Stanford University
IN-3: Innovation 3

SUSTAINABLE IT PROGRAM Stanford’s Sustainable IT program began in 2008 as a joint effort between the Department of Sustainability and Energy Management and Information Technology Services to address sustainability issues for both IT equipment and the facilities that house these systems. The ongoing program goals are to increase the efficiency of the university’s IT infrastructure, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by computing and IT-related activities. Stanford hosts approximately 40,000 desktop and laptop computers and has roughly 6,000 servers used for administrative and research computing. All of this equipment is a significant source of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, especially when considering the entire lifecycle (manufacturing, transportation, use, and disposal). In addition, computers generate heat and it often takes as much energy to cool computing equipment as it takes to run it. Approximately 15% of the campus electricity use is due to IT infrastructure, and this percentage is expected to rise. Stanford’s Sustainable IT program over the past three years delivered energy, carbon and cost savings across the campus. Savings attributed to the program from 2008 to 2011 include $1.8 million in energy savings, consisting of 12.8 million kWh of electricity saved, as well as 1.3 million ton‐hours of chilled water avoided. The major initiatives from the past three years, detailed more fully on http://sustainable.stanford.edu/sustainable_it, include the following: -- Desktop power management -- Datacenter energy efficiency -- Satellite Server Room analysis, retrofit, and standardized design -- Campus‐wide awareness‐building, partnership forging, and mindset changing -- Public outreach and communication The campus is now in a position where schools and departments recognize the impact that IT equipment has on their operations, and are identifying opportunities on their own to reduce that impact. Facilities staff are armed with tools and resources to help understand and address the impact that IT equipment has on campus buildings. As such, IT‐based initiatives are a core component of sustainability programs run not only by the Office of Sustainability, but also by schools and departments themselves. For more information, please review the following: 2008 - 2011 Review Paper: http://sustainable.stanford.edu/sites/sustainable.stanford.edu/files/documents/SustainableIT_Review_2008-2011.pdf 2012 - 2014 Strategic Plan: http://sustainable.stanford.edu/sites/sustainable.stanford.edu/files/documents/SustainableIT_StrategicPlan_2012-2014.pdf