June 2008 Windows Vista Can Help Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Microsoft have announced the results of an independent study carried out by PC Pro Labs into the energy consumption of Windows Vista and the potential reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. The study compared energy usage between Windows XP and Windows Vista and clearly showed that the power management features in Windows Vista could help massively reduce the carbon dioxide generated by an organisation, equal to 45 tonnes per year for a business with 200 desktop PCs. In addition, these features could also deliver savings on energy bills of up to £46 per desktop PC per year.

The study is based on the real-world usage of desktop computers in the work environment2, highlighting in particular the habit of users leaving their PCs running even when not in use. The cost savings and carbon footprint offsetting arise from the power management features of Windows Vista which helps to address these areas through the default ‘Sleep’ mode which automatically activates after one hour of non-use. Typical PC usage patterns included:

• Light tasks, such as typing in Word or answering email, which are the primary use of a computer (approximately 40 percent of the time)
• The second most common “task” is simply to be idle (approximately 30 percent of the time)
• 30 percent of users leave their PC on at work at the end of the day
• 25 percent leave their PC on at work over the weekend

Jonathan Shopley, CEO The CarbonNeutral Company, said: “Every organisation – from services though to manufacturing - produces global warming gases as a by-product of doing business. As more and more businesses rely on technology, the number of PCs in the workplace is only going to increase. PCs consume a lot of power which can be really wasteful when they are left idle. Our role is to help organisations measure and reduce the CO2 from some or all of their operations. We therefore fully encourage companies to take any steps that they can to lower carbon emissions in this area.”

Windows Vista is Microsoft’s most energy efficient operating system to date with its power management system, functionality, reliability and default settings focused on helping to reduce overall PC energy consumption.

MJC IT Solutions can install and support Windows Vista PCs on an individual basis or as part of a network. Call our Marketing Team on 0845 271 8000 or click here to arrange a free network appraisal.