Backblog—Green Tech
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First Wind-cooled Data Center February 17, 2010 By Charlie Bess Categories: General Green Tech HP just opened the large 360,000 sq. ft. Wynyard data center. This Green Data Center project was underway at EDS before the HP purchase. It uses the continuously blowing cool North Sea air and a unique multilevel low pressure airflow design to minimize the cost of cooling. "The air runs through a massive bank of modular filters to remove dust and other contaminants before it circulates in a massive cavity, called a plenum, below its data center halls. The air is forced up though the floor and runs over the front of server racks before being exhausted. The system keeps the hall at a constant 24C (75.2F). When it is cold outside, some of the exhausted heat is recirculated with the outside air to maintain the right temperature." The PUE for the data halls themselves is around 1.16. Some of the Green features of the data center can be seen in this video. "Running at a full load, HP has calculated that the Wynyard facility has a 1.2 PUE, meaning that for every 1.2 watt of electricity used to power IT equipment, 1 watt is used for cooling and other facility needs. That makes it HP's most efficient data center" PUE is being used by the EPA in the US to determine Energy Star ratings for data centers. Various cloud vendors are using PUE for comparison as well and HP's appears to shape up pretty well in that comparison. Energy efficiency is not everything when it comes to data centers though like all modern data centers security is critical: "Security is tight. Access cards and biometric details are needed to access halls. Server cabinets are locked, and the keys are only released if the particular engineer has permission encoded on an access card. The entry system to the data halls prevents two people from entering at the same time. The data center also has a high perimeter fence, reinforced walls and constant security." 0 Comment(s) · del.icio.us · Digg it · Furl · reddit · Email Predictions for 2009 December 29, 2008 By Charlie Bess Categories: General Green Tech ICT Hardware and Infrastructure Professional Services Social Networking Software Companies Web 2.0 For the last 4 years I've put out a blog entry of my predictions for the coming year - like most others do. Since this is a year where the world will be coming out of a financial crisis, I'll try to be a bit more conservative than in the past. It this situation, the investments in technology can actually have more impact than at any other time, since your competitors may be in a purely cost cutting mode. In 2009 organizations must maintain a balance between the new/strategic and the immediate return, between operational cost-cutting and operational excellence. Anytime there is this level of conflict, the situation is ripe for innovation. During this economic contraction, we'll see many folks leave the IT ranks, hopefully those with less valuable technologies - today's zealot is tomorrow's Luddite. This resource migration should set organizations up for the future and focus technology investments. SaaS - This method has been building slowly and steadily, and is moving into the mainstream accelerated by the cuts in organizational capital budgets. 2009 will be the year the technology moves from the explorers and pioneers to the settlers, the big guys with deep pockets. I'd expect to see consolidation and deeper understanding of the SLAs that SaaS will require. SOA (which enables the integration of SaaS) will move beyond the hype phase and become just part of what IT does. Industry assemblies will become more common with an integrated set of tools (likely from various vendors) assembled to address the needs of a particular segment. Cloud - Cloud is still in its infancy. Standards will develop in 2009 to help address the lock-in concerns. Service management of the cloud resources will be a key area of investment and a success factor. We'll likely see quite a bit of rain on the cloud computing parade - as well as an unending number of weather related analogies. This move back to timesharing is going to happen since the environments have become too complex for most organizations to develop their expertise. Cloud is another form of outsourcing. Virtualization - The current trend to shift from distributed spending to centralized approaches will continue. All organizations should have virtualization activities in the works in 2009. Most still have a great deal of value they can derive from consolidating their systems. The level of discipline required may chaff some teams, but most will find it well worth the effort. Green - The focus on Green IT will accelerate in 2009. The US market is behind the rest of the world. This delay should allow for investment to focus on areas that have worked in other parts of the world. The likely adoption of a "cap and trade" system in the US during the Obama administration will cause organizations to focus more seriously than they ever have before. Open Source and vendor consolidation - The big players will continue their efforts to influence the open source market. Open source can be an innovation escape valve for companies, since the costs appear to be lower. There is risk to simply adopting an open source solution unless there is a strong commercial support structure behind it. If there isn't strong commercial support available, the company doing the adoption must be willing to invest heavily in developing their own expertise, and supporting the open source solution. Social Computing - 2009 will be a year of turmoil in the social computing (web 2.0) space. Many of the technologies are in the valley of despair. The good news is that what emerges from the other side will be less "build it and they will come" and instead be much more results oriented. Whether it is blogging, virtual world adoption or other, even more abstract techniques, they will all be held to a higher standard in 2009. Standards - This year will have resurgence around standards. Any approach that can show a proven track record and momentum will be taken more seriously. For example, ITIL already had momentum, and that will continue since it appears to address many of the concerns organizations have right now: increased reliability, value, visibility and control of what is going on. Analytics - With the unlimited computing capabilities of Cloud and Moore's law, more computing resources will be applied to business analytics techniques. As pre-built tools (SaaS) become available for use, they will be integrated into more business more deeply than ever before. It will become more of a business issue than an IT issue. Smaller PCs - On a more personal technology note, we're going to see a decrease in the power of laptops. Less is more, as SaaS and cloud take on more of the heavy lifting, our shoulders can carry less. PDAs are taking on more of the workload. We've seen the first few lightweight PC models that are more stylish than functional. That may be OK, since people are beginning to realize that "just enough" is still enough. 0 Comment(s) · del.icio.us · Digg it · Furl · reddit · Email The electric bike sounds good, but... October 9, 2008 By Peter Wolchak Categories: Green Tech The environment is hot, hot, hot and marketers and innovators are rushing to deliver green products to planet-conscious consumers. But as we all hurry towards this goal it's possible to see every green-tinted product as a good thing, and not all of them are. Case in point: Dorel Industries' improved electric bicycle. At first glance this looks like a good idea: people who ride an electric bike instead of driving a car will dramatically reduce their carbon footprint, and that's good for the planet. And to the extent that people climb out of a car and onto an e-bike, this is a valid argument. But I wonder how often that is going to happen. Anyone who sees a bike as a suitable replacement for a car is probably already pedaling one. The rest of the population will still drive cars. Now the electric car is a different thing, because people who want to drive a car may view an electric model as a viable alternative, and the Chevy Volt actually has a shot at mainstream success. But the electric bike just seems like an answer in search of a question. It's not big enough nor versatile enough to replace a car for most people, and it doesn't have the health benefits or -- at US$3,200 a pop -- the economic benefits of riding a real bike. I acknowledge that lots of people apparently want these things, because Dorel reports that 20.8 million e-bikes were sold worldwide in 2007 (according to the Electric Bikes Worldwide Report). But I just don't get why people would buy one. I would, however, love to hear from anyone who has an e-bike or is thinking about buying one. Peter Wolchak 0 Comment(s) · del.icio.us · Digg it · Furl · reddit · Email Want better companies? Demand change July 29, 2008 By Peter Wolchak Categories: Green Tech A Backbone reader recently took Bell Canada to task for talking the talk on the environment, while failing to walk the walk. Bell had let her down, she said so, and I'm pleased to say Bell responded quickly and effectively. I need to say up-front I am conscious that I am posting this in a Bell-run blog and this story ends on a Bell-positive note. However, I had decided to write about this before I knew the outcome, and I have no difficulty praising companies when they do the right thing. A Backbone reader, I'll call her Janet, recently bought two receivers for her existing Bell ExpressVu satellite dish at a national big-box electronics store. She didn't need nor want the satellites dishes that came with the receivers, but was told by the sales person that she had no choice. If you want the receivers, you have to take the dishes. This is where Backbone comes into the story. Our May/June issue featured an advertising section focusing on green technology. One of the pieces was from Bell and talked about its commitment to environmental business practices. Janet read that piece and then copied me on her e-mails to the company. On June 16, she wrote to Marc Duchesne, Bell's director of corporate responsibility and environment. After recounting her retail experience, she wrote: "Since we already have a satellite dish, we are now stuck with trying to figure out how to dispose of the two satellite dishes we were forced to buy, and the associated extra packaging. If you are seriously attempting to be environmentally responsible why would you not sell the receivers as a separate item with as little packaging as possible? "Other than couriering these satellite dishes and excess packaging to your office, do you have any environmentally responsible suggestions for disposing of them? If not, please send mailing address by reply e-mail." On the next day, Duchesne responded: "Thank you very much for bringing this issue to my attention. I have transferred your note to the appropriate person and we are currently looking into these problems. We have made improvements in reducing packaging of this equipment but understand from your note that you consider we still have a long way to go. "We will get back to you shortly with available options for returning your dish. I apologize for the inconveniences." Now that sounds a bit like a standard corporate response, but Duchesne did get back to her. On June 26, Janet received the following: "To follow up on our previous correspondence, provided below are options and systems in place to best manage the issues you have brought to my attention. 1. Having to purchase a dish with each receiver: - New customers or customers upgrading to HD require an accompanying dish as a complete system. - Customers who only require an additional receiver and no dish have been able to do this at the dealer, however in your case, the dealer very likely ran out of individual receivers and provided the whole system package. - Going forward, the dishes will no longer be packaged with receivers. They will be kept separately, and if a customer requires one, the installer will bring it to the home to put up. - Improvements to reduce packaging have been implemented and continue to be reviewed for further opportunities 2. Managing extra dishes - We will provide a courier service to your home at no cost to you. The dish will be handled through our reverse logistic process. - Going forward, we will enhance our reverse logistics processes for dishes to emulate the processes we currently have in place for receivers, modems and mobile phones." Duchesne then provided Janet with the name, e-mail and phone number of the person who will make the actual courier arrangements. Let me pick out two elements of Duchesne's e-mail. First, Bell ExpressVu will no longer bundle dishes with receivers. Second, Bell is paying for a courier to pick up the extra equipment she does not need. Bell not only responded to a customer e-mail -- and not all companies even do that -- but it also put a new policy in place, and it did so within 10 days. While consumers tend to be automatically cynical about big companies -- and often deservedly so -- we also have to acknowledge when one does something right. And even if, as Janet suspects, copying the editor of a national magazine may have sped up Bell's response, at least the action was taken. In response to Duchesne's actions, Janet replied: "You have made some very concrete commitments to solve this problem. I am impressed with your willingness to accept responsibility for the retailer’s actions. I must apologize for underestimating your corporate responsibility for the environment." In an e-mail to me, Janet said: "I think that large corporations who have control over their suppliers need to be leaders in this effort. For example, when Wal-Mart called in all their suppliers and demanded that they reduce packaging, it was more effective than if every Wal-Mart shopper had fired off a letter or e-mail to these same suppliers. "Although possessed of a healthy amount of cynicism, I think Bell as a corporate entity and Mr. Duchesne in his position honestly attempt to be environmentally responsible. Change isn’t easy." I agree, and hopefully Janet's story will remind me to act next time I see a similar problem. Peter Wolchak 0 Comment(s) · del.icio.us · Digg it · Furl · reddit · Email Go carefully when going green July 21, 2008 By Peter Wolchak Categories: Green Tech I, and Backbone magazine are big proponents of using technology to reduce pollution and save energy. But not all green tech delivers, as both the TTC and I learned recently. Take the new hybrid electric-diesel buses purchased by the Toronto Transit Commission. In its initial announcement, the commission said it expected to achieve fuel savings of 20 to 30 per cent. In use, the real savings have been in the 10 per cent range and, just to add insult, many of the big batteries that sit on top of these buses are only lasting half as long as the manufacturer Orion VII promised. More details would be available here except that the Globe and Mail charges for access to its archived stories. According to that Globe article, TTC chief general manager Gary Webster said the fuel efficiency shortfall is likely caused by the use of the buses on higher-speed suburban roads, as opposed to in stop-and-go traffic. It is the latter in which hybrid technology delivers the most benefit. But - and here's my point - this was a known issue. Back in December of 2004 the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported the exact same issue. From that article: King Country Metro concluded that "...the expected fuel efficiency has not been there. One apparent culprit is stricter federal emissions standards. Another could be that the hybrids are used on routes -- suburban express routes with more highway mileage -- where their advantages don't shine." In other words, in faster traffic the hybrids don't do as well as when they are driven in stop-and-go downtown congestion. Sounds familiar? Now, I am sure the TTC investigated all this and made what it believed was the best decision, but it does illustrate that going green is rarely as easy as it seems. And here's another great example: in my editorial in our March/April issue I wrote that -- for now, anyway -- the only truly successful consumer-level green initiatives will be those that deliver a benefit while not imposing significant lifestyle changes on us. I suggested compact fluorescents would be a huge success, because you just screw in a different bulb and hey presto! Less pollution. And then I got a great letter from Nick MacKinnon, president of OneLight in Vancouver. He pointed out that any time you are heating your house (which is often in Canada) a regular light bulb pumps out heat in addition to light, and extra heat may mean your furnace doesn't have to work quite as hard. I am not ready to give up on CF bulbs, but both this and the TTC's experience are good reminders that we should look both ways before embarking on environmental initiatives. Peter Wolchak 0 Comment(s) · del.icio.us · Digg it · Furl · reddit · Email Would you notice an extra $1.97 the next time you buy a laptop? June 4, 2008 By Peter Wolchak Categories: Green Tech Environment Canada reports we dumped 140,000 tonnes of e-waste into landfills between 2004 and 2005, and it expects that flow of discarded tech to triple by 2011. That's a scary stat, but I'm not about to advocate that we stop buying new technology or even slow our upgrade cycles. Heck, according to the Conference Board of Canada we're already under investing in new technology. In 2005, the average per-worker investment in ICT-related equipment in the U.S. was $3,200. In Canada it was $1,800. I don't want to erode that number any further. But we do need to manage that waste in an environmentally responsible manner, and here's the good news: that is an entirely attainable goal. Vendors are doing it: Xerox announced in November of last year that, worldwide, its recycling efforts had diverted two billion pounds of print cartridges and toner away from landfills, and HP is now building inkjet cartridges out of recycled plastic; it claims to have used five million pounds of post-consumer plastic in 2007, with twice as much slated for 2008. And there are private e-waste centres popping up all over Canada. Backbone's recent story introduces one particularly inventive guy in Barrie, Ont., who turns mixed plastic waste into diesel fuel. He plans to produce 500 litres of diesel per hour soon at one plant alone. But as successful as these spot initiatives are, an industry-wide recycling program would be that much more effective. That's why I hope a levy (or green tax, call it what it is) proposed by Waste Diversion Ontario takes off. The plan is to pay for e-waste recycling by adding a few bucks to the price of new electronics. The proposal would add $12.36 to the cost of desktops, $1.97 to laptops, $10.99 for monitors, $0.35 for peripherals, $4.64 for printers, etc. If the proposal passes in the fall, Ontario will join B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and PEI. The levy is a great idea. I suspect even large companies which buy 500 laptops in one shot will not grouch too much about the extra $1,000 fee, especially if all manufacturers are charging it, and I can't see any consumers getting upset about the additional $2 for one notebook. And even if people do bellyache, tough. It's a good idea and the proposal should be passed by the Ontario legislature. Peter Wolchak 1 Comment(s) · del.icio.us · Digg it · Furl · reddit · Email My Eight Year Old Is Green and So Is My ERP Software May 27, 2008 By Rebecca Gill Categories: Green Tech Software Companies Back in college I was once referred to as a “tree hugger”. I remember thinking this comment was a bit strange, because although I’ve always been conscious about how my actions altered the physical world around me, I’ve never been a fanatic about saving our environment. I thought back to this comment a few weeks ago when my eight year old daughter came home from school and tried to educate me with her new found knowledge on our environment. For five minutes I listened to a much less eloquent version of Al Gore speaking in my kitchen. When she finally came up for air, she was pleasantly surprise to hear our family recycles, we use energy saving light bulbs, and we have timers on our lights, our furnaces, and our air conditioners. I, of course, failed to mention the fact that we also own a hot tub, a ski boat, and a few gas guzzling SUV’s. All of which are horrible for energy conservation. As any good parent knows, you pick and chose the information you share with your child. This week I read an article discussing data centers and their energy usage. It made me think back again to my daughter and made me ponder our usage of ERP software, our reliance on computers, and if this really helps or hurts our environment. While there has been some discussion surrounding the energy it takes to support our love of technology, I cannot believe this energy consumption overrides the benefits we derive from ERP systems. My thoughts returned to a position I held shortly after college. It was for a company that had recently purchased an ERP software package. And it was the beginning of my love affair with technology and the tremendous value it provides to our lives. As my new employer progressed through the first 30 days of their software implementation, they validated their existing paper-based processes to the ERP software’s online records. This validation process was not due to a concern over the ERP software, but due to a concern over the employees who were very unfamiliar with computers. It was designed to ease everyone’s concerns that the ERP software really worked and it would replace the oodles of paper they used each day. I found the amount of paperwork staggering and even back then I thought to myself, “Enough paper. Can we please save a tree?!” This scene took place more years ago than I’d like to admit. That being said, it left a lasting impression on me. It showed the value of technology and put me on a career path that is focused on technology. If you are going to spend forty plus hours per week working, it should be with something you enjoy and believe in. I believe in technology and in particular, ERP software. Although I certainly cannot vouch for every ERP software package on the market today, I can vouch for my own ERP package, Enterprise 21. I know it helps reduce the unnecessary usage of trees and gasoline, as well as reduce emissions. Below is a comparison between a typical distributor’s paper process and a streamlined process within Enterprise 21. Paper-based Process Manila folder of sales notes, call activity, and quotations Glossy paper folder of product literature and brochures mailed to customer Hardcopy quotation mailed or personally delivered to customer Hardcopy sales order received via mail or fax Hardcopy purchase requisition printed and signed Hardcopy purchase order printed and faxed Hardcopy purchase order acknowledgement received via mail or fax Paper picking ticket Hardcopy invoice printed and mailed Hardcopy aging report for accounts receivables personnel “Missing” invoice reprinted and mailed Hardcopy invoice received from vendor via mail Hardcopy aging report for accounts payables personnel Hardcopy check printed and mailed Enterprise 21 ERP Software Online CRM module for tracking opportunities, pending calls, notes, and associated documents Online document storage and email transmission of literature to customer Online sales quote sent to customer via email Sales order received via internet, EDI, or email Online purchase requisition and electronic approval Online purchase order sent via EDI, web, or email Purchase order acknowledgement received via EDI Directed picking through RF device Online invoice sent via EDI, email, or web Online collection call listing, call log, and notes “Missing” invoice sent online via email Online vendor invoice received via EDI Online aging report and online matching to PO Online check and funds sent via EFT The list above is long, but in actuality, I just touched the surface of the reductions in paper and transportation usage. There are many more areas of efficiency improvements beyond the simple list I provided above. How can anyone claim technology such as ERP software is detrimental to our environment? Frankly I would not have believed it years ago and I do not believe it today. Just as our family aspires to be green, so does my ERP software. The difference is that my ERP software is green every day of the year. Rebecca Gill ERP ETC. 0 Comment(s) · del.icio.us · Digg it · Furl · reddit · Email |
