BRUSSELS, 19 March 2009 – HP today launched a limited edition “Green IT for Dummies” pocket book as an introduction to help organisations go green. The guide is intended to give everyone from senior management to environmentally conscious employees some simple and straight-forward ideas on how to reduce the environmental impact of IT systems and harness the power of IT to reduce the wider environmental impacts of climate change in society.
The guide, produced independently by research and analysis firm Freeform Dynamics, provides guidance for where to start in greening an organisation. While recent research from HP has found that only one in ten companies in Europe have a formal Green IT strategy, employee attitudes to the environment are generally ahead of their companies’ according to a Freeform study. Hence, general support from staff can be expected if a company wants to implement such a green IT strategy.
The guide maps out a pragmatic, yet comprehensive, course of action ranked according to expense and difficulty of implementation. This can range from quick wins like activating standby functions, to introducing print-on-demand and thin clients, all the way through to maximising the efficiency of data centres and other business processes.
“Organisations can take some very simple steps to reduce energy use including cutting the number of printers and organising web meetings and video-conferences to reduce travel,“ said David Tebbutt, Freeform Dynamics. “We have seen some interesting ideas to reduce energy consumption. One company even uses the waste heat generated from its data centres to warm the local swimming pool.”
IT is responsible for around two percent of the world’s greenhouse emissions, but can play a large role in reducing the emissions of the remaining 98 percent. For example, HP uses its own video-conferencing technology frequently internally. The company will quadruple the number of HP Halo Collaboration Studios at company sites worldwide by 2009, resulting in an expected reduction of more than 20,000 trips and millions of dollars saved in travel annually. In another example in the booklet students in Australia used the 2007 drought as inspiration to develop an intelligent irrigation system that measures ground moisture, water supply, wind speed, rainfall and temperature to ensure that crops received the right amount of water.
“There are many options for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions,” commented Zoe McMahon, HP, who provided input to the guide. “IT can allow us to do more with less and could be responsible for half of the 20 percent energy efficiency improvements targeted for 2020 by the European Union. We hope this guide will start people thinking about IT in these terms.”
Pre-launch copies of the book were handed out to attendees at an event during the recent European Sustainable Energy Week in Brussels and, due to the positive success and feedback, HP is making a limited number of pocket books available online to download.
Is your organisation ready to embrace and implement an IT-powered green strategy? Register for your complimentary copy of HP's Green IT for Dummies Limited Edition and get all the tips you need to get started here: www.hp.com/go/greenit4dummies
About HP
HP, the world’s largest technology company, provides printing and personal computing products and IT services, software and solutions that simplify the technology experience for consumers and businesses. HP completed its acquisition of EDS on Aug. 26, 2008. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com/
About Freeform Dynamics
Freeform Dynamics is an IT industry analyst firm. It conducts large scale research studies into strategy, business cases and best practices, and provides decision making insights to IT and business professionals. More information about Freeform Dynamics is available at.http://www.freeformdynamics.com/ 
Editorial contacts:
Joao Sousa
Tel: +32 (0) 2 737 9500
jpsousa@hillandknowlton.com
Hewlett-Packard Company
www.hp.com
David Tebbutt
Tel: +44 7711 567 726
davidt@freeformdynamics.com
Freeform Dynamics
www.freeformdynamics.com
