CS38010 Professional Issues in Software Engineering

1
CS38010Professional Issues in Software
Engineering

• Sustainability

2
Sustainability

• What we will cover
• Various aspects of resource usage in IT
• Some examples of good practices
• What it means to you
• Sustainability in this lecture does not include
  global warming aspects

3
What is sustainable IT?

• Sustainable or 'green' IT is a catch-all term
  used to describe
• the manufacture
• the management and use
• the disposal
• of information technology in a way that
  minimizes damage to the environment.
• As a result, the term has many different
  meanings, depending on whether you are a
  manufacturer, manager or user of technology.

4
What is the goal of sustainable IT?

• The goal behind most green initiatives, including
  green IT, is to promote environmental
  sustainability.
• In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and
  Development defined sustainability as an approach
  to economic development that meets the needs of
  the present without compromising the ability of
  future generations to meet their own needs.

5
What is sustainable IT manufacturing?

• Sustainable IT manufacturing refers to methods of
  producing products in a way that does not harm
  the environment
• It encompasses
• everything from reducing the amount of harmful
  chemicals used in products (such as lead and
  mercury)
• to making them more energy efficient and
  packaging them with recycled materials

6
EQUIPMENT LIFE CYCLE
Transport
Manufacture
Materials
Use
Disposal
7
What is sustainable IT management and use?

• Sustainable IT management and use has to do with
  the way a company manages its IT assets.
• It includes purchasing energy-efficient
  desktops, notebooks, servers and other IT
  equipment, as well as managing the power
  consumption of that equipment.
• It also refers to the environmentally safe
  disposal of that equipment, through recycling or
  donation at the end of its lifecycle.

8
What is sustainable IT disposal?

• Sustainable IT disposal refers to the safe
  disposal of IT assets.
• It ensures that old computer equipment does not
  end up in a landfill, where the toxic substances
  it contains can leach into groundwater, among
  other problems.
• Many of the major hardware manufacturers offer
  take-back programs, so IT departments don't have
  to take responsibility for disposal.

9
WEEE Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

• The WEEE Directive came into force in January
  2007 and aims to both reduce the amount of WEEE
  being produced and encourage everyone to reuse,
  recycle and recover it. The Directive also aims
  to improve the environmental performance of
  businesses that manufacture, supply, use, recycle
  and recover electrical and electronic equipment

10
What does it have to do with me?

• No one seriously disputes that global fossil fuel
  resources are running out
• And IT is an energy hog.
• Gartner estimates that power consumption by
  computers accounts for 2 per cent of global
  carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
• That's roughly equal to the carbon output of the
  airline industry. (Airlines are reducing this
  with better engines and wings)

11
Economic Context

• Rising energy costs
• Increased demand
• Tipping point in supply
• Environmental policy to allow energy cost to rise
• Data Centres represent an increasing proportion
  of overall business cost
• Its going to hurt!

12
Social Context

• Energy used by IT comparisons to Aviation
• Rising public awareness
• Impacts of energy use climate change (maybe)
• Data Centres represent an easy target for protest
• IT is a key enabler of environmental impact
  reduction both directly and indirectly
• Demonstrate that the industry is not profligate
  with energy

13
Some Education Figures
University of Sheffield Lowestoft College City College Norwich
Total Electricity (kWh) 8,680,806 (100) 453,714 (100) 1,241,700 (100)
PCs and monitors 4,164,477 (48) 197,402 (44) 510,896 (41)
Servers 1,520,736 (18) 135,999 (30) 226,665 (18)
HPC Hi Performance Computing 1,208,617 (14) 0 0
Imaging 835,659 (10) 42,171 (9) 236,901 (19)
Networks 687,362 (8) 68,538 (15) 156,629 (13)
AV 61,598 (1) 7,482 (2) 89,936 (7)
Telephony 202,356 (2) 2,122 (lt1) 12,790 (1)
14
IT In HE

• ICT in UK HE- 760,000 PCs- 215,000 servers-
  147,000 networked printers- 512,000 Mwh of
  electricity- 275,000 tonnes of CO2 - over 60
  million in 2009
• (Estimate 2009)

15
POTENTIAL MEASURES BY IT?
Short Term
Medium Term

• Specifying lower power equipment
• Automatic powerdown of networked devices
• Extending longevity
• Modifying data centre layout

• Increasing computer CPU utilisation
• Minimising storage
• Thin client in specialised applications

16
CROSS-FUNCTIONAL MEASURES
Short Term
Medium Term

• Awareness campaigns
• Powerdown of non networked devices
• Upgrading data centre power supply arrangements
• Increasing use of videoconferencing

• Maximum use of thin client where effective
• Free cooling of data centres
• Effective document and print management

17
CARDIFF UNIVERSITY

• Low power servers
• Chilled water cooling
• Efficient layout
• Efficient UPS

18
QUEEN MARGARET UNIVERSITYEdinburgh

• Wanted greenest building in UK
• PCs main barrier
• 98 thin client
• 25-30 space savings

19
AVE MARIA UNIVERSITYFlorida
Fire Alarm System
CampusSecurity
Power System
IntrusionDetection
ElevatorMgmt.
Lighting Controls
Access Control(security system)
HVACControl
EvacuationManagement
SecurityUsers
Building Maintenance Users
19
20
Some thoughts

• Electronic communication is better for
  sustainability?
• Do desk top printers pose a threat to the
  environment?
• What is the largest social network doing about it?

21

• As outlined in Greenpeaces Make IT Green report
  (March 2010)
• The amount of electricity produced and consumed
  to power the Internet, not including the devices
  used to access it
• Estimated to exceed 622 billion kilowatt hours in
  2007. This would place it 5th if ranked among
  countries by annual electricity consumption

22
Facebook Servers

• June 2010 the company was running at least 60,000
  servers in its data centres
• up from 30,000 in 2009
• 10,000 back in April 2008.

23
Facebook Power

• Estimates vary
• Some mix up internet with Facebook figures
• Most sensible estimates put Facebook energy
  consumption more than 50 New York City and
  rising - exponentially in the next few years

24
Facebook

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vLk3yBpV8Pacfeature
  player_embedded
• Greenpeace movie
• View, listen and read articles for further
  information

25
Finally

• Sustainability is important for you now and the
  future.
• Dont be sucked in by so called experts.
• Look at total energy and footprint costs.
• Look at other solutions
• Free cooling
• Use heat in winter
• Recycling, insulation, use of heat and more.....