ITS Sustainability Initiatives

Information Technology Services believes that sustainability should be built into each of our IT services and solutions. We're currently undertaking a number of initiatives to reduce our environmental impact and have even more in the pipeline for the coming months.

Some of these changes will have direct measurable data to support them, such as electricity consumption, while others will meet sustainability objectives over time.

ITS Managed Desktop

What we're doing

• Rolling out changes to ITS managed desktops that will significantly reduce energy consumption by keeping them powered off for longer. This simple change will potentially reduce our energy costs by $104 370 (or reduce energy consumption by 1 462 733 kWh) per year.
• Promoting to the University community to switch off their computers at the end of the day as a joint initiative with the Environment & Sustainability Initiatives Unit.
• Adjusting environmental (HVAC) settings within computer laboratories while they are not in use, in addition to actively powering off unused computers.
• Defaulting prints to double sided.
• Partnering with the Environment & Sustainability Initiatives Unit to organise e-waste recycling collection for faculty and divisions.
• Selling excess equipment to extend its life.
• Selecting products by integrating sustainability into the procurement process. During the next tender process for desktop computers a sustainability component will be built in.
• Windows 7 deployment will enable ITS managed desktops to take advantage of advanced power management features.
• Desktop virtualisation pilot.

Internal Programmes

What we're doing

• Encouraging ITS staff to turn off their monitors when they leave their desk for an extended period.
• Recycling waste both at our desks and the product packaging we deploy.
• Promoting sustainability initiatives.
• Encouraging the integration of sustainability into decision making.

University Data Centre

What we're doing

• Data centre optimised to increase efficiency of air flow and reduce air conditioning requirements.
• Continuing to invest into virtualisation technologies to support services.
• Continuing to replace older less energy efficient hardware.
• Selecting products by integrating sustainability into the procurement process. During the next tender process for server equipment a sustainability component will be built in.