Council Turns Off PCs to Save Costs, Environment (9-Aug-07)

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Council Turns Off PCs to Save Costs, Environment (9-Aug-07)

Peterborough City Council expects to save £50,000 and reduce its CO2 emissions by one ton per year, as a result of installing software from 1E that offers automated shut-down of PCs in the evenings and weekends. The council calculates that currently 30% of PCs are left on, costing £60 per machine per annum.

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The UK's Peterborough City Council said it will save 50,000 pounds ($100,000) and reduce its CO2 emissions by one ton per year, thanks to software from 1E that offers automated shut-down of PCs.

UK-based 1E's NightWatchman software is said to offer intelligent, automated shut-down of PCs in the evenings and weekends when staff are not using them, enabling customers to reduce their energy bills, power consumption and environmental impact, while still enabling essential IT maintenance to be carried out.

Peterborough City Council employs 4,500 staff. It calculated that 30% of its PCs were being left switched on during evenings and weekends -- costing the authority up to 60 pounds per machine per year, and generating unnecessary carbon emissions. The UK Government's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR '07) and UK Climate Change Program 2006 were additional incentives for the Council to cut down on unnecessary costs and environmental impact.

"I'm delighted with the results of this project," said Nigel Green, head of ICT, Peterborough City Council. "We set out to achieve a return on investment in six months, but actually achieved this target in less than three months. When combined with carbon emission savings and better delivery to our in-house customers, this has proven to be one of our best-ever investment decisions."

• Source: [Computergram]