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ICT and environmental sustainability. Nick Shacklock, Head of Network Technology, Becta. BETT 08 Friday, 11 January 2008. Where is school energy going?. School energy consumption is going up because of: extended schools (7.5 – 12 hours a day) increased use of ICT
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ICT and environmental sustainability Nick Shacklock, Head of Network Technology, Becta BETT 08Friday, 11 January 2008
Where is school energy going? • School energy consumption is going up because of: • extended schools (7.5 – 12 hours a day) • increased use of ICT • Just when we are being targeted to reduce them: • Climate Change Levy (non domestic energy bills tax); • Best value performance indicator BVPI-180 (energy/m2); • Planned ‘Carbon reduction commitment’ (larger LAs); • Children’s Plan – zero carbon school buildings by 2016.
What to do about this conundrum? • We won’t stop using technology in education • ICT skills contribute to lower-carbon economic growth • proved to improve attainment • electronic registration reduces absences; • on-demand parental reporting; • use in lesson planning, preparation, delivery-growing • We can mitigate ICT’s impact on school energy consumption: • in what we design and build • through what we purchase • in how we manage • in how we behave
What we can do in design / build? • Avoid air conditioning through • natural ventilation • solar shading and light shelves • building controls • building management plans. • Exploit waste heat from ICT! • Make day-lighting and ICT compatible • To avoid having blinds down all day. • To reduce need for artificial light. • Whiteboards placed to avoid window glare.
What we can do in ICT purchasing? • Buy Energy Star 4.0 compliant equipment. • Exploit the EU Energy Star database. • Set aside budget to prepare the environment that ICT will be used in. • Laptops often use less energy than desktops. • Desktop virtualisation avoids need for local hard-drives. • Only buy printers which will print double sided. • National Audit Office say replace ICT every three years.
Managing and behaving (a) Reducing ICT carbon footprint • Increase ‘enabling rates’ of power / resource saving settings: • monitor • sleep • hibernate. • Reinforce old cliché - switch off when not in use • monitors • terminal equipment (PCs etc) • NOT servers?
Managing and behaving (b) Using ICT to reduce school’s footprint • Video conference instead of travel • (some) school visits replaced by point to multipoint video cast. • Staff meetings over multiple sites. • Home access to avoid travel for students • Notes, worksheets and letters on web • Set and mark homework online