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EPA Leads the Way in Greening Information Technology

Release Date: 04/18/2008
Contact Information: Suzanne Ackerman, (202)-564-4355 / ackerman.suzanne@epa.gov

(Washington, D.C. - April 18, 2008) To promote energy efficiency in small computer rooms, EPA will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Green Grid. This event recognizes the innovative efforts of EPA and the IT industry to promote the "greening" of computer facilities. The idea is to use an existing EPA computer room as a laboratory for optimizing energy efficiency, to standardize processes and performance measures, and to share best practices for replication across the country. Computer rooms across the United States accounted for an astonishing 1.5 percent of total U.S. electricity demand in 2006 - equivalent to the annual electric consumption of the state of Florida. These computer rooms may be small, but this effort promises to yield large energy savings.

The Green Grid is a non-profit that works with organizations to identify key factors driving energy consumption and help them reduce energy use in computer facilities. EPA has already begun reducing energy consumption in its National Computer Center (NCC) in Research Triangle Park, N.C. The partnership with Green Grid will further advance EPA's greening of its smaller computer centers.

WHO:
Stephen L. Johnson, EPA Administrator
Molly O'Neill, Assistant Administrator, EPA's Office of Environmental Information and EPA Chief Information Officer
John Tuccillo, Chairman, The Green Grid

WHAT:
MOU signing between EPA and The Green Grid

WHEN:
Monday, April 21, 2008, 1 p.m. EDT
(day before Earth Day)

WHERE:
EPA Rachel Carson Green Room
Ariel Rios South Building – 3^rd Floor
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460
(Metro stop is Federal Triangle on both Orange and Blue Lines. Ariel Rios South is on the left as you come up the escalator.)

More information on energy efficiency at EPA's NCC: epa.gov/greeningepa/facilities/rtp_ncc.htm

For more information on The Green Grid: http://www.thegreengrid.org/home

Reporters must bring press credentials and arrive 15 minutes prior to the event start time. Please R.S.V.P. to Scott Fraser at 202-566-2126 or fraser.scott@epa.gov