1. Sustainable use of personal computing
Sunshine Coast Regional Council
To be Australia’s most sustainable region - vibrant , green, diverse.
Justin Thomas 4103653712 October 4th 2012

2. The issues:
• Spending on personal computing
• Manufacturing resource consumption (incl. extraction of
materials, energy and waste during manufacturing)
• Energy consumption
• Packaging
• End of life disposal
Whole life nonhazardous waste
(James P and Hopkinson L 2009)

3. Lifecycle analysis problematic
Main life cycle analysis studies of computers life cycle energy use (MJ)
(James P and Hopkinson L 2009)
Source Production Dist Use End of Life TOTAL
Primary sources
Williams 2004, home desktop + 17” CRT
monitor (MJ) (a)
6,049
(77%)
351
(5%)
1,500
(19%)
6,615
(100%)
IVF 2007, home desktop + 17” CRT
monitor (b)
3,215 (15%) 772
(4%)
16,930
(81%)
17
(<1%)
20,932 (100%)
Eugster, Hischier and Duan 2007 (c) 7,706
(36%)
86
(<1%)
17,222
(81%)
-3,842 21,172
LBNL 2005 (d) 5,820
(57%)
4,300
(42%)
13 10,133
(100%)
LBNL 2005 (e) 3,394
(58%)
2,462
(42%)
5,856
(100%)
Secondary sources
MCC 1993 (f) 8,330
(20%)
32,760
(80%)
41,090
(100%)
Atlantic Consulting 1998 (f) 3,630
(26%)
10,200
(74%)
-98 13,732
(100%)
Dreier and Wagner 2000 (f) 9,527
(43%)
13,500
(61%)
-800 22,227
(100%)

4. The Baseline
• 2696 personal computers (414 owned, remaining leased)
• 2364 active logons (logged on in last six months)
• PCs leased for four years, returned to lease company
• $25/PC disposal fee, owned PCs resold
• Monitor power conservation setting enabled
• PC energy conservation settings (Energy Star) not enabled
• Individually boxed
• Automated nightly power off
2039
80
577 Desktops
Workstations
Notebook/Tablet

5. Options and Alternatives
• Avoid purchasing
• Smaller devices or check fitness for purpose.
• Energy reduction
• Extend Life
• Behavior changes

6. Avoid purchasing
• Bring your own device (BYOD).
– Avoids purchase price of computer
– Avoids manufacturing and device waste for another device
– Provides flexibility for employee
– Can use existing IT infrastructure capabilities
• Shared devices (hot desks, computer lounges, kiosks)
• Work from home using own PC
– Suncorp – eight desks for every 10 employees
– Other benefits for work from home employee (eg: Justin)
• 80 minutes travel time / a day (10 days/year travelling)
• 6.4 litres of fuel /day (1,267 litres/year)
• 14.7 kg of CO2 /day (2,914 kg/year)

7. Energy
Factors impacting on energy use:
• Newness of computer (new SSD HDD model 13% less power)
• Type of the computer and intensity of use
• Use of power saving features
Workstations: Must be fit for purpose because:
• 280% more energy use even when idle (in Energy Star 4 mode)
• Workstations cost (on average) $2,214 extra each (274%)
• 11.4 kilograms (293%) more material than a desktop
Energy Consumption (watts) Weight (kg)
Max Minimium Sleep Off
T3400 Workstation 257.59 127.9 3.57 0.947 17.3
790 Desktop 74.2 44.33 2.15 0.83 5.9
FX-130 Thin client 24 9.17 n/a 1.23 0.53
E6400 Notebook 54.94 17.91 1.51 0.29 1.95

8. Thin clients
Advantages:
• Longevity due to less sensitivity to software obsolesce
• Reduced complexity reduces points of failure
• Smaller (much less waste, resource consumption, transport)
• Lower energy consumption (50%+)
• But backend servers estimated 20 watts per virtual PC
• 40% of computer price.
• But with backend is 80% of PC price
• Needs good networks

9. Enable Energy Conservation Settings
Optiplex 9101 SFF Example
Power saving Annual
Energy Used
kWh (1)
Estimated
Annual
Energy
Cost(2)
C02
(kg)
None 240.8 $61 214
Energy Star 84.2 $21 74
Energy Smart 75.3 $19 66
1. Dell Client Energy Calculator
(http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/landing/en/client-energy-calculator?c=us&l=en)
2. at 25.37 c/kWh. Does not include cooling cost.
By comparison : Nambour computer room approx. 394,000 annual kWh

10. Recommendations
• Minimise number of devices purchased
• Compare energy consumption when purchasing
• Enable power saving features of PCs for 50% saving
• Purchase workstations only when absolutely necessary
• Check workstations still required when replacing
• Reduce overall waste (long life, light weight devices)
• Investigate low impact packaging (request multi-packing)
• Work from home offers far bigger environmental savings
(Federal environmental purchasing guidelines:
http://www.environment.gov.au/sustainability/government/purchasing/pubs/computers.pdf)

11. More information:
James, P and Hopkinson, L (2009) Energy and Environmental Impacts of Personal Computing,
http://www.susteit.org.uk/uploads/DOCS/39-personal_computers_final_27_5_09_v2.doc
Environmental Purchasing Checklist,
http://www.environment.gov.au/sustainability/government/purchasing/pubs/computers.pdf
Australian Packaging Covenant,
http://www.packagingcovenant.org.au/documents/File/Australian%20Packaging%20Covenant%20amended%2010%20
October%202011.pdf
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities 2012, Environmental Purchasing
Checklist Personal Computers and Monitors, viewed 29th September 2012,
http://www.environment.gov.au/sustainability/government/purchasing/pubs/computers.pdf
National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA) Factors,
http://www.climatechange.gov.au/~/media/publications/greenhouse-acctg/national-greenhouse-factors-july-2010-
pdf.pdf
IVF Industrial Research and Development Corporation 2007, Report for the European Commission August 2007 Lot 3:
Personal Computers (desktops and laptops) and Computer Monitors. Final Report (Task 1-8). Preparatory studies for
Eco-design Requirements of EuPs
http://extra.ivf.se/ecocomputer/downloads/Eup%20Lot%203%20Final%20Report%20070913%20published.pdf