Office Equipment Energy Conservation

Computer Users Can Save Energy and Reduce School District Utility Bills

Computers and other electronic office equipment are fast becoming major energy users in our schools and administrative offices.

If you have any questions regarding computer use, E-mail Information Services. For more information about resource conservation activities, E-mail Jim Bellamy at Peninsula School District Resource Conservation.

The use of electronic office equipment in our schools and administrative offices is burgeoning, especially new personal computers. These electronic technologies have brought greater productivity, flexibility, creativity, and precision to our workplace and has improved the learning environment immeasurably. It has also significantly increased electricity use. Individually, the desktop computer seems to be a small user of energy, but the growing number of computers, printers, scanners, and other peripherals in the district adds up to a significant electric bills

With more equipment being put into service, the District is purchasing more energy-efficient models. But the major factor in the cost of operating computers and peripherals is the time of use. There are some simple things that every computer user should do to help the District avoid unnecessary operating costs. Please follow the guidelines. Copy and share this fact sheet with all computer users in your building.

Yes, even "energy efficient" equipment uses plenty of electricity when turned on. The following guidelines should be followed by all Peninsula School District computer equipment users:

Turn off idle PC’s. This saves energy and will not harm hard drives (unless done at a frequency of every five minutes or less). Don’t turn on computers until they are needed, especially in the morning. Turn off when attending meetings, at lunchtime, and especially at the end of the day.

Turn monitors off. Screen savers do not save energy. Even if networking prevents shutting down the PC itself, just turning off the monitor will save 30-60% of computer energy consumption.

Turn printers off. Idle printers, especially lasers, draw significant amounts of power. If possible, turn off while preparing materials, attending meetings, at lunchtime, and especially at the end of the day.

Edit on the screen. Save printing and paper energy by editing on the screen rather than on hard copies.

Use impact or inkjet printers. Inkjets use just 5% of the energy of lasers For drafts or interoffice documents, use the inkjet. and use lasers for presentation materials. Turn off the laser between uses.

Send E-mail or transfer data files by modem. When delivery of hard copy is not essential, don’t print it.

Print completed documents in batches. This reduces "on" time and eliminates idle time.

Use laptop computers. Laptops use 1/10^th the energy of comparable desktop units.

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