ICT Sustainability

Energy Star Program and Quality Management

Quality management can be used to ensure that sustainability is considered as part of performance in the design, development and implementation of ICT products and services. Quality Improvement looks to change a process to improve the reliability of achieving an outcome. Quality Control is carried out to maintain reliability of achieving an outcome. Quality Assurance is used to provide enough confidence that the set requirements for quality are met.

Quality is an abstract concept. To make it more concrete, the issue of measuring and improving the energy efficiency of desktop computers, servers and data centres equipment is discussed. The most widely recognised standards for ICT energy efficiency are the US EPA's Energy Star Program (2010).

The US government mandated the implementation of Energy Star V4 program in July 2007 under the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). Energy Star Version 5.0 Program Requirements for Computers (2008), required that a small desktop computer use no more than 148 kWh of electricity per year. Energy Star specifications were also developed for Computer Servers (2011a).

Quality Standards

The International Standards Organisation (ISO) Quality Management System (QMS) set of standards was first released in the late 1980s. These give guidelines for performance improvement and provides a measurement framework for improved quality management. The most commonly cited quality standard is "Guidelines for performance improvement" (ISO 9004:2000).

US Energy Star Program

Energy Star: Computer Key Product Criteria, Version 5 (2008) covers Desktop PCs, Notebooks and Thin Clients. Some issues remain with the specification:

• Qualification Laboratory Requirements: The specification assumes testing of equipment. EPA supports self-certification of test labs, whereas the European and Australian approach tends to use government accredited test centres.
• Full Network Connectivity/Proxying: Network Connectivity of computers effects their energy use and had to be clarified for tests.
• Categories: Products are divided into categories, with maximum power levels for each category. As an example, the graphics capability of computers is an issue (more graphics require more power).

Definitions

Energy star defines different power and efficiency limits to different categories of computers. Also some components of computers are separately rated. Therefore the definition of types of computers and components are important to the specification:

• Computer: A device which performs logical operations and processes data. Computers are composed of, at a minimum: (1) a central processing unit (CPU) to perform operations; (2) user input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, digitizer or game controller; and (3) a computer display screen to output information. ...

Components

• Computer Display: A display screen and its associated electronics encased in a single housing, or within the computer housing (e.g., notebook or integrated desktop computer) ...
• Discrete Graphics Processing Unit (GPU): A graphics processor with a local memory controller interface and a local, graphics-specific memory.
• External Power Supply: A component contained in a separate physical enclosure external to the computer casing and designed to convert line voltage ac input from the mains to lower dc voltage(s) ...
• Internal Power Supply: A component internal to the computer casing and designed to convert ac voltage from the mains to dc voltage(s) ...

Computer Types

• Desktop Computer: A computer where the main unit is intended to be located in a permanent location ...
• Small-Scale Server: A computer that typically uses desktop components in a desktop form factor, but is designed primarily to be a storage host for other computers. ...
• Game Console: A standalone computer-like device whose primary use is to play video games. ...
• Integrated Desktop Computer: A desktop system in which the computer and computer display function as a single unit which receives its ac power through a single cable. ...
• Thin Client: An independently-powered computer that relies on a connection to remote computing resources to obtain primary functionality. ...
• Notebook Computer: A computer designed specifically for portability and to be operated for extended periods of time either with or without a direct connection to an ac power source. ...
• Workstation: A high-performance, single-user computer typically used for graphics, CAD, software development, financial and scientific applications among other compute intensive tasks. ...

Operational Modes

The specification sets different power consumption levels for different modes of operation of the types of computers. Earlier versions of the specification only measured power consumption when the computers were not carrying out useful work. Measures when the computer in use are introduced with the new version and a Typical Energy Consumption (TEC) estimating the typical electricity consumed by a product in normal operation over a year.

• Off Mode: The power consumption level in the lowest power mode which cannot be switched off (influenced) by the user ...
• Sleep Mode: A low power state that the computer is capable of entering automatically after a period of inactivity or by manual selection. ... Sleep mode most commonly correlates to ACPI System Level S3 (suspend to RAM) state. ...
• Idle State: The state in which the operating system and other software have completed loading, a user profile has been created, the machine is not asleep, and activity is limited to those basic applications that the system starts by default.
• Active State: The state in which the computer is carrying out useful work ...

Internal power supplies for computers are required to be at least 85% efficient at 50% of rated output and 82% efficient at 20% of rated output. It should be noted as a result that, as with data centre provisioning, purchasing computers with excess electrical capacity will reduce efficiency.

The allowed total energy consumption for a year for Desktop computers ranges from 148 to 234 kWh, depending on the category and for Notebooks from 40 to 88.5 kWh. There are adjustments to these for memory, graphics and storage. It should be noted that therefore specifying a higher performance computer than needed could result in higher energy use while still meeting the Energy Star requirements.

Energy Star Program for Computer Servers

The ENERGY STAR Computer Servers Version 2 (2011) defines a Computer Server as:

"A computer that provides services and manages networked resources for client devices, e.g., desktop computers, notebook computers, thin clients, wireless devices, PDAs, IP158 telephones, other Computer Servers and other networked devices. ...".

As with the specification for desktop equipment, different Computer Server Types are defined, including Blade Servers and High Availability Servers. Also Other Data Center Equipment, including Network Equipment and Storage Equipment are defined.

As with the desktop specification an emphasis is placed on the efficiency of Computer Server Power Supplies. But only one Operational State is defined for servers: Idle. Unlike desktop equipment which may be left on doing no useful work and so may switch to a low power state, it is generally assumed that servers will be constantly busy.

Now Read

1. US Department of Energy's History of ENERGY STAR (2010) and Energy Star: Computer Key Product Criteria, Version 5 (2008),
2. International Standards Organisation Quality management systems - Guidelines for performance improvements AS/NZS ISO 9004:2000 (pages 1 to 12).

Questions

1. Describe the Quality Management process of your organisation: Describe the Quality Management process of your organisation, or or an organisation you are familiar with. Is the organisation formally certified under ISO 9001, or some other system? How might such a process be used for furthering Green ICT aims?

2. Matching computer power to the user's needs: Version 5.0 of the ENERGY STAR Specification for Computers sets different power limits for different types of single user computers: Desktop, Integrated Desktop Computer, Thin Client, Notebook, Workstation. Outline a policy for your organisation proposing to lower energy use and costs, by matching the computer to the user's needs. What would be the energy and cost savings for your organisation over three years?

Next: Appendixes.

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About the book: ICT Sustainability: Assessment and Strategies for a Low Carbon Future