In the Blog
Preparing to pay for data centre energy usage
Posted on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 7:25 pm by Ralph PinaLast week Dolf Krige of the Facilities Management Division presented their plan for monitoring, measuring and managing energy use on campus to the Sustainable IT Competency Centre group. Essentially the first phase implementation comes down to installing 87 intelligent energy meters during 2010 – with the goal of devolving the cost of electrical energy usage, which is currently centrally funded, to departments and divisions. Devolution of electricity costs will concentrate minds and promote energy efficiency because the financial savings will accrue to the user entity.
Read more...Syracuse U builds greenest data centre?
Posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 3:53 pm by Ralph PinaSyracuse University and IBM have designed and built a Green Data Center that will not only house the university’s ICT infrastrastructure, but also double as an energy efficiency laboratory. It is expected to consume 50% less energy than a conventional DC:
Read more...Preliminary PUE results for SU’s data centre
Posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 3:38 pm by Ralph PinaContinuous energy measurements in Stellenbosch University’s main data centre (DC) have been taking place since April this year. We now have minute-by-minute data spanning the coldest season and some summer months – and the results are starting to become interesting. (more…)
Read more...e-Waste event kicks off – photos
Posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 11:08 am by Ralph PinaThe campus e-Waste event kicked off at 10 am and things started to happen rapidly. Photos….
Wasteplan guys and the big trailer. More e-waste than we expected...
e-Waste e-vent on Stellenbosch campus 23 Oct
Posted on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 11:13 am by Ralph PinaWhat to do with that broken PC? Bring it to the Rooiplein
Your e-waste earns you entry into a lucky draw for cool gadgets including an ipod, notebook, LCD display, printers, etc.
What is e-Waste?: Old appliances that used electricity e.g. PCs, screens, TVs, electronic devices, cellphones, etc.
Why?: e-Waste contains toxic substances
Where?: Jan Marais Square (Die Rooiplein) – see Map
Access?: Via Victoria St., between the Visual Arts and JH Neethling buildings
When?: Friday 23 Oct 2009 between 10h00-15h00
Read more...e-Waste fastest growing waste stream in SA?
Posted on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 10:56 am by Ralph PinaSusanne Dittke of EnviroSense sent me an article which she penned for Opportunity Magazine recently. It contains some shockingly interesting numbers which I quote “as is” below:
Read more...It should come as no surprise that e-waste is officially now the fastest growing waste stream in South Africa. In larger urban metropoles, it constitutes already 5-8% of the municipal solid waste mix, accumulating at a rate three times that of other more traditional solid waste items such as locally unrecyclable packaging etc.
‘Redundant’ electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste) is generated from the rapid advance and uptake of new technology at an ever increasing rate. A recent assessment done in South Africa by the e-Waste Association of South Africa revealed that the combined volume of information technology and office equipment, consumer electronics and white goods that reach consumer markets today, will in five to 10 years swell to a waste avalanche of between one to two million tons per year, with an annual growth rate of between 10%-20%.
With clever marketing ploys and upgrade schemes, cellphone companies could already convince the average South African that a cellphone is hopelessly outdated after two years.
SA Green IT SIG webinar
Posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 5:27 pm by Ralph PinaSouth Africa’s higher education sector held an inaugural Green IT special interest group (SIG) webinar recently under the auspices of the South African University Directors of Information Technology (ASAUDIT). Steve Viljoen from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) and Ralph Pina from Stellenbosch University (SU) each gave a slide and audio presentation on sustainable IT initiatives on their respective campuses via Adobe Connect’s webinar infrastructure. The idea of a webinar emphasised the role that IT can play in reducing travel and carbon footprints in the HE sector.
The feedback was very positive as to the content and the user experience of the webinar:
The webinar was attended by approximately 18 individuals from 5 institutions (SU, Cape Town (UCT), UNISA, Pretoria (UP) and NMMU). To date 12 individuals from 8 institutions (out of 23) have indicated a definite interest in participating in the activities of the SIG and sharing knowledge and best practices. The institutions are UCT, Walter Sisulu (WSU), UNISA, UP, NMMU, Rhodes (RU), Witwatersrand & SU.
Read more...Where to recycle HP consumables (empty cartridges and replaced maintenance kits)
Posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 7:09 pm by jdvrThe Computer User Areas of the University have participated in the HP Planet Partner Program since 2006. The concept of recycling HP consumables was approved by the Purchasing division in 2008. Four of the computer labs and the Purchasing division are currently collection points for HP recyclable materials. Although a department or unit can register and manage its own recycling and collection schedule it is advised to make use of the current facilities. All departments and units are invited to support this effort. HP supplies collection bins and our current supplier removes these bins on request or when delivering new supplies.
Current collection points:
- FHARGA: Third floor, Statistics and Accountancy Building
- GERGA: Third floor, Teaching Block, Tygerberg Campus
- HUMARGA: Third floor, Arts and Social Sciences Building
- NARGA: Second floor, north entrance, Administration Block A.
Interested parties can read more about the program and participation at http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/recycling/product-recycling.html
Read more...Energy star rating the way to go?
Posted on Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 9:21 am by majAn interesting post on the BCS ethics blog discusses whether we should rely solely on ratings such as energy star?
http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.26787
Read more...“Is the Energy Star rating the be-all and end-all in terms of your green credentials? Melvyn Wray of Allied Telesis discusses the ways in which manufacturers can improve the green credentials of their products.”
Sustainable IT initiatives in universities
Posted on Thursday, July 9th, 2009 at 9:39 pm by Ralph PinaThe following fascinating chart plots sustainable IT interventions in terms of implementation difficulty versus impact. It was created as part of a study of strategies employed by universities and community colleges in the state of Maryland, USA by Suresh Balakrishnan and Donald Spicer (2008). The sizes of the bubbles represent the implementation stage and pervasiveness of the interventions (small = in planning and/or at few sites; large = mature and/or broadly in place). (Click on the graphic to view it at full size)
Analysis of Sustainable IT Initiatives in HE (source: Balakrishnan, S. & Spicer, D.Z. 2008. "Climate change, campus commitments and IT". Research bulletin, Issue 20. Boulder, USA: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. Available from: http://www.educause.edu/ecar.