Universities worldwide are being challenged to power down campus computers to help reduce CO2 emissions. The campaign was launched by Climate Savers Computing Initiative, in partnership with EPA's Energy Star program.
One winning university will be selected internationally based on the highest percentage of on-campus staff, student and faculty pledges toward use of computer power management tools. The deadline to enter the competition is March 13, 2009.
A university with 70,000 networked computers can save about $3 million per year just by activating power management features on all of its computers; the equivalent of removing 4,500 cars from the road for an entire year. Nationally, by enabling power saving features on desktops, college students could collectively save more than $150 million in energy costs per year, according to Climate Savers Computing Initiative.
The high cost of powering data centers in universities has led some to start embracing greener technologies. But experts say, compared with other industries, colleges and universities have been slow to adopt energy-saving technologies.
Last April, the National Association of Colleges and Universities launched a Web site that provides environmental compliance assistance and pollution prevention information for colleges and universities.
