designed for SMEs, Byteback is a great startingpoint for local companies to promote recycling and sustainable disposal practices – effectivelyminimising the volume of ewaste to landfill.The Brumby Labor Government’s Innovation Statement Innovation: Victoria’s Future, outlinesVictoria’s investment in innovation and its commitment to a low carbon economy though initiativessuch as Victorian’s Science Agenda, Smart SMEs Market Validation Program and the TechnologyCommercialisation Program.Innovative activities across many organisations are being driven by leadership, often underpinnedby innovative applications of ICT. ICT is a critical investment that many companies make toimprove their own efficiencies.On behalf of the Brumby Labor Government, I’d like to commend all companies who have beeninvolved in GreenIT initiatives to date. There is so much potential for the ICT industry to reduceits own environmental impact and to assist other industries to minimise their impact. By thinkingholistically and adopting some of the processes outlined in this eBook – together we can create asustainable and green future for all.I urge everyone to get involved and start taking the important steps needed to build a GreenITfoundation. It is on this foundation that our future vision can be built, providing a solution to theenvironmental challenges we are experiencing today.John Lenders MLCTreasurer, Minister for Information and Communication Technology and Financial ServicesPage 3

1Introduction1.2 Letter from Bob Hayward (DirectorAIIA National GreenIT Taskforce)The Australian economy is more dependent on technology than everbefore. But as technology usage grows, there are also increasedbusiness expenses for electricity, more greenhouse gas emissionsassociated with that electricity consumption and extra landfillneeded for all the electronic waste. Unless technology is procuredintelligently, consumed efficiently and disposed of wisely, the growing useof technology can create a serious problem for business leaders – for Australia and for the planet.Regulators, auditors, customers, investors, employees and the wider community are raising theirexpectations and demands for Australian organisations to be cleaner, more efficient and moresustainable. In Australia, legislation requiring detailed reporting on energy use and greenhousegas emissions is in place, directly affecting more than 1,000 organisations which are in turnasking their supply chains to be more transparent about environmental impact information. Theintroduction of an Emissions Trading Scheme will place a price point on emissions in the market,adding to the need for carbon measurement, monitoring, reporting and abatement initiatives. In thenear future, we can expect that governments and auditors will require all Australian businesses toreport on detailed environmental information in the same way they require organisations to reporton financial information today.Technologists have critical roles to play as organisations adopt corporate social responsibilityprogrammes and come under more intense scrutiny about their environmental credentials.The direct impact of information and communications technology on the environment for Australiahas not been recently measured. The last time any research was conducted was in 2005, whena study concluded that the use of information technology by commercial enterprises in Australiaconsumed electricity that in turn was responsible for just over 1.5 percent of Australian greenhousegas emissions. This could now be anywhere between 6-8 percent considering that nearly fiveyears have passed and that along with the rapid adoption of new technology, the original figure didnot include the public sector, consumers at home, nor telecommunications technology.To put things into perspective, during one year, someone at home in Australia might consume asmuch electricity just visiting online virtual worlds (such as SecondLife) as an average person doesin Brazil to power their household.There is plenty of work to be done to stop the growth of the environmental impact of IT and startto reduce it.But there is even more opportunity to implement new technologies that help reduce the other92-94 percent greenhouse gas emissions – through activities such as more optimised fleetmanagement, more intelligent utility grids, electronic bills and payments, video-conferencingand improved building management systems.Technology managers are under pressure to adopt leading practices for sustainability;practices that reduce the environmental footprint of using technologies themselves but alsorecognise the opportunity to deploy new technologies that can improve the environmentalprofile of the entire business.All business leaders should understand what GreenIT means for their organisation and what theyshould be doing about it. With rising energy costs and a strong global focus on climate change,leaders should consider action to improve their corporate social standing, reduce energy waste,reduce consumption and help to preserve the environment. In doing so, organisations stand toachieve a variety of internal and external benefits, including potential cost savings.Page 4

1IntroductionThe challenge for management and technologists is to consider the economic, social andenvironmental implications of any initiative to achieve a balanced outcome for their organisation.Recognising the need to inform Australian organisations about GreenIT practices, the AustralianInformation Industry Association (AIIA) has commissioned this book as a guide to GreenIT. Usingreal world case studies, simple examples and providing clear road maps on actions to take,‘Greening Your Business through Technology’ gives Australian managers the information theyneed to use technology responsibly and innovatively. As the practices covered in this book areput in place, we can look forward to a cleaner, more sustainable Australia.I trust you will find this book a useful guide to assist in navigating your way through thetransformation of Australia towards a low-carbon economy.Bob HaywardDirector AIIA National GreenIT TaskforcePage 5

2ExecutiveSummaryFigure 1: Target Audience of the eBook10 Staff 100 StaffIf your organisation has less than 10 employees, the content of this book is relevant, however notall initiatives will suit your working environment and needs.Such organisations would be better to focus on Section 3 (Getting Started – Quick Wins) andSection 4 (Next Steps – Getting Ready for Further Action).Alternatively, if your organisation has more than 100 employees, your environment will be morecomplex and additional factors will need to be taken into consideration.2.2 BackgroundCurrent SituationAustralian organisations want to develop green operations, yet many need assistance in bothidentifying the opportunities and developing the business case for change.Though the focus in the current economy is given to cost reduction, ethical concerns are becomingcentral to business and brand management whilst green credentials are increasingly influencingconsumer behaviour and opinion.Local organisations understand the urgency of climate change and want to act. As such, they arelooking to adopt low-cost and obvious carbon-reducing initiatives.The key barriers that prevent further action being taken to reduce carbon emissions are eithercost, or a lack of awareness of the opportunities that exist 1 .Where implementation of GreenIT practices was a niche concern in the past, it is now amainstream concern in both the commercial and government arenas.If you are not aware of current pressure on your business – both ethically and commercially –to adopt GreenIT practices, they will soon become apparent.1 Carbon Down – Victorian businesses’ climate change knowledge, attitudes and behaviours, Market research report, July 2009Page 7

2ExecutiveSummaryGreenIT has the promise of delivering a low-cost operating model thatenables scalable growthAt one level, GreenIT is simply an efficiency agenda, one aimed at reducing waste andunnecessary spending. These initiatives are relatively easy and cheap to pursue and followthe ‘less is more’ theory.At some point, however, investment in newer, more energy efficient technologies will be requiredin order to reach deeper into the cost base.This is harder, more costly and requires an ethical driver. It’s all about ‘doing the right thing’.Figure 2: GreenIT Cookbook, OvumEfficientEasierCheap■ Cut waste – power devices down when not in use■ Minimalism – buying just enough IT to do the job(universal charge -> netbooks -> cloud computing)■ Telepresence – reducing travel and office facilities costs■ Audits – making energy usgae transparentHarderCostlyEthical■ Virtualisation & automation – increased utilisation offewer, simpler, devices (servers & desktop)■ New technology – new more energy effivient devices –data centres, disk drives, CPUs etc■ Device recycling – reducing toxic waste, reuse materials■ Green energy – solar, wind, geothermal© Copyright Ovum 2009“Businesses are under increasing pressure to cut business-as-usual costs whilst at the sametime creating capacity for continued innovation and platforms for sustainable growth.A further factor is the minimisation of the costs and risks that may arise from complianceand regulatory obligations. Energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions are becomingimportant considerations from both a cost-cutting and a future-growth perspective. CEOsknow that it will be in their best interests for the technologies that fuel the next wave of growthto be demonstrably efficient and clean.”Dr Steve Hodgkinson, Research Director, Ovumwww.ovum.comPage 8

2ExecutiveSummary2.3 How to Achieve the Vision of a Low Carbon EconomyIn order for the vision of a low carbon economy to become a reality, a disciplined approach isneeded by organisations so that they can be effective in both cost reduction and the minimisationof carbon emissions. Though there are certain commonalities across organisationsin different industries, no one solution is applicable to all situations.Every organisation needs to consider its unique requirements when factoring in its currentsituation, its future goals organisation and making an assessment of the best opportunitiesfor the organisation based on the cost of change to achieve the desired outcomes.To become part of a low carbon economy requires organisational transformation, often involvinga combination of business and technology innovation, the delivering of lower operating costs anddevelopment of smarter ways of working.Figure 3: Organisational Transformation OverviewAs Is Dissatisfactionwith how things are nowTransformationTo Be Vision of what is possibleCost of changeA number of initiatives have been highlighted below which are designed to assist organisationswith a transformation to a low carbon environment. The supporting case studies are presentedaccording to each of the following three stages.Table 1: Organisational Transformation InitiativesStage Project Type Duration Description1 Quick wins 2 years out Requires business feasibility in order to develop ahigh-level business case which confirms viability.Page 9

2ExecutiveSummaryQuick Wins to Get StartedThe most basic, low-cost and easy to implement quick wins that provide an immediate return oninvestment are:1. Use black screens or static screen savers instead of active screensavers.2. Automatically shutdown after hours.3. Enable the measurement of power usage of ICT as a component of total power usage.Other quick wins that can be considered are outlined below. Given that these actions maynot suit every organisation, careful consideration should be given to both the advantages anddisadvantages before adoption.Table 2: Quick Wins to Get StartedInitiative Advantages DisadvantageseLearning (BusinessInnovation)Client facing teleconferencing(Business Innovation)Teleworking (BusinessInnovation)Energy management(Technology Innovation)Able to deliver qualityinformation consistentlyacross disparate locations ata low cost.Able to engage with clients ata low cost and reach out tothe global marketplace.Provide greater mobility ofthe workforce and flexibility ofworking arrangements.Provides the ability toreduce operating costs bylowering the baseline powerconsumption.Not as effective asface-to-face. More suitedto hard skills rather thansoft skills.Not as effective as face toface. Best limited to leadgeneration. Keep negotiationsface-to-face.Not suitable for high prioritytasks that require instantcollaboration and quickresolution.This is not the only solutionavailable for lowering baselinepower consumption. Furthergains in lowering baselinepower consumption can beachieved by investing in moreefficient computer processinginfrastructures.Page 10

2ExecutiveSummaryLong-term Projects that Create a New AgendaTwo key concepts need to be evaluated in order to assist organisations in the creation of anagenda that can be used to establish a long-term vision – they are the concept of a ‘Smart Planet’and the emergence of ‘Cloud Computing’.Both concepts enable organisations to embrace the future of a low-carbon economy and providenew business opportunities and operating models that are more productive and efficient.Smart PlanetThe ‘Smart Planet’ concept encompasses the implementation of initiatives that lead to thereplacement of existing products and services with those that are more intelligent and enableenergy efficiency.As a guide, ICT solutions will follow the GeSI SMART framework that was launched in the report‘SMART2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age’.ICT can be a crucial factor in the overall transformation (T) to a low carbon economy – as a resultof industry standards, monitoring and accounting tools (SMA), re-thinking (R) and optimising theways in which we live and work.Cloud ComputingCloud Computing’ focuses on improving the efficiency of provisioning computing power. As such,‘Cloud Computing’ offers the ability to provide multi-tenanted applications that run on elasticallyscalable, location independent processing and data storage systems. These facilities are offeredon a pay for service basis.2.4 Why Adopt GreenIT?The adoption of GreenIT is vital to Australian organisations if they are to both reduce carbonemissions and build productivity into the future.GreenIT can enable organisations to tackle the challenges of climate change by providingopportunities to think differently and find new ways in which to create capacity for innovation,create low-cost platforms for growth and minimise compliance costs and risks.GreenIT encompasses the entire eco-system of an organisation and offers both technology andbusiness innovations that reduce carbon emissions by working more intelligently.Technology innovation relates to the physical infrastructure associated with IT and offersincremental efficiencies that have the potential to reduce the current global IT industry carbonfootprint.The IT Industry accounted for approximately 2 percent of Global CO 2 emissions in 2007 2 .However, more recent estimates have calculated that this could be as high as 6-8 percent whenindirect sources are also included 3Business innovation refers to the application of IT systems that offer a reduction in carbonemissions associated with business operations, thereby offering transformational change that canboth reduce operating costs and drive business productivity. Business innovation has the potentialto reduce total Business As Usual (BAU) emissions in 2020 by 15 percent. 42 Gartner, ‘GreenIT: The New Industry Shockwave’, Presentation at Symposium/ITXPO conference, April 20073 Section 1 – Letter from Bob Hayward – Director AIIA National GreenIT Taskforce, 2009)4 GeSI report, SMART2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age(June 20, 2008)Page 12

2ExecutiveSummaryClimate change is posing an increasingly significant risk to the way in which we live today.Governments from around the world are coming together to discuss ideas and solutions on howto combat climate change. Some economies have already developed programs underpinned bylegislation that are driving businesses to adopt more sustainable business practices.Recent changes in Australia have included introduction of the National Greenhouse and EnergyReporting (NGER) Act by the Australian Government and the signing of the Kyoto Protocol byPrime Minister Kevin Rudd on 3 December 2007.The Kyoto Protocol targets aim to reduce carbon emissions by 20 percent in 2020 and 60 percentin 2050 through the implementation of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) across theAustralian economy by 2010.As such carbon emission reduction regulations and polices begin to impact business, new marketforces will provide an incentive to adopt greener operations.Though the fundamental business principles will not change, regulatory and compliance pressuresthat are targeted at reducing carbon emissions will influence where future investments are madeby business.In order to establish the business case for adopting GreenIT products and services withinorganisations, it is important to understand the different driving forces from both an ethical andcommercial perspective.Consumers today are increasingly being driven by ethical concerns and are evaluating the overallenvironmental impact of goods and services before making a final decision to purchase. Givingpreference to organisations that shift towards ‘responsibility’ from an overall business and brandmanagement perspective has led to green procurement becoming a new market imperative.Conversely, government is increasingly focused on saving money (see Gershon Report) 5 , sothe cost benefits associated with adopting GreenIT products and services is becoming moreimportant. In evaluating the different options available, its important to consider the end-to-endlife cycle costing (LCC) instead of looking solely at cost. Even though some products and servicesmay be more expensive from an initial cost perspective, the overall cost may be less when theenvironmental costs associated with waste treatment are considered, hence being seen as more‘valuable’ in the long-term.This development is recent and has prompted a major call to action. So, whatever the reasonswere for organisations previously putting off ‘going green’, these reasons no longer holdground given the wide spectrum of drivers from government, business ethics and commercialperspectives. As community levels of education increase on the impact of climate change, the‘do nothing approach’ becomes progressively more irresponsible.The second tier of this argument is that the earlier organisations invest in GreenIT practices,the better the RoI and general business outcomes.5 Review of the Australian government’s use of information and communication technology, Sir Peter Gershon CBE FREng, August 2008.Page 13

2ExecutiveSummary2.5 Case Study: Canon – GreenIT DriversSynopsisIn 2004, Canon established a global environmental performance program with specific targetsfor the company. The program, Factor 2, provided Canon a framework to measure its progresstowards doubling its eco efficiency by 2010, based on 2000 figures.The initiatives undertaken by Canon to maximise value, while minimising resources were:1. Maximising resource productivity through Technological Innovation.2. Reducing environmental burden through improved management efficiency(Business Innovation).After eight years, Canon reduced CO 2 emissions per units of net sale by 30 percent ascompared with 2000 figures. Though resulting in some reporting in-normalities, the use of thisKey Performance Indicator (KPI) has been an effective communication tool for keeping keystakeholders updated and sustained peoples engagement throughout this long period of time.In addition, the technology innovations achieved through focusing on waste minimisation assistsCanon in being regularly ranked in the top three companies in the USA for patents granted, wheremany of Canon’s new devices provide customers with significant savings in energy consumptionand lower operating costs.The principles applied by Canon to reduce its carbon emissions can be applied to anyorganisation, regardless of size.Taking the time-old approach of measure, monitor and reduce approach, Canon quickly identifiedthe quick win opportunities and then progressively made improvements to further reduceemissions. By focusing on efficiency and productivity by deriving maximum value from minimumresources, Canon has improved its bottom line and reduced its environmental footprint.“For us it’s a journey – a continual process of improving the performance of our productswhile reducing their environmental impact at all stages of the lifecycle. Our part in thatjourney, as the local Sales and Marketing arm of Canon is to educate our customers to useour products in the most efficient way and to reduce our own impacts - particularly in relationto eWaste and Carbon Emissions.“Janet Leslie, Quality Safety and Environment Manager, Canon Australia Pty Ltd.www.canon.com.auDownload the full version of this case studyPage 14

3GettingStarted3.1 Overview of Quick WinsThe definition of a ‘quick win’ is an initiative that can be implemented immediately, has a minimalimplementation cost and provides a quick return on investment. In short, quick wins representmaximum return for minimal effort.Figure 4: Quick Wins Effort vs Reward MatrixEffortMinimal EffortMaximumReturnIn March 2009, the AIIA released a guide as part of its implementation review of theGershon Report.The three high priority options identified in this guide as ‘quick wins’ were to configure PCs to:1. Use black screens, or static screen savers instead of active screensavers.2. Automatically shutdown after hours.Reward3. Enable the measurement of power usage of ICT as a component of total power usage.These actions are very simple to implement and provide an immediate return on investment. Otherquick wins that can be considered are outlined below. Given that these actions may not suit everyorganisation, careful consideration should be given to both the advantages and disadvantagesbefore adoption. Refer to ‘Quick Wins to Get Started’ chart below.Initiative Advantages DisadvantageseLearning (BusinessInnovation)Client facingteleconferencing (BusinessInnovation)Teleworking (BusinessInnovation)Energy management(Technology Innovation)Able to deliver qualityinformation consistentlyacross disparate locations ata low cost.Able to engage with clients ata low cost and reach out tothe global marketplace.Provide greater mobility ofthe workforce and flexibility ofworking arrangements.Provides the ability toreduce operating costs bylowering the baseline powerconsumption.Not as effective asface-to-face. More suitedto hard skills rather thansoft skills.Not as effective as face to face.Best limited to lead generation.Keep negotiations face-to-face.Not suitable for high priority tasksthat require instant collaborationand quick resolution.This is not the only solutionavailable for lowering baselinepower consumption. Furthergains in lowering baselinepower consumption can beachieved by investing in moreefficient computer processinginfrastructures.Page 15

3GettingStarted3.2 Case Study:SEMA – eLearning (Business Innovation)SynopsisSEMA achieved increased productivity, competitiveness and profitability by embracing the useof eLearning to provide tailored educational sessions in the fields of business, IT and businesstransformation skills. By offering greater flexibility for the delivery of educational material, thedisruption to business operations was minimised and staff members had the opportunity toprogress at their own pace.From a sustainability perspective, the delivery of eLearning modules on-demand through theinternet has provided SEMA with a number of opportunities to reduce the carbon emissionsassociated with:• Travel to training courses.• Hiring of training facilities.• The provision of paper related course material.• IT related book resources.The use of eLearning practices can be implemented within any organisation, regardless of size,language or location.Though the environmental benefits associated with less travel and paper consumption arebecoming increasingly important, it is the increase in staff retention and productivity that providesthe strong business case for organisations to make the change to eLearning practices.“What started as an initiative to solve our growing quality and retention issues, had theunexpected double benefit of fixing our problem, by enabling us to provide training in a moreeffective, efficient and cost effective way, whilst significantly improving our environmentalimpact in the IT discipline.”David Kerr, Commercial Manager – Analytics, SEMA Groupwww.semagroup.com.auDownload the full version of this case studyPage 16

3GettingStarted3.3 Case Study: Tradeslot – Client FacingTeleconferencing (Business Innovation)SynopsisTradeslot reduced the cost and risk of converting international enquiries by using online meetingand teleconferencing software which offered a more viable solution than more traditional methods.Now, online meetings are hosted through CitrixOnline’s ‘GoToMeeting’ offering and all telephonyenquires are facilitated using Skype.Tradeslot has achieved a low cost operating model by virtualising client facing communicationsand thereby embracing a low-carbon economy. Further, Tradeslot’s clients are also being educatedin the practical ways in which they too could progress to a low-carbon economy in the future.The additional benefits of this change in communication methods include improved customerservice and the ability for Tradeslot to have a viable global presence.Client facing teleconferencing is applicable to all business operations and is simple to use. Whilethe environmental benefits of not travelling can be measured (and are increasingly important), it isthe savings of direct travel costs and lost time that make this a viable and beneficial practice.“We use online meeting software several times a week. It is more useful than a demo videobecause we can begin to build a relationship with potential clients by listening to their needsand customising what they see from the outset.”Jesco d’Alquen, CEO, Tradeslotwww.tradeslot.com.auDownload the full version of this case studyPage 17

3GettingStarted3.4 Case Study: PowerfulCMS –Teleworking (Business Innovation)SynopsisPowerfulCMS utilises low cost techniques to manage international sales and mobilise a globalworkforce. The latest project management and client collaboration ‘Software as a Service’ (SaaS)offerings centralise all communication in a virtual environment that is shared between customers andstaff regardless of their global location.Adopting the use of SaaS tools in order to facilitate collaborative environments on-demand hasenabled PowerfulCMS to establish a clear value proposition and competitive advantage. Cloudcomputing has enabled PowerfulCMS to manage cash flow more effectively as software licencecosts become an operational expenditure instead of a capital expenditure. Further, by embracing theglobal workforce, PowerfulCMS is able to increase overall productivity.From a sustainability perspective, the use of remote work environments also provides PowerfulCMSwith opportunities to reduce carbon emissions, thereby requiring fewer natural resources per unit ofproduction and emitting less CO 2 e (CO 2 equivalent) emissions into the atmosphere.Though this model demands a highly skilled workforce, these principles can be applied to anybusiness considering new ways in which to increase its value proposition and competitive advantage.“We had to innovate to find ways to break into a rather saturated market, reduce costs andincrease value for our end clients. In doing so I am pleased to find the efforts undertakenpositively impact the environment.”Joe Matthew, Account Manager, PowerfulCMSwww.powerfulcms.comDownload the full version of this case studyPage 18

3GettingStarted3.5 Case Study: Innovation Science –Energy Management (Low investmentoption – Technology Innovation)SynopsisInnovation Science was constrained by the existing electricity supply arrangements associatedwith its leased office space, however, the company implemented practical and cost-effectivemethods of reducing carbon emission by taking a focus on minimising consumption.The initiatives were:1. A ‘power-down’ policy for all end-user related IT and peripheral equipment (PCs/devices).2. Programmable shut-down periods for non-critical servers and network infrastructure.3. The replacement of workstation UPS’ with high-end surge protection boards.4. The implementation of energy efficient lighting.The reduction in energy consumption was projected to achieve a 5X RoI over five years with theinitial outlay of $865 projected to pay itself off in less than 11 months. Actual energy consumptionfigures over the first few months since implementation confirm these projections.This achievement clearly demonstrates that an organisation can make a contribution to reducingcarbon emissions, even if faced with constraints out of its control. Focusing on working smarterand more efficiently can improve the bottom line and benefit the environment at the same time.“An average employee is at work for just 23 percent of a week: Imagine what power could besaved during the other 77 percent.”Michael Haddy, Managing Director, Innovation Science Pty Ltdwww.iscience.com.auDownload the full version of this case studyPage 19

4Next Steps4.1 Getting Ready for Further Action – General ConsiderationsThe landscape for the adoption of GreenIT is diverse and varies depending on the size andcomplexity of an organisation.As a general rule, GreenIT will have touch points within every department of an organisationranging from governance to operations. The main driver will be to ‘do more with less,’ eitherthrough implementing efficiency gains or re-engineering existing business processes.The key areas for consideration are:1. Policy2. Procurement3. Disposal4. Infrastructure5. Energy management6. Managed servicesFigure 5: GreenIT General Considerations OverviewGovernanceEfficiency GainsPolicyInfrastructureProcurementEnergyManagementPolicyDisposalManagedServicesProcess Re-engineeringPlanning a GreenIT adoption program may involve organisational brainstorming in order to developnew products and services not currently offered by the organisation. The most feasible optionscan then be prioritised into a roadmap, starting with some ‘quick wins’ followed by the progressiontowards more challenging short-to-medium-term initiatives.The services of a specialised consulting firm may be considered in order to assist an organisationwith this part of the process. By enlisting the services of a professional, the time taken to tailor aroadmap that details the ‘right fit’ for an organisation can be significantly reduced.For more details, refer to Section 4.3 – Developing a GreenIT Roadmap and Appendix 2 – GreenITSuccess Factors.Another important consideration that will greatly impact the viability of different GreenIT options iswhether the site is a ‘greenfield’ or ‘established’ site.A ‘greenfield’ site can take advantage of the latest technology developments and factor in futureagility needs to meet the ever-changing business demands.An ‘established’ site will be limited by previous decisions and tends to be more strategic in nature.As such, it is best to combine technology updates with major projects or future ‘refresh’ programsin order to leverage capital expenditure investment.Page 20

4Next Steps4.1.1 Case Study: Fujitsu – Journey Over TimeSynopsisFujitsu’s philosophy is to drive business decisions by taking the stance that environmentalpreservation is not an additional cost but a corporate value.From 1970, Fujitsu has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to sustainability by conducting anumber of focused environmental protection programs. This was then extended in 1993 to becomea more formal environmental program which has involved the following stages:• Stage I – II (1993-2000): Establishing environmental management as a corporate agenda;• Stage III (2001-2003): Embracing recycling, waste minimisation and green procurement;• Stage IV (2004-2006): Transitioning from environmental management to management for asustainable environment;• Stage V (2007-2009): Becoming more aware of environmental issues and identifying the mostsuitable approaches to implement; and• Stage VI (2010->): Establishing global targets and working towards the 2020 vision.As a result, all operations throughout Fujitsu have been transformed, thereby delivering bothefficiency gains and optimising business processes as a result of re-engineering.The key areas focused on include: policy, procurement, disposal, infrastructure, energymanagement, managed services and transformation through efficiency gains and businessprocess re-engineering.Those principles that Fujitsu follows which can be applied to SMEs are:• reduce the environmental impact throughout the product lifecycle.• conserve resources to create best-of-breed eco-friendly products.• reduce risks caused by the use of harmful chemical substances.• help customers improve environmental efficiency.• disclose environment-related results and critique for continuous improvement.• encourage employees to keep in mind the impact of their business activities.“If you really want to understand the benefits and get the most value it needs to comefrom the top down. It needs to be an IT and a business strategy from the start –a whole-of-business strategy.”Alison O’Flynn, Head of Sustainability, Fujitsu Australia Limitedwww.fujitsu.com/au/Download the full version of this case studyPage 21

4Next Steps4.2 GreenIT ResponsibilitiesThe adoption of GreenIT across an organisation impacts every department, with each stakeholderhaving a different set of responsibilities on which to focus. Illustrated below is an example of howthis may look within an organisation where the responsibilities are clearly segregated.Figure 6: GreenIT Responsibilities OverviewDirectorRisks & LiabilitiesFinanceCarbon DisclosureReportingITImplement GreenITproducts & servicesMarketingPromote greenproducts & servicesSustainabilityCoordinate GreenProgram of worksAs organisations continue the journey of ‘greening’ business operations, more complex projectsmight require the establishment of a Sustainability Business Unit in order to manage theaccountability of business transformation.In practice, the implementation of these responsibilities will vary depending upon the size of theorganisation and volume of carbon emissions being released.Larger organisations will have stricter regulations and compliance requirements, which in turnmeans additional reporting on key performance indicators in order to demonstrate that efficiencygains are being achieved. This will in turn put additional pressures on the smaller organisations todeliver ongoing improvements that result in lower carbon emissions.As the low-carbon economy integrates into business operations and matures over time, more andmore organisations will be required to effectively measure and manage carbon emissions if theyare to remain in business.Though the smaller organisations may not have the resources to manage carbon emissions with thesame rigor as that of larger organisations, a degree of commitment will need to be demonstrated andindependently validated in order to meet the requirements of the larger organisations.4.2.1 Director – Risks and LiabilitiesThe key areas that Directors need to become familiar with include:• NGER Thresholds (Liability)• Future Carbon Reduction Targets (Risk)• Impact of CPRS on EBIDA (Risk)• Impact of Trends in Data Centre operational costs (Risk)In addition to the key areas identified at the time of publishing, in future Directors may alsoneed to consider other factors including emerging legislation/trends for migrating towards alow carbon economy.Page 22

4Next StepsNGER Thresholds (Liability)Figure 7: NGER ACT Reporting Timeline –National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007.Corporations Facilities25 Kt 100 Tj125 Kt 500 Tj87.5 Kt 350 Tj 50 Kt 200 Tj1st Reporting YearJuly 2008 – June 20092nd Reporting YearJuly 2009 – June 20103nd Reporting YearJuly 2010 – June 20114th Reporting YearJuly 2011 – June 2012■ Register by 31 Aug■ Report by 31 Oct■ Publication by 28 Feb■ Register by 31 Aug■ Report by 31 Oct■ Publication by 28 Feb■ Register by 31 Aug■ Report by 31 Oct■ Publication by 28 FebKt = Kilotonnes in CO2 equivalent of greenhouse gases emittedTj = terajoules (1012 joules) of energy consumed or producedThe National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Act is an Australian Governmentinitiative that provides a single national framework for the reporting and dissemination ofinformation about the greenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gas projects and energy useand production of corporations.It is vital that company directors understand their situation in relation to the NGER thresholds.The cost of non-compliance is significant, with penalties of up to $220,000. Additional overduedaily penalties plus criminal charges will apply for executive officers found to be in breach.Future Carbon Reduction Targets (Risk)Figure 8: Australia per capita emissions –Australia’s National Emissions Target Fact Sheet, May 2009.35100%tonnes CO2-e / per person3025201510585%66%59%52%019902008 2020-5 target2020-15 target2020-25 targetIt is important to understand the Australian Government’s National Emissions Target that isset for 2020 as it gives a picture of how much change is planned in the future. Taking a gradualapproach, the required cuts in emissions will progressively increase to 60 percent by 2050. Thiswill significantly impact the profitability of those organisations that are not prepared, whereasorganisations that start early and take a leading role will have the competitive advantage overothers.Page 23

4Next StepsImpact of CPRS on Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation andamortisation (EBIDA – Risk)Figure 9 – Impact of CPRS on Profitability – Carbon Cost Exposure per Industry Group, RepuTex 2007.20%15%10%5%0$0.69 $1.39 $2.27 $5.54 $11.08 $22.17 $44.34EnergyUtilitiesTransportationRetailingMost other IndustriesThe cost of business operations will grow exponentially with the cost of carbon as a resultof the CPRS. The cost of carbon is driven by policy, scheme design (i.e. size of the cap) anddevelopments in the international carbon markets.Highly carbon intensive industries such as energy and utilities potentially face higher risks interms of impact on their earnings. Whilst direct emitters face permit liability, many other industries(e.g. retail) face significant indirect costs arising from the increase in electricity, fuel and supplychain costs.Companies with carbon trading and hedging strategies can minimise their overall carbon tradingcosts. Therefore, it will be essential for businesses to embrace GreenIT in order to minimisecarbon emissions and remain competitive in the future.Impact of Trends in Data Centre operational costs (Risk)Figure 10 – Trends in Data Centre operational costs – Office of Innovation May 2009 Sustainable ICT, CSC.Source power technology Grid from fossilGrid from fossil & renewables with somedistributed generation, some of which is renewables1500Kg+ per Rack25-40Kw per RackCooling technology Room based cooling Rack based cooling Component based liquid cooling200-400Kg per RackHighly virtualised & optimisedSupport internal and possiblyexternal Cloud Computing2-4Kw per Rack2000 20052008 2012 2015All Australian managers of Data Centres face huge transformational challenges to handle new generation serversand storage devices that are immensely fast but also heavy, dense, power-hungry and heat generating.Server CapExWhat does this representServer OpExCompany directors also need to consider the current trend in data centre operational costs. Themove towards denser computing and virtualised environments has resulted in operational costsincreasing in an unsustainable manner. Careful consideration will need to be given to the ongoingviability of existing data centre operations, weighed up against the cost benefits of investing inmore efficient data centre operations.Page 24

4Next Steps4.2.2 Finance – Carbon Disclosure ReportingIn order for an organisation to make effective decisions regarding the management of the risksand liabilities associated with NGER and the CPRS, it must first accurately measure its currentemission levels.The most prevalent and widely supported mechanism for calculating the carbon emission for anorganisation involves separating the sources of carbon emissions into the three scopes as shownin Figure 11 (commonly known as the GHG Protocol).Figure 11: Operational Boundaries, HOT CLIMATE, COOL COMMERCE:A Service Sector Guide toGreenhouse Gas Management, WRI Report, May 2006.CO2 SF6 CH4 N2O HFCs PFCsScope 2 IndirectPurchased electricityfor own useScope 1 DirectCompany ownedvehiclesFuel combustionScope 3 IndirectProduction ofpurchased materials• Product use• Outsourced activities• Contrator ownedvehicles• Waste disposal• Employee businesstravelInitial calculations are commonly done in-house using existing financial information to provideindicative results. This creates the basis of a carbon inventory which identifies the sources andassociated carbon emissions of each business activity and provides insights into the company’sexposure to any compliance or supply chain obligations.A more comprehensive assessment must be conducted by an independent auditing companyspecialising in measuring carbon emissions if carbon emissions are to be disclosed externally.This is standard practice for financial reporting and ensures consistency, transparency andrepeatability in carbon disclosure across different industries.Refer to Appendix 11: Local Green Directories for a list of organisations that can assist inmeasuring carbon emissions.Page 25

4Next Steps4.2.3 Information Technology –Implementing GreenIT Products and ServicesThe following section has been written in collaboration with CSC, a leading global consulting,systems integration and outsourcing company whose mission is to provide customers in industryand government sectors with solutions that are crafted to meet their strategic goals and enablethem to profit from the advanced use of technology.IntroductionOnce a commitment to improvement has been made and a baseline for carbon emissionsestablished, the IT department generally needs to take a closer look at its operations to identifywhere improvements can be made. The following five pillar framework is a useful implementationmodel which can be used as a guide, depending upon the size and efficiencies of the existinginfrastructure.Pillar 1: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions, waste and water use within the span of control of theICT department e.g. re-designing data centres for greater efficiency to reduce energy consumption(includes server virtualisation)Pillar 2: ICT department contributions to measure and report enterprise greenhouse gasemissions, waste and water use. e.g. use of systems and tools to better capture and managegreenhouse gas emissions dataPillar 3: ICT department contributions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, waste and water usewithin core enterprise processes. e.g. use of video conferencing facilities to reduce the need fortravel and associated emissionsPillar 4: ICT department contributions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, waste and water usewithin the enterprise value chain. e.g. facilitating online invoicing, statements and paymentPillar 5: ICT department contributions to business transformations necessary for a carboneconomy. e.g. developing products to support the ‘green’ market such as a green credit card whichrewards green purchases and allows reward points to be spent on environmental initiatives.Figure 12: Environmental Impacts of Sustainable IT: Before and After,The Five Pillars of the Environmentally Sustainable ICT Framework, CSC.Poorly prepared for carbonconstrained economyEmissions / wastewithin value chainEmissions / wastewithin the businessEmissions / wastewithin ICT andcommunicationsImmature emission, waste andnon-finance reportingFully prepared for carbonconstrained economyPillar 5Total Reductionsin Emissions & Wastethrough businesstransformationPillar 4Emissions / wastewithin value chainPillar 3Emissions / wastewithin the businessPillar 1 New ICT used todrive efficencies abovePillar 2Emissions / waste withinICT and communicationsSophisticated emissions, wasteand non-finance reporting$The ‘98%’ChallengePage 26

4Next StepsPillar 1: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, waste and water use withinthe span of control of the ICT departmentThe first pillar outlines good practices for the ICT department to put its own ICT house in order.This pillar deals with practices within the span of control of the office of the CIO. The ICTdepartment has to be credible and ‘walk the walk’ by taking every possible step towards improvingthe environmental sustainability of the ICT department itself before it can engage credibly andproductively with the rest of the enterprise as to how technology can contribute to broaderenvironmental sustainability goals.The IT Industry accounted for approximately 2 percent of Global CO 2 emissions in 2007 6 . However,more recent estimates have calculated that this could be as high as 6-8 percent when indirectsources are also included (please refer to Section 1.2 Letter from Bob Hayward, Director AIIANational GreenIT Taskforce, 2009).Pillar 2: ICT department contributions to measuring and reporting enterprisegreenhouse gas emissions, waste and water useThe second pillar details the need for the ICT department to collaborate with environmentalmanagers within the enterprise in order to construct an entirely new class of enterprise applicationfor non-financial management information. It has taken enterprises many decades to reach thecurrent level of sophistication of financial reporting. Within the next few years, enterprises will berequired to track emissions, waste and water use across their entire value chain to the same levelof detail and rigour with which financial data is tracked today.ICT management needs to partner with the appropriate business units in the development ofsolutions for environmental sustainability which should include adequate capture, measurement,monitoring and reporting of non-financial indicators for both internal and external audiences.This data will come under increasing scrutiny and will eventually have to be assured and audited.Pillar 3: ICT department contributions to reducing greenhouse gasemissions, waste and water use within core enterprise processesThe third pillar requires ICT management to engage with the enterprise to identify ways inwhich technology can be used to reduce emissions, waste and water use across core businessprocesses. Paradoxically, good results here may require an increase in the emissions of ICTitself, yet these should be more than offset by the gains to be had across the entire enterprise.This is one area where ICT management can contribute ideas and support to help with thechallenge of reducing the other 98 percent of the world’s emissions not directly attributableto the ICT industry 7 .6 Gartner, ‘GreenIT: The New Industry Shockwave’, Presentation at Symposium/ITXPO conference, April 20077 - Section 1 – Letter from Bob Hayward – Director AIIA National GreenIT Taskforce, 2009)Page 27

4Next StepsPillar 4: ICT department contributions to reducing greenhouse gasemissions, waste and water use within the enterprise value chainThe fourth pillar extends this concept more broadly, with ICT management engaging in asustainability dialogue across the entire value chain of the enterprise including the supplychain, business partners and customers.Pillar 5: ICT department contributions to business transformationsnecessary for a carbon economyThe final pillar of the holistic environmentally sustainable framework looks at the ICT department’scontribution to business transformations that may be required to reflect a new economic realitywhere emissions are priced, carbon is constrained and energy costs may be significantly higherthan today. However, there is a clear customer preference for more environmentally sustainableproducts and services and there are new opportunities, as well as new types of risk.4.2.4 Marketing – The Legal Requirements of PromotingGreen Products and ServicesEnvironmental claims made by suppliers’ goods and services are becoming a major factor inthe overall decision making process. Customers look to suppliers for answers and want to beinformed as to how they can make their contribution towards reducing the environmental impactsof their actions.To help customers make informed decisions, it is important for all environmental claims to bescientifically sound, appropriately substantiated and independently audited. Customers should beable to trust the claims being made by suppliers and rely on the information provided to them.Not only is this good business practice – it is law.The Trade Practices Act 1974 (the Act) states that businesses must not mislead or deceiveconsumers in any way and there are serious penalties for businesses that fail to meet theserequirements.The ACCC takes the conditions of the Trade Practices Act very seriously, as is illustrated bythe enforcement pyramid shown in Figure 13. Cases of ‘green marketing’ that are found to bedeliberately misleading or willfully in breach of the law are likely to feel the full brunt of legalaction from the regulator.If you want to make environmental claims about your business or your product, they should beclearly and accurately explained. Generally, a claim should be honest and truthful, must detailthe specific ‘green’ part of the product or process to which it is referring, use language which theaverage member of the public can understand, explain the significance of the benefit and be ableto be substantiated.Refer to the ‘Green marketing and the Trade Practices Act’, published by the ACCC, to assist youin gaining a further understanding of how you can promote your products and services as ‘green’.Page 28

4Next StepsFigure 13 – Green marketing and the ACCC, ACCC.Figure 13: Green marketing and the ACCC, ACCC.ACCC enforcementpyramidCourtCasesEnforcableundertakingsACCC levels ofconcern overgreen claimsHigh ConcernBroad,unverifiedclaimsLiasionvoluntary complianceEducation,advice and persuasionNarrow,easily verifiedclaimsLess ConcernThe ACCC promotes competition and fair trade in the marketplace to benefit consumers,businesses and the community. It also regulates national infrastructure services. The ACCC’sprimary responsibility is to ensure that individuals and businesses comply with the Commonwealthcompetition, fair trading and consumer protection laws.Page 29

4Next Steps4.2.5 Case Study: Intel – SustainableProgram OfficeSynopsisAt Intel, what began as a grass roots initiative when executives asked the question, ‘What issustainable IT?’, has become a formalised IT Sustainability Program Office.Intel’s key aims are to deliver initiatives that focus on strategy development and education,development and delivery of sustainable metrics, drive the sustainable IT project and innovationportfolio, support external events and align eco-technology and corporate affairs.The key enablers that develop a cohesive, integrated strategy and a sense of urgency are:• Cultural change, through building a sustainability mindset.• The development of a sustainability framework for maintaining focus on critical activities.As a result, Intel has identified the key initiatives that will provide the highest impact in termsof sustainability benefits, cost considerations and potential results.These include a reduction in energy consumption and increased efficiency of the data centre(technology innovation); incorporating new products and technologies into the office environmentto increase productivity and reduce energy consumption (business innovation); and the sharingof experiences with others in order to collaborate and improve results beyond the enterprise.Establishing an IT Sustainability Program Office provided Intel with the governance structurerequired to manage and measure efforts across the entire enterprise. It also provided theframework required for Intel to integrate sustainability principles into all the key decision-makingprocesses that created awareness and a sense of urgency within the organisation.The same principles are just as applicable to SMEs, though they may not be as formallyimplemented due to the overheads required.SMEs still need to balance proposed initiatives with pragmatism and corporate goals to ensurethat the investment in ‘green’ technologies results in increased efficiency and lower costs.Building a Long-term Strategy for IT Sustainability“Intel IT is engaged in developing a broad, ongoing sustainability strategy to help Intelconsume fewer resources and emit less waste. In analysing the business case for ITsustainability, we identified the bottom-line benefits and defined the metrics that enabledus to effectively reduce our environmental footprint. Successful sustainability initiatives arenow being incorporated beyond the IT organisation and we will continue to take a structuredapproach to identifying solutions and instilling long-term sustainability.”Sally Wellsandt, Intel Sustainability Program Manager, Intel Corporation, April 2009Steven Snyder, Intel Program Manager, Intel Corporation, April 2009www.intel.com/auDownload the full version of this case studyPage 30

4Next Steps4.3 Developing a GreenIT RoadmapThe purpose of having a GreenIT Roadmap is to provide business operations with an holistic planfor the future environmental direction of an organisation that identifies the pathway for makingexisting operations more sustainable.A GreenIT Roadmap provides an effective framework for communicating the ‘plan’ and gainingbuy-in from all key stakeholders. However, it does not consider unplanned events and may becomequickly outdated as circumstances change.Developing a GreenIT Roadmap for an organisation is a highly specialised process, requiringexpert knowledge of existing business operations, up-to-date evaluation of existing ITinfrastructure and a clear direction of where the organisation wants to be in the next 2-5 years.The development of a GreenIT Roadmap is commonly conducted by trusted advisory consultingservices, however, it can be done in-house if preferred. For a list of both tactical and strategicinitiatives aligned with best practices, refer to Appendix 2 – GreenIT Best Practices.Typically, the process of developing a GreenIT Roadmap will involve a series of interviews withbusiness stakeholders; an exercise to benchmark existing processes and infrastructure againstbest practices; and an evaluation process in order to identify the best initiatives to be undertakento provide the best return on investment.Each initiative is typically categorised into quick wins, medium-term initiatives and long-term initiatives.Figure 14: Organisational Figure 3: Organisational Transformation Transformation Overview OverviewAs Is Dissatisfactionwith how things are nowTransformationTo Be Vision of what is possibleCost of changeTable 5: Organisational Transformation InitiativesStage Project Type Duration Description1 Quick wins 2 years out Requires business feasibility in orderto develop a high-level business casewhich confirms viability.The development of a GreenIT Roadmap will take one to two months to complete and will providea 2-5 year program of works for ‘greening’ business operations. Depending upon the complexity ofthe environment and detail required in the GreenIT Roadmap, other activities such as ‘value chainmapping’ and ‘innovation brainstorming’ can be incorporated into the process.Value chain mapping helps identify areas of wastage in existing processes which can beeliminated and would otherwise not have been identified.Page 31

4Next StepsInnovation brainstorming helps identify the opportunity for new products and services not currentlyprovided that would facilitate growth and further market penetration.Unlike traditional IT strategic planning, the development of a GreenIT Roadmap also needs toconsider the environmental impacts of different business operations.There are a number of different scoping projects that an organisation may want to consider, theseare outlined below.These actions will not suit every organisation and careful consideration should be given to theadvantages and disadvantages before implementation.Table 6: GreenIT Roadmap scoping projectsProject Objective Advantages DisadvantagesGreen BusinessCertification ProgramLife cycle analysisTo take immediateaction to save water,energy, waste andmoney.To understand theoverall environmentalrisks and impacts ofyour operations.Carbon Calculation To measure the CO 2emissions of youroperations.Green KeyPerformanceIndicators (KPIs)To define a seriesof environmentaltargets.This gives a quickassessment andidentifies quick winsat a low cost and highreturn on effort. It alsoprovides a baseline forbenchmarking futureactivities.Can identify thebiggest environmentalrisks and impacts.Provides a tangiblemeasure of your CO 2emissions.Provides tangiblegoals and evidence ofimprovement.Some of the biggeractions can taketime with longerterm payoffs.Does not measuresocial impacts.Only considersone aspect of anecological footprint.Can provideunnecessaryoverheads.Page 32

4Next Steps4.3.1 Case Study: Telstra – Cost BenefitAnalysis Calculators (Business Innovation)SynopsisIn building a roadmap, it is important for an organisation to carefully consider the current situation,the future goals of the organisation and assess what the best opportunities are based on the costof change to achieve the desired outcomes.As a part of this process, the cost justification can sometimes be difficult to develop, making itdifficult for an effective financial decision to be made due to the lack of confidence and uncertaintyin the calculations.A white paper entitled ‘Using ICT to drive your sustainability strategy’ was developed by Telstra toillustrate new Return on Investment (RoI) tools that can be used by organisations to help them indetermining the feasibility of the following four proven ICT technologies:• Video Conferencing• Teleworking• Web contact centres• Fleet and Field Force ManagementThe RoI calculator highlights how these four proven ICT technologies can deliver cost savings toorganisations, significant environmental benefits and work-life balance benefits to employees. Thisincludes an estimation (based on certain assumptions) of greenhouse gas emission reductions andemployee productivity outcomes by assessing the anticipated financial costs and savings to thecompany by adopting each alternative.“Sustainability practices are now a critical business issue being driven by a variety offactors including government regulation, corporate social responsibility and increasingeconomic pressures”.“Through the new Return on Investment (RoI) tools, organisations can estimate thecommercial and environmental savings from investing in four specific ICT solutions.They estimate greenhouse gas emission reductions and employee productivity outcomesby assessing the financial costs and savings to the company for each alternative.”Hugh Saddington, General Manager Marketing Strategy and Analytics, Telstra Enterpriseand Governmentwww.telstra.com.auDownload the full version of this case studyPage 33

4Next Steps4.3.2 Case Study: PCA People –Green Business Certification Program(Business and Technology Innovation)SynopsisPCA People utilised GreenBizCheck’s (http://www.greenbizcheck.com/) certification program toquickly identify the most suitable initiatives it could adopt in order to save money and help theenvironment. By focusing on quick wins and short-terms initiatives, the initial certification programwas completed within eight months.The main areas covered through GreenBizCheck’s certification checklist include energyconservation; water consumption reduction; waste reduction; transportation and travel; purchasing;supply chain sustainability and carbon calculation, plus subsequent carbon offset purchase.Recently, a new product, GreenITCheck, which has a specific focus on an organisation’s ICTfootprint, was added to the certification checklist.GreenBizCheck’s practical program helped PCA People quickly implement environmentallyresponsible business practices. Over an eight month period, PCA People adopted a number ofinitiatives that provided the following benefits:• Saved money through reduction of energy and water usage minimisation.• Attracted like-minded eco-savvy customers.• Attracted and retained staff through their commitment to the environment.• Deliverd a tax-deductibility for the certification process.The certification process is suitable for a wide range of businesses but is mainly focused onassisting SMEs to get a better understanding on what their current environmental footprint is andhow this then rates against a number or predetermined criteria. It is relevant to any organisation,both large or small, because it enables you to conduct an assessment on your organisation’s‘footprint’ using the comprehensive GreenBizCheck checklist.An organisation is rated on the completion of this checklist and is provided with a certificationlevel based on this rating. There are three distinct levels of certification: Gold, Silver and Bronze.When you have received the online report you can begin to improve your score by implementingrecommended measures. In other words, you can continuously improve your score and yourcertification level by committing to certain undertakings which are weighted according to the relativeenvironmental impacts of the underlying action. Importantly, the report also provides practical,local suggestions regarding what you can do to improve your score and certification level. Thisadvice is very useful for SMEs and busy professionals who are time poor. Larger organisations willfind the initial checklist and scoring system useful for building a business case for a more detailedassessment or specialised focus.“Our ethos at PCA is ‘People First’ and this has been strengthened, internally and externally,throughout the GreenBizCheck certification process. PCA People worked closely withGreenBizCheck to achieve a green business certification. It has fostered a team commitmentto future sustainability of our environment and also our business. It is simply wonderful toguide a group of professionals that lead the local industry on sustainability and all work todeliver on our corporate responsibilities.”Allison Guy-Ritchie, Managing Director, PCA Peoplewww.pcapeople.comPage 34Download the full version of this case study

4Next Steps4.3.3 Case Study: Toyota – Developinga GreenIT Roadmap (Business andTechnology Innovation)SynopsisToyota wanted to develop IT specific sustainability strategies for its three main Victoria sites inorder to ensure that IT contributed to meeting the targets in its five year Environment Plan.Fujitsu’s framework for enterprise sustainability was used to identify new opportunities andimprovements at each of Toyota’s Victorian operations.Following the completion of a series of milestones, a program of works was developed whichconsisted of a number of quick wins, short to medium-term projects and long-term projects.A potential savings of 43 percent on Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and electricity consumptionwas modelled on the implementation of the quick wins which involved office-based IT equipmentinitiatives (printer, copier, fax and AV). Further reductions were forecast as being realised withthe implementation of stage 2 and 3 initiatives which were planned for the future.Other key benefits included:• Clearly defined KPIs for the CIO.• A realistic program of works that can achieve tangible cost savings and reductionsin CO 2 emissions.• The inclusion of externally hosted facilities carbon emissions into line-of-sight for reporting oncarbon emission targets.Following a methodological process is essential in order to ensure the successful achievement ofproject outcomes. Careful consideration needs to be given to each individual business environmentso that it can be appropriately assessed and benchmarked against in order to ensure the originalbenefits are realised. Though smaller organisations will not have the time and money to undertakea scoping exercise as comprehensive as that of Toyota, the principles can still be applied with thedetails summarised accordingly.“It’s an opportunity for an IT department to move from a more reactive approach. It builds onthe business’ existing environmental strategies and also outlines a framework for collectinginformation on emission and carbon trading.”James Scott, CIO, Toyota Motor Corporation Australiawww.toyota.com.auDownload the full version of this case studyPage 35

5TakingFurtherAction5.1 Overview of Medium-term InitiativesThe definition of a medium-term initiative is one that can be implemented within the next 1-2years and requires minimal investigation in order to develop a viable business case. Mediumterminitiatives require more effort and planning to implement than quick wins, however, they alsoprovide greater rewards.Figure 15 – Medium Term Initiatives Effort vs Reward MatrixEffortMediumEffortMaximumReturnRewardIn March 2009, the AIIA released a guide as part of its implementation review of the GershonReport. The seven medium-term initiatives identified in the report were:• Encourage agencies that are undertaking a desktop refresh to consider replacing personalcomputers with more energy efficient alternatives.• Replace inefficient monitors with more energy-efficient models at the end of their life cycle(e.g. replacement of CRT monitors with more energy efficient alternatives).• Encourage those agencies undertaking a telephone refresh to consider technologies thatoptimise energy use efficiency and minimise duplication of handsets per employee(e.g. VoIP as an alternative to fixed voice handsets).• Encourage tools and practices to assist employees to reduce the number of printed pagesper employee per month.• Introduce the mandatory inclusion of green ICT requirements in all agency’s ICT RFT(request for tender) documentation.• Require respondents to detail energy usage information for their proposed solution.• Require that respondents indicate whether they are a signatory to the National PackagingCovenant.You can download this information from the AIIA’s Gershon website portal, click here.These initiatives are applicable to most business environments and provide an insight intohow they may impact the procurement process throughout the supply chain. The othermedium-term initiatives that can be considered are outlined below. As these actions may notsuit every organisation, careful consideration will need to be given to both the advantages anddisadvantages before adoption.Page 36

5TakingFurtherActionTable 7: Medium-term InitiativesInitiative Advantages DisadvantagesData Centre optimisation(Technology Innovation)Virtualisation (Business andTechnology Innovation)Server refresh usingenergy efficient equipment(Technology Innovation)Carbon Management System(Business Innovation)Integrated Blade switches(Technology Innovation)Top of Rack Switches(Technology Innovation)Energy Management(Technology Innovation)Reduces the energy requiredto operate a data centre.Server – reduces the numberof physical servers that needto be powered.Desktop – quickerdeployment, increasedsecurity, greater mobility andcentralised operationsProvides immediatebenefits in reduced powerconsumption and increasedperformance.Provides effective frameworkfor measuring, monitoring andreporting progress made.Higher throughput andincreased security as trafficleaving the chassisis minimised. Fewer cablesand reduced powerconsumption, thereby loweringoperational costs.Higher throughput andincreased security as trafficleaving the rack is minimised.Flatter network for moreflexible and efficientvirtualisation.Easier design for scale-out(adding racks) – simply add2 power cables and 2 networkuplinks.Simplified cabling and reducedpower consumption, therebylowering operational cost.Provides the ability toreduce operating costs bylowering the baseline powerconsumption.May not generate sufficientsavings to justify for smallerdata centres.Server – increasing thedensity and cooling loads mayrequire additional investmentthat counters benefits.Client – not suited toenvironments requiringhigh processing power andbandwidth.Requires high capital costand down time to managethe migration.Additional overheads willbe required to collect keyinformation where it is notreadily available.Requires a blade chassis(e.g., HP BladeSystem orIBM BladeCenter).There are additionalcomponents to manageunless an element manageris used as part of the systemsetup.This is not the only solutionavailable for lowering baselinepower consumption. Furthergains in lowering baselinepower consumption can beachieved by investing in moreefficient computer processinginfrastructures.Page 37

5TakingFurtherAction5.2 Case Study: Corporate Express – DataCentre Optimisation (Technology Innovation)SynopsisCorporate Express, Winner of the 2008 Australian Sustainability Awards, designed and built ahighly efficient, next generation data centre facility that provided minimal footprint and maximumflexibility, whilst aligning the design to company CSR strategies.‘Better than best’ practice Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) was achieved by leveraging thebenefits of first virtualising the existing infrastructure to minimise the requirements of the new datacentre facility.Initial virtualisation activities achieved include:• A 70-80 percent reduction on data centre space, power, cooling requirements.• The removal of 184 physical servers.• The reduction of Total Cost of Operation (TCO) of servers by 40 percent.The next generation, purpose built data centre achieved:• A PUE of 1.49 – where 67 percent of all energy is consumed for computer processing.• Minimal construction costs – approximately halved the construction costs for a TIA-942 Tier IIIdata centre.• A reduction of $23,000 per year in electricity costs.Though more suited to larger organisations with a large number of servers, the same principlescan be adapted to an organisation of any size in relation to aligning the data centre strategy withcorporate sustainability objectives. The larger the data centre, the larger the potential savings thatcan be achieved.“A key element in optimising the purpose built data centre was to firstly virtualise theenvironment. This allowed the new data centre to be built with a much smaller footprint,providing large savings on construction costs.Though great efficiency gains have been achieved, ongoing monitoring and adjustment is stillrequired to ensure the optimisation of the hot/cold aisle configurations, keeping temperaturedifferences between hot/cold aisles exactly seven degrees Celsius. This can be achievedby using an aneometer to adjust the air velocity at each individual floor tile to preventovercooling and wasted energy”Mark Jones, Technology Infrastructure Manager, Corporate Expresswww.ce.com.auDownload the full version of this case studyPage 38

5TakingFurtherAction5.3 Case Study: Jetstar – Virtualisation(Business and Technology Innovation)SynopsisJetstar embarked on a virtualisation program to commoditise all IT operations which was aimedat addressing key market challenges and supporting its aggressive growth strategy.The technology roadmap used to achieve this was broken up into the following phases: minimise;centralise; radicalise; commoditise; outsource; and utilise Application Service Providers.As a result, Jetstar is the only airline in the world that can access all its back office andbusiness systems from any international check-in counter at all international airports in which theairline operates.Virtualisation strategies reduced the physical server count by 120 units, reduced 2007/2008 ITcosts by 0.82 percent of total revenue and increased the desktop asset life from 3 to 10 years.This represents a gross IT saving for Jestar of between $805,000 and $1,250,000 per annum andcontributed to an annual saving of 87,500 tonnes of CO 2 .Adopting a strategy to virtualise operations is a great way to increase efficiency and productivityso that business goals can be achieved faster, better and cheaper.This approach is more suited to organisations that have larger operations, enabling the costbenefits of virtualising to be achieved. For smaller operations, virtualisation may not be the bestoption as it may be possible to gain greater efficiency gains by simply upgrading to more energyefficient equipment.“Jetstar’s virtualisation projects in the past and in a future are focused on delivering betterIT cost models, organisational agility and choice. In addition to vitalising servers and systemsand applications, Jetstar has extended the virtual programs through to the end appliances.For the Jetstar business, virtualisation is a business enabling technology. VMWare has beenan integral partner in helping us achieve this objective.”Stephen Tame, CIO, General Manager IT, Jetstar Airwayswww.jetstar.com.auDownload the full version of this case studyPage 39

5TakingFurtherAction5.4 Case Study: Intel – Server HardwareRefresh Using Energy Efficient Equipment(Technology Innovation)SynopsisIntel consolidated its processing workload by implementing an enterprise-wide strategy designedto accelerate the server refresh cycle, thereby increasing the server performance and energyefficiency in order to reduce cost. This enabled Intel to increase computing capacity without addingextra facilities or dramatically increasing energy consumption.By adopting a four year refresh cycle for all design computing servers, Intel’s computing capacityincreased seven-fold and utilises the same space with less power, thereby providing up to $USD250 million in projected savings over eight years.As a result, $USD10.4 million was saved in 2008, avoiding construction costs at four Intellocations, delivering greater energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption.Adopting a regular hardware refresh cycle is a practical way for both large and small IT operationsto increase computing capacity whilst reducing energy consumption. Additional savings can alsobe achieved through consolidation, though this is more suited to larger operations where high RoIcan be achieved due to higher consolidation ratios.One factor that can influence the decision for smaller organisations to consolidate servers is thecapacity for the organisation to provision for future growth. While this can represent a low RoIinitially, it can quickly become a favourable option when you factor in the low investment requiredto provision additional servers.“With the introduction of the Intel ® Xeon ® processor 5500 series-based platforms, thebenefits we are seeing from our IT strategy to standardise on higher-end processors forour servers purchases is even more compelling and results in a significantly lower TCO.”Diane Bryant, Chief Information Officer, Intel Corporationwww.intel.com/auDownload the full version of this case studyPage 40

5TakingFurtherAction5.5 Case Study: Connex – CarbonManagement System (Business Innovation)SynopsisConnex’s environmental mandate to use energy and resources wisely was achieved by implementingPrima Consulting’s Sustainability Management solution – Sustainability SCO2recard. All relevant datais collected in a centralised database which enables Connex to automatically monitor and assess itscarbon emissions.The cost of carbon has been minimised at four levels:• Reduced energy consumption bills.• Reduced administration overheads.• Compliance with NGER, EREP & GRI legislation.• A reduction in the number of carbon permits that need to be purchased.Utilising carbon management software to automate reliable, accurate reporting and financialforecasting is essential to enable organisations to understand the impacts of possible ‘what-if’scenarios.It also provides an invaluable resource for the benchmarking of emission reduction initiatives overtime, providing tangible results that demonstrate improvements made.“Without being certain of our baseline carbon footprint, we could only make assumptionson the benefits and savings offset initiatives were having. Now Connex can measure withaccuracy and validation previously unavailable to us. The environmental and financialrewards will be felt for years to come”.Richard Mason, Environmental Sustainability Manager, Connexwww.connexmelbourne.com.auDownload the full version of this case studyPage 41

5TakingFurtherAction5.6 Case Study: BLADE – IntegratedBlade & Top of Rack Switches(Technology Innovation)SynopsisA major worldwide Financial Services company demanded more computing power from its existingdata centre facilities to deliver higher speeds for transactions, with tighter security, whilst reducingtheir operational costs and carbon emissions. As a result of replacing all existing switches withBLADE’s RackSwitch G8000 1/10Gb aggregation switch units, operating costs were reduced by80 percent over a three year period, latency was reduced 73 percent and cabling requirementswere minimised through the use of consolidated infrastructure.From a network perspective, it is important to consider the significant benefits that more efficientswitching equipment can provide in speed and power usage, as well as in reduced cabling.Bringing the networking back to a rack level will have a positive impact on the overall resourceusage in the data centre.Though this type of technology is mainly suited to large IT operations, it may be relevant tothose SMEs that have high processing needs and where there are opportunities to consolidateswitching hardware.“Switching and network equipment makes up a significant part of the powered equipmentin a data centre. The impact of cabling also impacts the effectiveness of cooling and airflowstrategies in a data centre. Taking a ‘green’ approach to designing and deploying networkresources, saves money, improves performance, and reduces carbon emissions. You justneed to do the maths!”Peter Hall, Vice President & General Managerwww.bladenetwork.netDownload the full version of this case studyPage 42

5TakingFurtherAction5.7 Case Study: DELL – EnergyManagement (Enterprise Solution –min 200 desktops – Technology Innovation)SynopsisDell embarked on an energy efficiency program that aimed at conserving energy and cuttingexpenses by reducing the power used by approximately 50,000 of its computers duringnon-business hours.1E’s NightWatchman ® and 1E WakeUp ® were deployed to the 50,000 client computers that fullyintegrated with Dell’s corporate Microsoft ® Windows Server ® and Microsoft Systems ManagementServer (SMS) environment.As a result, Dell achieved a 40 percent reduction in energy costs, translating into US$1.8 millionin savings per year.The use of 1E NightWatchman ® is a great example of how an organisation can effectivelyimplement energy management practices that reduce energy consumption and operating costs.Though cost savings are more noticeable for larger corporations, 1E NightWatchman is just asrelevant to smaller organisations with as few as 200 PCs.“These are significant cost savings that put us far out in front of regulatory benchmarks andshow the rest of the industry what can be achieved. Our energy conservation efforts gobeyond allowing Dell to demonstrate its commitment to the environment – they offer areal-world example that empowers our customers to duplicate our success”Jay Taylor, Senior Engineer Global Strategist, Dellwww.dell.com.auDownload the full version of this case studyPage 43

6The Future6.1 Overview of Long-term Initiatives that Create a NewAgenda (Business and Technology Innovation)For organisations to take a ‘big picture’ perspective and look into the future, a vision needs tobe created.This will include defining goals, accompanied by a series of milestones that measure the progressthe organisation is making.High level milestones, which define the long-term projects, are made up of a series of shortmedium-termprojects and quick wins and provide the criteria against which to evaluate allpossible initiatives. From the list of available options, the best path of least resistance can bedefined as the roadmap outlining how the ultimate organisational vision will be achieved.Being more complex in nature, long-term initiatives require much greater depth of planningand feasibility analysis in order to ensure that the desired outcomes can be achieved. Long-terminitiatives generally start out at a high level and become more granular as the project detailsare confirmed.Careful attention is given to identify potential risks, dependencies and key assumptions that willbe tracked over time. As circumstances change, the feasibility of the project will be re-evaluatedto confirm its relevance and approval for continued development.Two key concepts that need to be evaluated in order to assist organisations in the creation a newagenda used to establish a long-term vision; they are the concept of a ‘Smart Planet’ and theemergence of ‘Cloud Computing’.Both concepts enable organisations to embrace the future of a low-carbon economy and providenew business opportunities and operating models that are more productive and efficient.Smart PlanetThe ‘Smart Planet’ concept encompasses the implementation of initiatives that lead to thereplacement of existing products and services with those that are more intelligent and enableenergy efficiency.As a guide, ICT solutions will follow the GeSI SMART framework that was launched in the report‘SMART2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age’.ICT can be a crucial factor in the overall transformation (T) to a low carbon economy – as a resultof industry standards, monitoring and accounting tools (SMA), re-thinking (R) and optimising theways in which we live and work.Cloud Computing‘Cloud Computing’ focuses on improving the efficiency of provisioning computing power. As such,‘Cloud Computing’ offers the ability to provide multi-tenanted applications that run on elasticallyscalable, location independent processing and data storage systems. These facilities are offeredon a pay for service basis.Page 44

6The Future6.2 Smart Planet(Business and Technology Innovation)The following section has been written in collaboration with IBM. IBM is aligned around a single,focused business model: innovation. IBM takes its breadth and depth of insight on issues, processesand operations across a variety of industries and invents and applies technology to help solve itsclients’ most intractable business and competitive problems. Click here for more information.Developing a Smart PlanetIntroductionAll the issues of a hyper-connected world have surfaced since the start of this decade – theproblems of global climate change and energy inefficiency, global supply chains for food andmedicine and new security concerns ranging from identity theft to terrorism.The world continues to get ‘smaller’ and ‘flatter’. However, we see now that being connectedisn’t enough. Fortunately, something else is happening that holds new potential – the planet isbecoming smarter.That is, intelligence is being infused into the way the world literally works – into the systems,processes and infrastructure that enable physical goods to be developed, manufactured, boughtand sold. That allows services to be delivered. That facilitates the movement of everything frommoney and oil to water and electrons. And that helps billions of people work and live.How is this possible?Firstly, the world is becoming instrumented. Imagine, if you can, a billion transistors for everyhuman being. In reality, we’re almost there. Sensors are being embedded everywhere: in cars,appliances, cameras, roads, pipelines… even in medicine and livestock.Figure 16: A vision of smarter cities. How cities can lead the way into a prosperous andsustainable future, IBM Center for Economic Development analysisCommunicationHuman capital determinesspeed of ICT adoptionThe degree of ICT adoptionaffects the attractiveness of acity’s business environmentPeopleIndustry accounts fora large proportion ofwater withdrawalsBusinessWater quality affects thehealth of citizensGreater commerce increaseuse of transport infrastructureWaterCommuting affectsquality of lifeTransportEnergy is the reason for asubstantial part of all water withdrawalsTransportation is one of theprimary consumers of energy demandEnergySource: IBM Centre for Economic Development analysisPage 45

6The FutureSecondly, our world is becoming interconnected. Soon, there will be two billion people onthe Internet – but systems and objects can now ‘speak’ to one other as well. Think of a trillionconnected and intelligent things and the oceans of data that will be produced.Thirdly, all of those instrumented and interconnected things are becoming intelligent. They arebeing linked to powerful new backend systems that can process all the data and turn it into realinsight, in real time. Any person, any object, any process or service and any organisation – largeor small – can become digitally aware, connected and smart.With so much technology and networking available at such low cost, what wouldn’t you enhance?What wouldn’t you connect? What information wouldn’t you mine for insight? What service wouldn’tyou provide a customer, a citizen, a student or a patient?The answer is, you will do all these things, because you can. But there is another reason. We willdo all these things, because we must.Consider the following:• According to published reports, up to 10 percent of the energy we generate on the planet neverreaches a single light bulb, even in developed countries.• In Australia, congested roadways in our cities already ‘rob’ the nation of $11.1 billion in lost time,operating expenses, environmental and social costs.• The average basket of food has travelled the equivalent of two and a half times around thecontinent before it comes to rest on a supermarket shelf.• Our healthcare system really isn’t a ‘system’. There are failures to link diagnoses, medicinedelivery, healthcare providers, insurers and patients – as waiting lists lengthen and costscontinue to escalate.• One in five people living on the planet today lacks safe drinking water.• And, of course, we continue to witness the unravelling of the global financial markets, a systemin which institutions could spread, but not track, risk.Yet all of these things are solvable on a smarter planet.Smart systems are transforming energy grids, supply chains and water management. Smarthealthcare systems can dramatically lower the cost of therapy.Smart food systems are using RFID (Radio-frequency identification) technology to trace meat andpoultry from the farm through the supply chain to store shelves.In Australia, the city of Brisbane is implementing a smart traffic system that will increase thecapacity of the roads we already have, without the need to lay more bitumen.The time has come to embrace the idea of building a Smart Planet because the technology isboth available and affordable. Current approaches are not working and have resulted in theenvironmental issues we have today. Starting today to build a Smart Planet is the first step towardsbuilding a sustainable future for future generations.Future Vision for a Smarter PlanetMany of the everyday systems on which our way of lives depends are inefficient and unsustainable.But now, smart technologies give us the opportunity to make our transport, water and energynetworks, cities and buildings digitally aware. If infrastructure is digitally aware it can sense andcommunicate problems, give us information to make better decisions, reduce inefficiencies – evenpredict and prevent failure.Page 46

6The FutureFor example:• An intelligent road system will help us to reduce traffic congestion by warning people of trafficjams and suggesting alternate routes.• An intelligent energy system will have smart meters that help people to better manage theirelectricity bills.• An intelligent water system will help to reduce water restrictions by minimising waste acrossthe system.• An intelligent health system will improve the speed and quality of treatment and help take thepressure off hospitals.• Intelligent broadband communications will deliver new services, create new industries and allowmore Australians to work from home or avoid work related travel.According to new research by Access Economics, smart systems also offer the most promisingpath for Australia to lift its long-term economic growth potential.Conservative estimates from a ten year plan to adopt smart technologies in electricity, irrigation,health, transport and broadband communications point to benefits such as:• Increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 1.5 percent over ten years.• Increasing the Net Present Value (NPV) of GDP of $35-80 billion over the first ten years.• Creating more than 70,000 jobs in 2014 alone.As smart technologies are integrated into everyday situations, more opportunities are opened upas we examine the overarching, societal advantages of digital infrastructure.For example, as fibre extends to the home, it will enable telenetworking, thereby reducing theneed for motor transport as communities and workplaces re-align themselves. Thus, digitalinfrastructure could actually reverse the separation of work and home that started in the industrialrevolution, delivering environmental, health and efficiency benefits.How does this relate to GreenIT?Building a Smarter Planet is all about using our resources more intelligently to minimise waste andthe release of CO 2 emissions into the atmosphere. While GreenIT technology innovation is focusedon initiatives that relate to operating IT infrastructure, GreenIT business innovation is focused oninitiatives that relate to business operations.Each of the initiatives highlighted above all have a contribution to make. They provide thefoundation in which a future vision can be built and provide a solution to the environmentalchallenges we are experiencing today.• Smarter energy grids (reduces the loss of power).• Smarter water (reduces the loss of water).• Smarter traffic (reduces transport issues).• Smarter healthcare (reduces healthcare issues).• Smarter Broadband Communications (enables smart technologies and business productivity).Of these, the key to building a Smart Planet is the implementation of the National BroadbandNetwork. It will open up new ways of communicating and delivering services and allow the datafrom smart systems to be used more effectively.Page 47

6The Future6.3 Cloud Computing (Business andTechnology Innovation)The following section has been written in collaboration withSMS Management & Technology (SMS) and theAustralian Computer Society (ACS).SMS Management & Technology (SMS) is Australia’s largest publicly listed Management Servicescompany. SMS Management & Technology solves complex problems and transform businessthrough Consulting, Technology and Enterprise Solutions.The Australian Computer Society (ACS) is the recognised association for Information andCommunications Technology (ICT) professionals, attracting a large and active membership fromall levels of the ICT industry. A member of the Australian Council of Professions, the ACS is thepublic voice of the ICT profession and the guardian of professional ethics and standards in theICT industry, with a commitment to the wider community to ensure the beneficial use of ICT.IntroductionMoore’s Law describes the observation that the processing power of a computer double everytwo years, allowing the density of computing to increase and lower manufacturing costs. Othersimilar laws are also observed with hard disk and network capacity, offering society newsolutions to old problems.Figure 17: Moore’s LawTransistor count2,000,000,0001,000,000,000100,000,00010,000,0001,000,000486Dual-Core Itanium 2Power 6Itanium 2 with 9MB cache G80Core 2 QuadItanium 2PentiumP4K5K8K7 K6-IIIK6PIIIBartonPIIIK10Core 2 DuoCellQuad-CoreItanium TukwilaGT200RV770Atom386100,00028610,0002,300Year80088008800840041971 1980 1990 2000 2008Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moores_LawOne of the latest industry developments is the concept of ‘Cloud Computing’, whereby dataprocessing can be provided for multi-tenanted applications running on elastically scalable, locationindependent processing and data storage systems, which are offered on a pay for service basis.Cloud Computing consists of three different components – Cloud Platforms (IaaS – Infrastructureas a Service), Cloud Applications (PaaS – Platform as a Service) and Cloud Services (SaaS –Software as a Service).Page 48

6The FutureFigure 18: Cloud Computing Components, SMS Management & TechnologyCloud Services (SaaS – Software as a Service)Google ApplicationsSalesforce.comCloud Applications(PaaS – Platform asa Service)Google ApplicationsEngineAmazon EC2 FORCE.com Microsoft AzureCloud Platforms(IaaS – Infrastructureas a Service)SunDell EMC (VMware) IBMCompared to its predecessors (grid computing and utility computing), Cloud Computing is muchmore flexible and adaptable to a wide range of business applications, offering the followingcharacteristics that were previously not possible:• Elastic scalability – well beyond anything achievable in house.• The potential to leverage highly efficient large scale data centres.• The ability to leverage new applications designed as multi-tenanted from the ground up.• Offering OpEx approaches for both Cloud Platforms and Cloud Services – eliminating wastefuluse of company capital.• The ability to coexist with in-house data centres (private clouds), especially via cloud-bursting.Cloud Computing offered by different vendors is hosted in large data centres that have muchhigher energy efficiency than is possible with a dedicated environment. They also provideorganisations the ability to perform cloud bursting, where peak loads from the main processingservers are redirected to Cloud Computing providers.Figure 19: Cloud Bursting, SMSPrivate Data CentresPrivate dedicated ServersCloudBurstingPublic CloudMulti-tenanted ServersPage 49

6The FutureBusiness Drivers of Cloud ComputingThe changing landscape of the business environment is causing organisations to spend timeevaluating different opportunities that are available with Cloud Computing. The demands are beingfelt across all divisions and all levels of the hierarchy.• CFOs – want the IT Department to do more for less money!• Business users – want their business application deployed yesterday!• New generation users – want to use all their social networking tools at work!In the process of evaluating whether Cloud Computing is the right technology in solving a businessproblem, the following enablers and roadblocks need to be understood before an informeddecision can be made either way.Figure 20: Cloud Computing Enablers and Roadblocks, SMS.TechnicalOffline capableHigh availability of systems,storage and networkn Virtualisation of processorsn Easy access to servicesvia simple interfaces andprogramming languagesBusinessn Very low cost of scaling upand downAssured privacy and securityfor data and processingService levels agreement torequired business levelsRichness of applications todegree needed to supportbusinessn Data and storage costsmuch lower than in-houseRegulatoryn Legislative and regulatoryframework that covers alllocations of the ‘cloud’servicesPrivacy laws that arealigned with the storage andprocessing model of ‘cloud’computingLegendn Building block enablerHurdle requirementFor organisations exploring Cloud Computing as a technology to embrace for future projects, thefollowing steps will help maximise the value of the opportunity:• Be clear on whether you are going for Cloud Platforms, Cloud Services or both.• Determine those applications that are suitable for full migration to the cloud, are suitable forcloud bursting, or should stay as is.• Buy, or build applications that are designed for multi-tenanted architectures.• Divide up your data and applications into those you will trust in-house and those that can beappropriately run on public cloud infrastructure.• Ensure privacy, security and service level agreements are aligned to business expectations;• Ensure expectations are managed.• Plan for Cloud Computing in the context of a Green ICT agenda and overall Strategic ITPlan – it must not be adhoc.How does this relate to GreenIT?Cloud Computing can help ICT be ‘green’. However, it requires careful planning so that we don’tsimply offload processing to inefficient data centres. There are plenty of benefits to getting in-housedata centres efficient through virtualisation and cloud bursting for extra capacity on-demand.Cloud Computing is also good for collaborative working and by nature is geographicallyindependent. Mobile platforms offer a potential avenue to leverage low power platforms forprocessing and distributed data storage, as well as enabling easy access to Cloud Computing.Page 50

6The Future6.4 Case Study: Handset Detection –Cloud Computing (Business Innovation)SynopsisUptime is of paramount importance when providing real time device and carrier information forcustomising the display of web-based content on mobile devices.Hosting the service on the cloud, using a SaaS operating model, provides the necessary highavailability and assurance that sudden load spike can be handled seamlessly and gracefully ascomputing processing is scaled up or down to meet demand.With Amazon Web Services (AWS), the time to provision additional computing capacity takesminutes, instead of hours or days depending upon traditional methods used.Though migrating to AWS increased hosting costs approximately 10 percent, the benefits gainedthrough auto scaling, load balancing and massive flexibility more than made up forthe convenience offered.Enterprise grade virtualisation has been with us for a while now and Cloud Computing is the nextstep in that direction. Whilst Handset Detection utilises public cloud infrastructure, SMEs can takeadvantage of virtual private clouds (http://aws.amazon.com/vpc/) to meet business objectives.Though it is not suited to all business applications, careful consideration will need to be given toensure alignment with business objectives and expectations.“AWS allows us to focus our efforts on building great software and not spending timemanaging infrastructure. It has reduced our time to market, massively increased ourservice capacity and provided a rock solid foundation for us moving forward.’’Richard Uren, Head of Magic, Handset Detectionhttp://www.handsetdetection.comDownload the full version of this case studyPage 51

7GreenITValues7.1 Philosophical Considerations withEmbracing GreenITThe following section has been written in collaboration with ECO-Buy. ECO-Buy is an awardwinning not-for-profit Centre of Excellence in Environmental Purchasing which was established toencourage the purchasing of environmentally preferable products and services.ECO-Buy works with public and private sector organisations to embed sustainable purchasingpractices and acknowledges that change happens through people and that in order to facilitatechange, people need good information and tools as well as support and encouragement.IntroductionKeeping in mind the big picture and the concept of sustainability, developing ‘green’ businessoperations is all about Sustainable Consumption and Production.A more detailed overview of this is given below, where additional focus has been given on bothProduct Stewardship and Sustainable Supply Chain that are the key enablers in helping businessreduce their environmental impact.The AIIA has worked in collaboration with Sustainability Victoria and Multimedia Victoria on thisissue over the course of several years, with the aim being to influence changes in procurement bythe State Government. The recent changes that have been introduced into the tendering processof IT products and services are partly a result of this work.7.2 Sustainable Consumption and ProductionThe Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) framework below shows how each keyelement works together to reduce an organisation’s GHG emissions. The three main focus areasare cleaner production, greening the supply chain and green purchasing.Figure 21: Sustainable Consumption and Production, Eco-BuyCleanerproduction• Reduced resource extractionand usage• Reduce energy consumption• EMSGreening Sustainablesupply consumptionchain and productionGreeningsupplychain• Greener componentsand packaging• Green designReducedGHGemissionsGreenpurchasing• Recyclable products• Energy efficient products• Reduced wastes• Reduced consumptionThe Victorian Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability puts the case for SCP as follows:“The natural environment underpins our economic and social systems – we need clean airto breath, water to drink and natural resources to use in our daily lives. We rely on a healthyenvironment to provide us with resources.Our demand for resources needs to match the ability of our ecosystems to produce the thingswe need. Otherwise, we eat into our ‘natural capital’ of resources, leaving less available for ourchildren and future generations.”Page 52The drive for SCP comes from the growing awareness that organisations need to embrace productstewardship across the lifecycle of their operations, including the impacts from both upstreamsuppliers and downstream customers.

7GreenITValuesConsumer sentiment for green products and services is also growing and in doing so, isshifting loyalty towards businesses that show a commitment towards doing the right thingfor the environment.Research by the Mobium Group shows that the consumer market for natural, healthy andsustainable products and services in Australia has grown over 25 percent to $15Bn in 2008and is expected to reach at least $22Bn by 2010 8 .The Living LOHAS 2 report also notes that whilst the majority of Australian consumers wantbusiness to improve their environmental performance, that 88 percent treat ‘green’ claims withscepticism and distrust.7.3 Product StewardshipProduct stewardship considerations usually start with the manufacturer, however stewardship canalso be taken on by others throughout the product’s lifecycle. This shared responsibility betweenall stakeholders within the supply chain is important in maximising environmental outcomes.So, while the manufacturer might be seeking to:• Minimise the consumption of materials, energy and water• Avoid using toxic or hazardous materials and production processes• Recycle materials continuously through industrial or natural systems to avoid waste• Keep product environmental information accurate and verifiableA company employee might be seeking to:• Procure greener products from environmentally conscious manufacturers• Optimise equipment operation.• Extend lifespan of equipment• Remarket end-of-life equipment• Recycle responsibly• Report transparentlyProcuring Greener ProductsConsider the energy efficiency and resources consumed when purchasing both computerand peripheral equipment. The Electronic Product Environment Assessment Tool (EPEAT) isa ranking system that assists public and private organisations to evaluate, compare and selectcomputing systems based on 51 specific criteria through the IEEE 1680 Standard.Many of the larger IT manufacturers are currently working with AIIA to push the case for AustralianGovernments to adopt the EPEAT framework into Federal and State whole-of-government ICTprocurement strategy.In the United States, EPEAT is a mandatory requirement for Federal departments to examine whenpurchasing new IT products and successfully co-exists with product energy efficiency programssuch as ENERGY STAR.8. Mobium Group, October 2008, Report Summary: Living LOHAS 2, Lifestyles of health and sustainability Australia, page. 3Page 53

7GreenITValuesAside from EPEAT, there are other guides now available to assist with green product procurement.Most of the IT equipment manufacturers provide information on their website to make informedchoices – some even calculating the energy efficiency savings of a particular product model. Ofcourse, procuring greener products isn’t just about IT hardware – there are plenty of considerationsto be made about paper, printing ink, etc.Optimise equipment operationStandby power accounts for a significant portion of electricity consumption, in some casesaccounting for 25 percent of total energy consumption. To maximise the energy efficiency of yourcomputing systems it is important to enable energy saving modes (ENERGY STAR) and minimiseall standby power where possible. This may require updates to computer configurations andtraining staff on how to activate equipment after it has automatically powered down.In addition, the deployment of mobile computing devices can significantly improve powerconsumption when compared with traditional desktop models.Extend lifespan of equipmentIt is now possible to extend the lifespan of IT equipment up to 6-7 years by using new thin clienttechnology, thereby greatly improving the RoI. However, this does require a shift in the mindset ofusers. Thin client computing is not suitable for everyone within an organisation, especially thosethat require high-end performance, but it can be successfully deployed to the majority of userswithin an organisation that require basic word-processing and online capability.When embarking on thin client technology, it’s important to also consider the lifecycle andefficiency of back-end server equipment.Gains made on the client side can quickly be lost if servers are not optimised by virtualisation,upgraded to energy efficient hardware and load balanced. Advancing technologies will see existingcomputing networks migrate from distributed to centralised systems as servers deliver greatergraphics processing power and enhanced software management capabilities.Remarket end-of-life equipmentUtilising the services of an Authorised Computer Refurbisher (ACR) helps corporations makesurplus computer equipment available for alternative reuse options. This includes:• Certified testing, value-appropriate repair and refurbishment services that guarantee qualityand prolong the useable life of technology.• Asset recovery services to give your equipment an extended life with a new owner and recoversremaining dollar value for your organisation.• End-of-life Stewardship, which is a service that provides a guarantee that equipment willbe collected and recycled when it is of no further use, regardless of the final user of theequipment. This service is particularly useful when donating goods to charity, as it ensuresthat the donation of equipment does not become a financial burden on the charity when itis no longer functioning.• Recycling services that ensure computers of no further use don’t end up in a landfill atend-of-life.• Reporting that demonstrates the social, financial and environmental benefits of donatedtechnology.Page 54

7GreenITValuesRecycle ResponsiblyEstablish a zero eWaste to landfill policy where all IT equipment is disposed of using certifiedIT Asset Disposal organisations. This includes:• Equipment de-manufacturing to ensure all reusable parts and raw materials are safelyharvested.• Downstream verification to ensure that assets are disposed in compliance with policies,customer requirements and legal obligations.This also covers other peripheral IT equipment such as mobile phones and printer cartridges.Victoria currently has a free IT equipment recycling program for SMEs and households called‘Byteback’.Up to 10 items can be taken to one of the many city-based sites and disposed of free of charge.Organisations that have a larger IT set-up can access information on alternative recycling optionsvia www.Bytebackaustraia.com.auNational product stewardship programsIn Australia, national product stewardship programs are in place for products such as:• Mobile phones• Lubricant oils• Agricultural chemical containers• Consumer packagingSustainability Victoria’s product stewardship programsSustainability Victoria is currently working in partnership with a range of organisations – across allareas of the product lifecycle – on such programs as:• Byteback• Design for Sustainability• Detox Your Home• ECO-Buy• BatterybackPage 55

7GreenITValues7.3.1 Case Study: Sustainability Victoria –Byteback Australia (Business Innovation)SynopsisSustainability Victoria launched the Byteback program with the aim of developing a productsteward scheme with the IT industry for end-of-life computer equipment. Byteback is being runin conjunction with the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) and industry partnersApple, Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson, Fujitsu, Fuji-Xerox, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Lexmark, Officeworksand several local councils in Victoria.After collection, the computer equipment (eWaste) is transported to a specialised electronicrecycling and recovery centres. Equipment is disassembled into separate material streams (plastic,precious metals, batteries, cathode ray tubes, printed circuit boards and insulated wiring) and sentoff to various locations around Australia and the world for recovery and recycling. This processensures that valuable materials and toxic chemicals are kept out of landfill and cannot have anegative impact on the environment.In over four years, the Byteback program has:• Collected over 2,000 tonnes of computers and related equipment – this is equivalent to 450truck-loads or three and a half Olympic swimming pools (full to the brim).• Established eight permanent collection sites across Victoria.• Run regional collection events.Some 97 percent of the waste collected has been recycled, leading to the abatement of 11,500tonnes of carbon. Importantly, the Byteback initiative has also helped capture critical data that willinform the development of a national regulatory framework.“The Byteback program creates an economic opportunity to grow the recovery and recyclingsectors, as well as diverting valuable resources from going to landfill.”Jan Trewhella, Acting CEO, Sustainability VictoriaDownload the full version of this case studyPage 56

7GreenITValues7.4 Sustainable Supply ChainSustainable supply chain management is the discipline of balancing cost, customer service andenvironmental sustainability to achieve a high-performance, low cost and low environmentalimpact supply chain.Its premise is that when making a procurement decisions, green procurement principles shouldbe given a weighting. This weighting will not only provide immediate benefits, but also longer termbenefits, given that suppliers will need to show they are moving toward sustainability in order toretain business.These benefits include:• Increased shareholder returns.• Protection and enhancement of a company’s brand reputation.• Risk minimisation.• Market appeal that drives premium pricing.• Opportunity for first mover advantage and competitive advantage.• Increased efficiency and cost reduction.• Compliance with regulatory legislation – both now and in the future.Sustainable supply chains are established by providing businesses with a framework thatsupports more informed decision making and demands greater transparency when reporting keyperformance indicators.Underlying this is the absolute importance of early, ongoing engagement with customers, suppliersand staff. To maximise the benefits of moving to a more sustainable supply chain there is also astrong need for all the parties involved to be able to capture a share of these benefits.Sustainable supply chain management consists of understanding the value chain, recognising howthe customer requirements relate back to the sourced products and focusing on the following threekey driving forces – each of which need to be evaluated on an individual business basis:1. Product stewardship (identify the opportunities).2. Smarter procurement (make it happen).3. Product differentiation (capitalise on the benefits).Figure 22: Value Chain vs Supply Chain OverviewProductValue chainConsumerrequirementsStrategiccomponentsGolbalassemblyFinishedgoodsSatisfiedconsumerProductrequirementsSupply chainConsumerPage 57

7GreenITValues7.4.1 Product Stewardship (Identify the Opportunities)When done effectively, Product Stewardship drives value-add processes throughout the supplychain by focusing on identifying the environmental impacts associated with the behaviours ofsuppliers, business operations and customers.It first requires time to understand the impacts of different procurement options available.Secondly, it needs to explore where negotiations can be made in order to improve policies,processes and principles embedded within existing business operations.Opportunities can then be prioritised by evaluating them using models such as the WasteManagement Hierarchy – where avoidance is the most preferred option and disposal the least.Figure 23: Waste HierarchyMostpreferableAvoidanceReuseRecyclingRecovery of energyTreatmentLeastpreferableContainmentDisposal7.4.2 Smarter Procurement (Making it Happen)Procurement is strongly aligned with business objectives and relies heavily on accurate planningprocesses to minimise waste. It impacts every business process and provides businesses with aframework to implement policies, processes and the principles required to drive cost reduction initiatives.Figure 24: Procurement Cycle, ECO-Buy.1. Identify needand asses risksResearch green options.Incorporate green specifications6. Manage thecontract & disposalSpecify green requirements foservice delivery and productdisposal/recovery/recyclingProcurement ProcessGood procurement issustainable procurement2. Evaluate andselect suppliersSelect suppliers withgreen credentials5. Audit and improvesupplier3. Define thespecification andinvite bidsIncorporate contractual provisionsspecifying green requirementsDevelop and use greenevaluation criteria4. Evaluate bids fromsuppliers and awardPage 58Source: Procurement Cycle, ECO-Buy

7GreenITValuesSmarter procurement takes this one step further by introducing additional metrics to the decisionmaking process which support initiatives to ‘green’ the supply chain.The key criteria used when making procurement and supply chain decisions include price, quality,fit for purpose and availability/continuity of supply. Smarter and more sustainable procurement isabout including environmental and social criteria in the decision making process.Smarter procurement forces greater transparency between suppliers, business operations andcustomers, which results in product innovation, behavioural change and ultimately waste reduction.Smarter and more sustainable procurement is part of the solution to the problem of how to saveboth the planet and your profits at the same time.Given that all products and services have an impact and therefore there is no such thing as aperfectly sustainable product or service, smarter and more sustainable procurement can be seen as:1. Identifying and buying products and services that are less damaging to the environment andhuman health than those you are currently purchasing.2. Reviewing and improving your purchasing processes to drive better financial and environmentaland sustainability outcomes.The key tools available that support smart procurement activities include:• Benchmarking programs.• Assessment and prioritisation programs.• Education and engagement programs (staff and suppliers).• Certification programs.• Accreditation programs.• Industry standards.• Disclosure of environmental performance reporting.Page 59

7GreenITValues7.4.3 Product Differentiation (Capitalise on the Benefits)The end results of implementing green supply chain initiatives include product differentiation andthe reduction of costs in the supply chain; so even if you are selling a commodity, or you shareelements of your supply chain with competitors (making differentiation a little more difficult),greening your supply chain is a very valuable exercise. It also provides businesses with theopportunity to provide additional val ue to customers by creating new and innovative products,building stronger and deeper relationships with existing customers and suppliers and gainingcompetitive advantage in the marketplace.An important part of capitalising on the benefits of product differentiation is to provide transparentreporting that provides clear evidence of the ‘green’ claims you are making.New performance metrics need to be introduced into management reporting and should beindependently audited against standardised methods so that they can be benchmarked withother organisations.Metrics that can be used for benchmarking purposes include:• Percentage of suppliers signing company charter.• Number of suppliers evaluated/audited.• Percentage of spend with ‘sustainable’ suppliers (e.g., are suppliers members of the ‘GlobalCompact’ charter or accredited with EMS in place).• CO 2 emissions (ie CO 2 emissions of your suppliers).• Percentage of contracts including sustainable development or environmental clauses.• Number of buyers trained (or training hours) on sustainable procurement concepts andbest practices.7.4.4 Green Supply Chain Myth – Green Products/ServicesAlways Cost MoreFigure 25: Life Cycle Costing, ECO Buy.CostWasteUseWasteUsePricePriceStandardproductGreenproductIt is a common misconception that green products and services always cost more. This mayappear to be the case in the short-term, but when you examine the overall life cycle costing (LCC),you will realise that this is not true.Page 60

7GreenITValuesLCC = initial cost plus all other costs including:• Installation and training• Lease / contract-out charges• Internal staff expenses• Insurance costs• Energy costs• Waste disposal• Maintenance• DisposalIt is often the case that some of these factors are ignored or are not considered relevant in theoverall costing of a product or service.There are many greener alternatives that cost the same or less, from toner cartridges and recycledcontent construction materials, to office stationery. If the initial purchase price is higher, using avalue for money/total cost of ownership perspective will often highlight the medium to longer termcost savings.So yes – greener alternatives can cost more initially, but understanding and using life cycle thinkingand costing will highlight the true cost of a product or service.7.4.5 Sustainable Supply Chain ResourcesThe following resources have been provided as a guide to assist organisations with developing asustainable supply chain. Not all of these resources will be relevant to your organisation and willneed to take into consideration your current circumstances and future goals of your organisation.Green Supply Chain Analysis ToolsThe following IBM and HP examples provide an overview of how the Green Supply Chain is takingshape in the IT industry.IBM Carbon Management Analysis Tool to Optimise Supply Chain EfficienciesHP Supply Chain ResponsibilityPage 61

7GreenITValuesRegulatory ProgramsThere is both a federal and state regulatory program currently in place that makes it mandatory forlarge organisations to improve energy efficiencies. These are the Energy Efficiency Opportunities(EEO) and the Environment and Resource Efficiency Plans (EREP).Table 8: Federal and State Government Environmental Regulatory ProgramsRegulatory ProgramEnergy EfficiencyOpportunities (EEO)Environment andResource EfficiencyPlans (EREP)DescriptionFederal Government program run by the Department of Resources,Energy and Tourism.The Energy Efficiency Opportunities program encourages largeenergy-using businesses to improve their energy efficiency. It does thisby requiring businesses to identify, evaluate and report publicly on costeffective energy savings opportunities.Participation in Energy Efficiency Opportunities is mandatory forcorporations that use more than 0.5 petajoules (PJ) of energy peryear. This is approximately equivalent to the energy used by 10,000households. There are more than 220 corporations (incorporatingaround 1200 subsidiaries) registered for the Energy EfficiencyOpportunities program.State program run by EPA Victoria.Commercial and industrial sites in Victoria that use more than 100 TJof energy and/or 120 ML of water per year need to participate in EREP.Participating businesses need to register with EPA and prepareand implement a plan that identifies actions to reduce energy andwater use and waste generation.Importantly, businesses must then implement those actions that payfor themselves within three years.Industry Organisations/Accreditation ProgramsA list of well known industry organisations and accreditation programs that provide new metricsto support procurement and key decision making processes can be found in Appendix 9: IndustryOrganisations/Accreditation Programs.Calculators and Benchmarking ToolsA list of useful calculators and benchmarking tools that can provide new metrics to supportprocurement key decision making processes can be found in Appendix 8: Calculators and ToolkitsAdditionally, Appendix 17: Sustainability Performance Indicators can assist you in identifying whoare the best performing organisations in relation to sustainability.Page 62

7GreenITValues7.4.6 Snapshot: Wal-Mart – SustainableProduct Index (Business Innovation)On 16 July 2009, Wal-Mart announced plans to develop a worldwide sustainable product indexduring a meeting with 1,500 of its suppliers, associates and sustainability leaders at its home office– signalling the start of this organisation’s journey towards developing a sustainable supply chain.Wal-Mart’s index will establish a single source of data for evaluating the sustainability of productsand is being developed to translate product information into a simple rating for consumers aboutthe sustainability of products. According to Wal-Mart, this will provide customers with a transparentview of the quality and history of products that they don’t have today.From an SME perspective, it’s important to be aware of the changes that are happening in thelarger organisations with which you are associated. For instance, if you are currently not requiredto report on any environmental metrics, it will be only a matter of time before you are. Thoseorganisations that leave implementing environmental initiatives to the last minute will lose outto the organisations that have already made significant inroads in this area. A number of simplequick and easy initiatives have are discussed in the GreenIT eBook which organisations canimplement today and provide immediate cost savings tomorrow – not doing so will only be to yourorganisation’s detriment.“The index will bring about a more transparent supply chain, drive product innovation and,ultimately, provide consumers the information they need to assess the sustainability ofproducts. If we work together, we can create a new retail standard for the 21st century.”Mike Duke, President and Chief Executive Officer, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.Walmart Sustainability Milestone Meeting, July 16, 2009)Click here to find out moreDownload the full version of this case study7.4.7 Snapshot: State Governmentof Victoria – Environmental SelectionCriteria for Multi-function Devices (Business Innovation)Today, Governments are coming on board for the plight to ‘be green’ by introducing new regulationsand policies that provide industry with financial signs and mechanisms to encourage the greeningof the supply chain. The following is an example of how the Victorian Government specifiedenvironmental requirements for Multi-Function Devices (MFDs) in a recent tender document.The Contractor(s) must provide MFDs that:a. Are Energy Star compliant, with Energy Star capabilities enabled.b. Have low overall energy consumption in operation as well as standby and sleep modes.c. Can have all components switched off by the user so that no standby power is being consumed.d. Have document storage capacity (including the ability to code and store print jobs).e. Have duplex and page shrinkage (at least two pages to a page) printing and copyingcapabilities.f. Are able to use paper with recycled content.Page 63

7GreenITValuesg. Are able to use paper which has previously been printed on one side.h. Are able to use remanufactured toner cartridges, including third party remanufactured tonercartridges meeting required standards, with no effect on service agreements or warranties.i. Have low operating noise levels.The following features are highly desirable:a. Units containing a percentage of recycled materials, and/or materials which can be recovered,remanufactured or recycled at the end of the unit’s useful life. Contractor(s) are encouragedto provide innovative proposals for the disposal of equipment complying with environmentalstandards.b. Packaging should be recyclable or compostable, and should preferably include recycledcontent. Packaging take-back programs are encouraged.c. The Victorian Government wishes to eliminate unnecessary packaging associated with MFDs.Preference may be given to an arrangement where, within the first 12 months of the contract,packaging reuse and reduction options, whilst still offering adequate protection to products, willbe developed.d. Details of strategies and policies that manufacturers and/or suppliers have developed or are inthe process of developing in the area of extended producer responsibility.With the commencement of a national eWaste collection and recycling scheme, Governmentsshould seek to provide preference for companies that engage in community programs. While notspecifically stated within this RFT, it could be implied that the last ‘highly desirable’ feature wouldplace a Byteback participant in a more favourable position.Support by Governments for implementing procurement preferences for brands undertakingenvironmental and social activities for the broader community have gone largely unnoticed –Byteback being a prime example. This demonstrates the failings of a voluntary eWaste programand the reasons why industry through AIIA is pushing for a mandated participation program with alegislative underpinning.Page 64

7GreenITValues7.4.8 Case Study: State Government of Victoria –Environmental Selection Criteria for Desktops and Laptops(Business Innovation)SynopsisIndustry has consistently approached and lobbied the State Government to change its approachtowards RFTs for IT equipment on a number of levels. AIIA - with the support of SustainabilityVictoria and Multimedia Victoria – suggested to State Government that specific causes on keyenvironmental considerations were included in RFTs. The GSG moved to develop a greenpurchasing program which focused on incorporating environmental considerations into WoVGprocurement documentation.ECO-Buy assisted the GSG with the development of the green purchasing program, initiallytargeted for the upcoming Desktop and Notebook Computer Equipment State PurchasingContract. The aim was to provide environmental specifications for achieving significantenvironmental benefits associated with procurement activities.Tender applicants were required to demonstrate their environmental responsibility by providingdetails about their environmental policy and environmental management system, and to advise onprogress if one or both of these initiatives had not been implemented or adopted at the time thetender was released. A response against the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool(EPEAT) criteria was also required to evaluate, compare and select desktop computers, notebooksand monitors based on their environmental attributes.This is a very effective approach for developing a sustainable supply chain that is suitable forall organisations. It takes a high level view, leveraging well established industry benchmarkingprograms, which provides an independent evaluation of each supplier’s environmentalperformance. Over time, this criterion will develop and expand to include new measures, such asCarbon Emissions and will influence smaller organisations to think and act more sustainably, eventhough the criterion may not be directly relevant to them.www.dtf.vic.gov.auDownload the full version of this case studyPage 65

8ClosingRemarks8 Closing RemarksAcknowledgmentsJosh MillenOver the past five years AIIA has sought to take a leadership rolein the GreenIT and sustainability space. Our work with the Federaland State Governments on developing a national IT equipmentcollection and recycling program for the community has been a significant effort and wellsupported by major hardware manufacturers through the Byteback program and our EnvironmentSpecial Interest Group.Several years ago I approached Multimedia Victoria with the concept of developing a GreenITprogram for the Victorian Business Community demonstrating how IT can play an essential roleassisting and transforming businesses into the new low carbon economy. It was an area in withwhich both industry and government felt there was potential for new business opportunities forthe ICT industry in both domestic and export arenas.I appreciate that the Victorian Government was able to share this vision and this publication isa result of one such project from that program coming to fruition. Our Sustainable FuturesForums and GreenIT events have been very popular and those ideas have now gainedmomentum in other States.I’d like to extend a special thank you to Scott Evans, the principal editor and case studycoordinator, who has worked tirelessly to ensure that the detail within this publication is currentand highly relevant.Active contributors such as Alison O’Flynn from Fujitsu, Sean Casey from Intel and Bob Haywardfrom CSC have provided significant input and support throughout the drafting stages and theirpassion for GreenIT and support for the Association’s endeavours in this space continue to inspiremany people. AIIA’s Victorian GreenIT Taskforce under the leadership of Steve Avery has beenexemplary with sound support for AIIA’s Victorian Committee.The GreenIT movement has matured in Australia and while there are now, more than ever,increasing business drivers and imperatives for considering GreenIT and ‘green businesspractices’, I think we all should not lose sight of the real necessity for GreenIT and sustainability ingeneral – the health of our natural environment. Our greatest asset is the planet and environmentalconsiderations are not, at least in my mind, something that we should be seeking to negotiate apath of least resistance on.AIIA is actively involved with its members and Governments around the country on many areasthat are discussed within this book. So I am pleased that this book highlights the talent andexperiences of our country’s GreenIT sector and by doing so, demonstrates in real terms howapplicable and important GreenIT is for SMEs and busy professionals in other industry sectors.My hope is that this publication will be the start of future editions and will, over time, be moreinteractive, include additional case studies, provide links to those companies blazing a trail in this space and provide other chapters on significant new trends and achievements.Thank you for your support of AIIA, our green program, and our industry’s talented individualswho can help your organisations prepare and transform into lean, green and leading enterprises.Josh Millen, Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility and SustainabilityAustralian Information Industry AssociationPage 66

8ClosingRemarksScott EvansI firstly want to recognise the contributions that all of the organisationshave made towards the eBook and say thank you to all thosereferenced throughout. Without you, the number, variety and specificsof each case study would have not otherwise been possible.It is exciting to see how much the local IT industry has embracedthe adoption of GreenIT practices into their organisations.New products and services are being developed, creating newopportunities that would previously not have been available.Educational programs are starting to surface that focus specifically on GreenIT, assisting withsharing the knowledge and educating others in the benefits of GreenIT. For example, the Box HillInstitute of TAFE launched a Vocational Graduate Certificate in ICT Sustainability in 2009.The IT industry itself is defining new areas of competencies designed to drive the ongoingevolution of GreenIT that will influence the types of courses educational faculties provide in thefuture. One area in particular will be in the design of efficient data centres.This is a quickly evolving topic which has grown in the last few years and will continue to evolveover the next few years, especially as the need to drive additional energy efficiencies will comefrom optimising organisations data centres.From the outside looking in, the maturing of the GreenIT industry is also resulting in theemergence of a number of new green jobs across the Australian economic landscape.Organisations are starting to develop cross-departmental roles to manage the implementation ofGreenIT initiatives, due largely to the transformational nature of such projects and the requirementto co-ordinate a number of different stakeholders in order to ensure successful outcomes.These roles tend to be highly specialised, requiring both a high level of technical knowledge of bothIT and the environment. However, the roles also need to be balanced with strong leadership skillswhich will be required to influence organisational stakeholders for successful change management.Organisational leaders will emerge to help different organisational departments come together andwork towards the common goal of greening the organisation.Looking into the long-term future, GreenIT will be pivotal in enabling organisations to reduce carbonemissions through both technology and business innovation. There are many big innovationscurrently in progress that will have a dramatic impact on the Australian ICT industry in the future,such as NBN, Cloud Computing, Smart Planet and mobile computing, to name just a few.Unfortunately, these technologies by themselves are not sufficient. They also require organisationsto understand both the business drivers and the transformational change required for successfulimplementation.Governments around the world are starting to develop business tools that impose a carbon taxto assist with this, but this alone is not enough. ‘This does not assist business in making theconnection with technology innovation, nor does it help businesses to understand the nature andimpact of the rapidly changing business driving forces.My goal is that this publication will help you address these issues so that more GreenIT initiativescan be adopted within your organisation.Throughout the journey of writing this eBook, I am heartened to see so many organisations makingsignificant efforts towards greening their operations and reaping a financial benefit at the sametime. It is hoped that more organisations can follow suit and look forward to hearing of your storyon how adopting GreenIT into your organisation has been financially beneficial.Scott Evans, Editor of the AIIA ‘Greening Your Business Through Technology’ eBookPage 67www.scottbottini.com

9GlossaryTermAIIAACCCACRAneometerAVBANBAUBlogBPOByteback (Australia)B2BCapExCEOCIOCloud ComputingCO 2CO 2 emissionsGHG emissionsCO 2 calculationCO 2 footprintCPRSCSRC2BDR/BCPeBookEBIDAEDIEEOEITEeLearningeMetersEMSEPAEPEATDescriptionAustralian Information Industry AssociationAustralian Competition and Consumer CommissionAuthorised Computer RefurbisherA device that is used for measuring wind speedAudio VisualBasel Action NetworkBusiness As UsualAn online website used to record regular entries of commentary,descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or videoBusiness Process OutsourcingA free computer take-back program to help people dispose ofend-of-life equipment, or equipment that has reached the endof its useful life responsibly.Business to BusinessCapital ExpenditureChief Executive OfficerChief Information OfficerA style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualisedresources are provided as a service over the Internet.Greenhouse gasesGreenhouse gas emissionsCalculation of the GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions‘the total set of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions caused directly andindirectly by an individual, organisation, event or product’ (UK CarbonTrust 2008Carbon Pollution Reduction SchemeCorporate Social ResponsibilityCustomer to BusinessDisaster Recovery / Business Continuity PlanElectronic Book (soft copy in the form of a pdf)Earnings Before Interest, Depreciation And AmortisationElectronic Data InterfaceEnergy Efficiency OpportunitiesEmission-intensive trade-exposedTechnology supported education/learning (TSL) where the mediumof instruction is through computer technology, particularly involvingdigital technologies.Electronic Meter ReadingEnvironmental Management SystemEnvironment Protection AgencyElectronic Product Environmental Assessment ToolPage 68

9GlossaryEREPeServiceETSeWasteGDPGershon reportGeSIGHG ProtocolGreenfieldGRIGSGHDDIaaSICTIEEEIPKPIKyoto ProtocolLCALCCLCDLEEDLMNLOHASMFDMMVNBNNGERSNPVOpExPaaSPCsPUERFQRFIDRFTEnvironmental and resource efficiency planServices available online via the internet (C2B, B2B, EDI, SaaS etc)Emissions Trading Schemesurplus, obsolete, broken, or discarded electrical or electronic devicesGross Domestic ProductAn independent review of the Australian Government’s use of informationand communication technology (ICT)The Global e-Sustainability InitiativeThe Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) is the most widely usedinternational accounting tool for government and business leaders tounderstand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions.A project that lacks any constraints imposed by prior implementationsGlobal Reporting InitiativeGovernment Services GroupHard Disk Driveinfrastructure as a serviceInformation, Communication and TechnologyInstitute of Electrical and Electronics EngineersIntellectual PropertyKey Performance IndicatorA protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange (UNFCCC or FCCC).Life Cycle AnalysisLife Cycle CostingLiquid Crystal DisplayLeadership in Environmental and Energy Design (US)Large Multi-National OrganisationLifestyles of Health and SustainabilityMulti-Function DevicesMultimedia VictoriaNational Broadband NetworkNational Greenhouse and Energy Reporting SystemNet Present ValueOperational ExpenditurePlatform as a ServicePersonal ComputersPower Usage Effectiveness – a metric used to determine the energyefficiency of a data centre.Request for QuotationRadio frequency identificationRequest for TenderPage 69

9GlossaryRoHSRoISaaSSANSATASCPSMART GoalsSMART PlanetSMETCOTeleworkingVOIPVPNWEEEWikisWoVGRestriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (Europe)Return on InvestmentSoftware as a ServiceStorage Area NetworkSerial ATASustainable Consumption and ProductionSimple, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely GoalsThe implementation of initiatives that lead to the replacement of existingproducts and services with those that are more intelligent and enableenergy efficiencySmall to Medium EnterpriseTotal Cost of OwnershipTelecommuting, e-commuting, e-work, telework, working at home (WAH),or working from home (WFH) is a work arrangement in which employeesenjoy flexibility in working location and hours.Voice Over Internet ProtocolVirtual Private NetworkWaste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (Europe andCanada)A collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone with access tocontribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language.Whole of Victorian GovernmentDocument design and creation by Big Mouth – www.bigmouth.net.auPage 70

10AppendicesYou can download a full version of the appendices by clicking hereAppendix 1: GreenIT Success FactorsAppendix 2: GreenIT Best PracticesAppendix 3:Appendix 4:Appendix 5:Appendix 6:Appendix 7:Appendix 8:Appendix 9:Appendix 10:Appendix 11:Appendix 12:Appendix 13:Appendix 14:Appendix 15:Appendix 16:Appendix 17:Appendix 18:Appendix 19:Hazardous Materials in IT EquipmentData Centre OptimisationCarbon Management SoftwarePower Management SoftwarePrint Management SoftwareCalculators & ToolkitsIndustry Organisations and Accreditation ProgramsVendor Green PortalsLocal Green DirectoriesLocal Green ResearchGreenIT NewsLocal GreenIT FormsLocal GreenIT Training and Certification ProgramsFurther Reading on GreenITSustainability Performance IndicatorsAIIA GreenIT Quick Reference Guide – Featured OrganisationsList of eBook ReferencesPage 71You can download a full version of the appendices by clicking here