The questions was:
With more and more organisations acquiring more and more IT hardware. Today’s IT systems are requiring a booming amount power and energy. Can organisations build energy efficient data centers if they have a good blueprint /architecture viewpoint of environment & energy within the enterprise architecture program. My answer:Green Architecture
How can the architecture space help promote and influence ‘Green IT’ and do we think there is a need to take a Green view with enterprise architecture?
I was looking into this recently when trying to create a green EA principle. It should be a guiding element of EA future state architecture thus I think creating it as a principle is the right level.
EA teams are asked to produce Green IT Plan/Strategy documents. Often they are left in the hands of the IT operations teams but more and more I am seeing them become part of the strategy and EA purview. The issue with Green is that is not a one-off activity or a project it is an on-going and consistent behaviour for all IT planning – it also crosses the IT/business divide. Many Green strategies require changes to the policies and culture of the organisation and require strong business understanding and commitment – IT is only a small part of any organisational Green plan.
I would suggest if you are an EA team doing a Green IT Plan in isolation from the business you stop and find out who is responsible for these strategies in the business and develop a joint plan. As you can see from the Government policy below it concerns - cuts energy use and use of GreenPower, these are critical business concerns as well as IT – a joint plan is better.
As a side note this was my first draft EA green principle:
IT Investments Will be Sustainable and Energy Efficient
Sustainability and energy efficiency involves more than improving just the facilities’ cooling, power management, energy source etc.. The Group will drive energy efficiency across all areas of the business — business operations and IT including, but not limited to, the software and technology infrastructure.
Rationale
• In 2001 the Government established the ground-breaking Government Sustainable Energy Targets (GSET) program, set two important targets for improving energy efficiency. Having met its targets (15 per cent energy reduction and 10 per cent GreenPower consumption), the XX Government has recently lifted these goals even higher. It is now committed by 2010 to cut energy use by a further five per cent to 20 per cent of 1999/2000 levels and to increase use of Green Power to 25 per cent.
• The Group has a corporate responsibility to act not only in the interests of our business but also in the interests of the economy and the environment.
• Many employees feel a strong and personal responsibility for future generations.
Implications
• All technology choices need to evaluate the end-to-end carbon life cycle of the major products they buy and then use that information to manage the life cycle of a product more effectively.
• Develop asset management practices that ensure the combined embodied and operational energy requirements (that is, full life cycle) of the equipment used required less energy per user.
• Buy the "greenest" equipment that meets your need. This will typically result in lower energy consumption, lower recycling costs and a lower carbon footprint.
• Sourcing and procurement objectives to include a preference for suppliers that work to limit or off-set their greenhouse gas emissions.
Key Actions:
• Establish sustainability and energy efficiency KPIs/Standards for all projects
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