How We Determined the Top 12

Employee Practices, Recyling

1. The organization has a program to recycle unused/discarded high-tech equipment (e.g., old PCs and monitors). (3 points)
2. The organization has a program to recycle technology-related consumables (e.g., printer cartridges and printer paper).
3. The organization explicitly encourages telecommuting and provides the necessary equipment and support. (2 points)
4. The organization has videoconferencing systems that can substitute for travel.
5. The organization mandates the use of videoconferencing or has cut travel budgets to force increased usage of videoconferencing.

Facilities/Data Center

1. The organization has installed energy-efficient HVAC and building-automation controls in the past 12 months. (3 points)
2. The organization uses power management software.
3. The organization has reduced IT equipment energy consumption by at least 5% in the past 12 months. (5 points)
4. The organization has improved IT equipment energy efficiency by at least 5% in the past 12 months. (5 points)
5. The organization has implemented server virtualization to reduce the number of servers needed. (2 points)
6. The organization has revised its data center layout (or design) to reduce power demand. (2 points)
7. The organization uses alternative energy supplies (e.g. solar, wind) to provide power to IT facilities or systems. (5 points)
8. The organization has replaced servers more than three years old with new energy-efficient models.
9. The organization has avoided the need to build a new data center because of virtualization and/or consolidation efforts, or through a combination of the efforts above.

Part II: Essay

Please describe your organization's efforts to reduce the consumption of energy (especially energy derived from fossil fuels) by information systems, as well as technology-related recycling programs and technology support for telecommuting. Also, you may use this space to clarify or elaborate on any of the answers you gave above. Note: Responses were limited to 500 words.