The UK’s 200 largest publicly listed companies are wasting in excess of £61 million annually by using power-hungry desktop computers, according to new research by Computacenter and Fujitsu Siemens Computers.
With energy consumption and carbon emissions at the top of the political and social agenda, today’s companies are under increasing pressure to fulfil their environmental responsibilities.
The joint research investigated the energy consumption of the 200 companies based on the number of traditional desktops they operate daily, and calculated the potential energy savings that could be made if these were replaced with more energy efficient ‘green PCs’.
The findings concluded that the adoption of a greener desktop strategy and better working practices would deliver significant financial savings – one of the largest companies in the top 200 has the potential to save at least £2m from its annual electricity bill.
Companies can introduce policies and procedures that encourage employees to switch off their computers when not in use – for example the IT department can use automated software that turns off all idle PCs out of office hours. Previous research from Fujitsu Siemens Computers found that more than a third (37%) of workers don’t switch off PCs when they leave the office.
