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Sleep, Does a Body and the Environment Good Energy Star Launches Low Carbon IT Campaign

Release Date: 04/03/2008
Contact Information: Shakeba Carter-Jenkins, (202) 564-4355 / carter-jenkins.shakeba@epa.gov

(Washington, D.C. - April 3, 2008) Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is asking organizations to join the Energy Star Low Carbon IT Campaign. By enabling the power management, or sleep mode, on their computers and monitors, organizations will help reduce our growing demand for electricity, and save money while fighting climate change. If all office computers and monitors in the United States were set to sleep when not being used, the country could save more than 44 billion kWh or $4 billion worth of electricity and avoid the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of about 5 million cars each year.

"Although the work day may come to an end, we never clock out of our environmental responsibility," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "By joining the Low Carbon IT Campaign, our partners are taking steps that are not only good for their bottom line, they're good for the environment."

Charter participants of the Energy Star Low Carbon IT Campaign, include Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., Association of Bay Area Governments Energy Watch, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Dell Inc., Fox Entertainment Group Inc., HP, Microsoft, OfficeMax, City of Portland (Oregon) Public Schools, City of San Jose (California), and Snohomish (Washington) County Public Utility District.

The Energy Star Low Carbon IT Campaign is also partnering with the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, a non-profit group that includes technology firms, energy companies and nongovernmental organizations working to promote the use of more energy-efficient computers and increase the use of computer power management. Both efforts share similar goals and cooperate with each other on technical specifications and marketing through a strategic partnership.

By enabling power management settings, computers and monitors go into a low-power sleep mode after a period of inactivity. Power management has the potential to save up to $50 per computer annually. Despite the significant savings, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, only five to 10 percent of U.S. organizations have deployed these settings on computers.

To join the Energy Star Low Carbon IT Campaign, organizations simply take an online pledge to activate power management features on their monitors and computers to save energy and reduce their carbon footprint. Organizations can increase energy savings further by purchasing Energy Star qualified computers and monitors. In turn, EPA provides free assistance to help implement power management, an estimate of the organization's energy and carbon savings, and official recognition from the agency. Organizations can join the campaign by visiting: http://www.energystar.gov/lowcarbonit

About Energy Star

Energy Star was introduced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1992 as a voluntary market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through increased energy efficiency. Today, Energy Star offers businesses and consumers energy-efficient solutions to save energy, money and help protect the environment for future generations. More than 12,000 organizations are Energy Star partners committed to improving the energy efficiency of products, homes, buildings and businesses. For more information about Energy Star, visit: http://www.energystar.gov or call toll-free 1-888-STAR-YES (1-888-782-7937).