Environmental Sustainability – Windows 7 uses 30% less energy than XP

“IT accounts for somewhere between three and five per cent of global carbon emissions and when you consider that there are a billion Windows PCs around the world, we have the ability to deliver substantial carbon savings." Not my words but those of Darren Strange, Head of Sustainability at Microsoft UK.

This is one of those ‘watch this space’ postings as we have in development with Reading University a new online tool that will provide companies with the ability to work out how much energy they can save by upgrading to Windows 7. The tool has already been tested in pilot projects with two mid-sized firms where Microsoft undertook a carbon and energy efficiency audit of their IT estates and provided recommendations on how to cut their energy bills.

An organisation will be able to say how many PCs or laptops they have in their estate and then work out how much energy and carbon they could save in £000s, and CO2 emission reductions. After all, when you say to people that technology can help save energy, they tend to agree but will then often fail to take action. When you go in and can say with the support of a detailed analysis ‘this can save you £200,000 a year and save you this much carbon', then people tend to react.

You can read more about this development here and I shall let you know as soon as I can share more information on how to access the online tool.

Posted by Ian