By Chris Arkell

In 2007, President Mote signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, pledging that the university would take significant steps to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from campus operations and to move toward the goal of carbon neutrality (zero net GHG emissions). Since then, the university has formulated a Climate Action Plan, soon to be presented to the University Senate for endorsement, and President Mote has formed the University Sustainability Council. The Office of Information Technology will participate on the Sustainability Council, which will consist of senior administrators, faculty, and staff.

To keep in stride with the president’s goals, OIT has also established an internal team to explore sustainability measures in technology and to help disseminate appropriate IT-related information to the university community. Much of the initial focus will be on areas identified in the Climate Action Plan. We encourage all offices, faculty, staff, and students to play a part in helping to make our campus more “green.” Here are a few ways you can get started:

• Purchase “Green” — The university’s Department of Procurement and Supply is committed to helping reduce our carbon footprint. Visiting its Buy Green Web site at www.purchase.umd.edu/general/green.htm can provide you with helpful information about purchasing “green.” When selecting equipment that runs on electricity, including computers, monitors, fax machines, copy machines, and more, look for Energy Star compliance. Energy Star is an internationally recognized standard for energy efficient products. But don’t stop at equipment, Procurement’s Buy Green site also has tools that help you to purchase other environmentally conscious goods and services.
  
  
• Practice Power Management, Including Using the Off Button — You probably already use a desktop or laptop computer, but are you using it in the most environmentally friendly manner? Turning off your equipment (computers, monitors, printers, copiers, other) at night and on weekends can result in significant savings. Activating the power management features on your computer can produce even more benefits. See your local desktop support specialist or visit OIT’s Help Desk Web site at www.helpdesk.umd.edu/sustainability for details.
  
  
• Virtualize Servers — The Climate Action Plan identifies the reduction of servers through a process called “virtualization” as an important initiative to help reduce the campus carbon footprint. The university recently signed an enterprise license agreement with VMware to provide discounts on tools that help with the virtualization process. Also, OIT will soon offer a number of VMware services to help departments with their server virtualization efforts. See the article about virtualization in this issue of ITforUM for more details.
  
  
• Recycle or Dispose Appropriately — Finally, when you decommission hardware, always ensure that all data has been securely removed from storage devices and that the equipment is disposed of properly. OIT’s IT Security group (http://security.umd.edu) can advise you on data security. By making use of the Terrapin Trader service offered by the Department of Procurement and Supply, you can also ensure that materials are properly disposed of and/or recycled.
  

The Office of Sustainability was formed within the Department of Environmental Safety in 2007 to help advance the university's environmental performance. Their Web site, www.sustainability.umd.edu, is filled with information on sustainability and includes the university's Climate Action Plan draft. The Office of Information Technology looks forward to the challenge of making the University of Maryland a leader in sustainability and environmental stewardship. Your participation is important to the institution. Every university community member can make a difference in protecting our environment and every little bit helps.