U.S. EPA Region 8 Integrating FEC into IT Operations Case Study Federal Environmental Symposium June 17, 2009

Agenda Background FEC & EPEAT Tools & Requirements EPA-Denver Strategy Lessons Learned Future Directions

Region 8-Denver EPA…Background New Construction in 2007 ~800 Employees Building is ENERGY STAR® & LEED Gold.ENERGY STAR® We buy green powergreen power Photovoltaic panels provide supplemental electricity Many positive environmental attributes

Why is Green IT Important? Lower Operating Costs  Electricity  HVAC  Maintenance & Tech Support  Hardware (computers, servers, phones, etc)  End of life disposal Environmental Benefits  Reductions in Air Pollution, Greenhouse Gas, Hazardous and Solid Waste

Data Center Facts Data centers will account for nearly 3% of total US electricity consumption by The global IT industry generated as much greenhouse gas as the world’s airlines - about 2% 4 "between 10% and 30% of servers are dead and could be turned off.“ 2 1 Server = ~$500 in energy & cooling per year 2 1 Server = carbon footprint of an SUV achieving 15 miles to the gallon 5 1 U.S. EPA 2007 Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency 2 Uptime Institute 4 Gartner 5 Carbonneutral.com

Data Center Energy Projections* *EPA 2007 Report to Congress

Corporate PC Management Facts ~50% of PCs are powered-on day and night 1, 1a In 2009, U.S. organizations waste $2.8 billion powering 108 million idle PC’s 2 An organization with 1,000 PCs, wastes about $26,000 per year while idle 2 Idle PCs emit 20 million tons of CO2, equivalent to ~4,000,000 cars 2 Approximately 90% of PCs have resale value, but 50% are destroyed per corporate policy 3 1 Nightwatchman, Inc, 1a HP Power to Change Program 2 Alliance to Save Energy 3 Green Electronics Council

Federal IT Management Facts Average lifecycle of federally owned computers is 3 years Approximately 10,000 federally owned computers deemed excess or surplus each week Significant quantities of equipment in storage closets, warehouses or landfills The Federal Government is the largest buyer of consumer electronics

Law Enforcement Consequences Executive Recycling, Englewood, Co "Your e-waste is recycled properly, right here in the U.S. - not simply dumped on somebody else.“ Hong Kong customs rejected their container of illegally exported CRTs Executive Recycling offered to sell 1,500 CRT monitors and 1,200 TVs to GAO “brokers” in Hong Kong. The GAO found 41 US companies willing to do the same U.S. EPA agents searched the facility to collect evidence

Law Enforcement Consequences Executive Recycling, of Englewood, Co 60 Minutes, “The Electronic Wasteland” CBS, November 2008

Law Enforcement Consequences Executive Recycling, of Englewood, Co

Law Enforcement Consequences, Thornton, Co Google Inc. reports to the SEC, March 2009, “we learned of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigation into an alleged release of refrigerant” in violation of the Clean Air Act The investigation could result in fines, civil or criminal penalties, or other administrative action. Possibly related to issues cooling it’s datacenter acquired from Double-Click, inc.

Federal agencies must use environmentally sound, integrated, efficient, and sustainable practices Purchase electronics that meet at least 95% (EPEAT)- registration, unless there is no EPEAT standard Enable Energy Star features Establish and implement policies to extend the useful life of agency electronic equipment; and Reuse, donate, sell or recycle 100% of electronic products using environmentally sound practices. Tools: Executive Order (Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management)

EPEAT is key aspect Executive Order Promote product design changes that reduce environmental and health impact of electronics throughout the life cycle Growing demand by institutional purchasers for easy to use tool to compare and select “green” products Manufacturers’ need for clear, consistent procurement criteria Tools - Why EPEAT® ?

Tools: Electronics Environmental Benefits Calculator Use it to build momentum & support of FEC & EPEAT in your organization Estimate your organization’s savings:  Energy  Greenhouse Gas  Air Emissions  Cost

Complete mandatory activities in three different electronics lifecycle phases: a.Acquisition and Procurement b.Operation and Maintenance c.End-of-Life Completed optional activities including mentoring other federal facilities. Establish guidance for the purchase of environmentally preferable electronics including the requirement of EPEAT-registered electronics. Track the implementation of power management. Address electronic stewardship in a unified plan such as an EMS 2008 FEC Gold-Level Award Requirements

Obstacles preventing implementation of best practices in Data Centers* Growth in IT demand Lack of space in existing facilities Risk aversion Lack of funding for improvements Shortage of expertise Absent, weak or adverse incentives Need for tools *Green Grid Survey 2008

General Challenges to Starting a Green IT Program Environmental stewardship is not a top priority We have a culture of stuff: phones, printers, laptops Constrained by facilities and equipment not designed for energy efficiency No metrics to measure purchases, reuse, inventory, power management, etc

IT controls purchasing & operations but Facilities pay the electric bill Many organizations destroy usable systems, versus re-use, re-sell, or manufacturer credit  shred hard-drives for security  recycle other components  takes some extra effort & coordination to reuse Many organizations leave computers on 24/7 to deliver software patches & updates General Challenges to Green IT – Conflicting Priorities

US EPA, Region 8 Challenges Enabling Energy Star features on PCs, monitors, printers, and laptops:  difficult to prevent employee tampering,  customer training,  Windows patching more complex Disconnect w/ Procurement to get green clauses added to contracts and small purchases  May need EPA HQ policy change or initiative Hard to control purchases made by other offices Takes time to change the culture

US EPA, Region 8 Strategy We incorporated all FEC, EPEAT, into the Region’s EMS & Electronic Stewardship EMP  As of 5/21/09, EPA mandates use of the FEC reporting structure for all facilities. Improved collaboration with IT operations, Facilities, Procurement, Recycling and EMS Improved asset inventory, with auto discovery Using automated tools to set energy configurations for computers and printers

IT lifecycle managed in a single SOP Procured new EPEAT registered desktops, laptops, monitors, printers  Laptops pre-configured by Dell with EnergyStar enabled  EnergyStar enabled on all computers, monitors and printers Migrating to laptops for most staff (easier to manage, less energy consumption) New process to securely erase hard-drives without destroying them for re-use US EPA, Region 8, FEC Activities

Reduced network fleet from 144 to 52 Consolidated on HP multi-function devices for print, copy, fax, scan to Potential toner emissions and environmental characteristics were a purchasing factor Packaging take-back arranged w/ HP Default settings enabled and policy for duplex printing and Energy Star Secure PIN printing reduces the need for “private” desktop printers and fax machines US EPA, Region 8, FEC Activities Network Printing

2008 FEC Gold-Level Award Accomplishments Electronic Lifecycle Management:  We reused an average of 44% of our electronic equipment at the end of its first life.  Obsolete electronics equipment were recycled using a local electronics recycler.  A physical on-site review of the recycler was conducted to ensure responsible recycling practices.  We implemented an employee personal computer collection/recycling program - collected 10,158 pounds of employee electronics, or 14.3 pounds per employee.

2008 FEC Environmental Benefits in Region 8* Energy savings - 2,440,000 kWh - equiv. of enough electricity to power 215 US households in a year. Greenhouse Gas Reduction - 190,000kg - equiv. to removing 151 passenger cars from the road per year. Solid Waste Reduction - 13,400kg - equiv. to the solid waste generated by 7 US households in a year. Primary materials savings - 1,260,000kg - equiv. to the weight of 9,768 refrigerators. Haz. Waste Reduction - 1,276kg – equivalent to 547 bricks. Air emissions - 9,944,300kg - (9940 metric tons of air emissions) Cost savings - $128, *Based on Electronics Environmental Benefits Calculator

Lessons Learned You can obtain cost savings and environmental benefits in a fairly short time period Need motivated, knowledgeable staff to manage the program & senior-level support Challenge the business culture and status quo Green IT does not appear have a negative impact on cost, quality, or service Training & outreach are key to success

Lessons Learned FEC requires a disciplined approach One order of non-EPEAT electronics can hurt your program. We had some close calls. Gold requires:  95% EPEAT  Other equipment, 75% environmentally preferable attributes Use available FEC tools and resources

U.S. EPA Data Center Consolidation Proposal Approximately 24,000 internal users Potential consolidation of Data Centers from ~40 to 3-5 Standardization of hardware, software, policies, and practices Server virtualization would reduce server, storage, cooling and power requirements Phased-in over several years Pending OMB and EPA management approval

Region 8 EPA…Goals for Server consolidation 12:1 through virtualization Eliminate old, underutilized servers Increase data center temp by ~4° F (~16% savings) Consider shutdown of ½ of unused cooling system Sub-meter reporting of entire data center Apply for Energy Star Certified Data Center

Region 8 EPA…Goals for Automated shutdown of 800+ computers at 7pm by server agent (Night Watchman, MS-SCCM, etc) (Can be undermined by powerstrips, employee distrust) Reduce the number of computers to one per person Purchase laptops for most employees (2/3 less energy than desktops) 4 year PC replacement cycle, minimum (Dependent on ability to run latest software on older models) Take-back packaging option (Multi-pack) from Dell; fewer boxes, plastic, CD’s etc.

Old Packaging - Green Packaging

Contact Information Greg Zurla U.S. EPA Region 8 IT Operations Chief (303) Kim Bartels U.S. EPA Region 8 Recycling Coordinator (303) Carl Truszynski U.S. EPA Region 8 Technical Project Manager (303)