Dashboard: August 2010

Guided by Green

Few businesses take reducing their carbon footprint as seriously as Guidance Solutions, which designs, builds and maintains e-commerce websites for online and multichannel retailers. “I’m passionate about implementing policies that make us as green as we possibly can be,” says co-owner and CTO Jon Provisor.

On its website, Guidance spotlights a host of measures it’s taken to achieve carbon neutrality. The Marina del Rey, Calif.-based company reached its goal in August 2007 — 18 months earlier than planned — thanks in part to its purchase of Energy Star–qualified desktop and notebook PCs from Hewlett-Packard. These include HP Compaq 8100 Elite Convertible Minitower PCs with 89 percent efficient power supplies and low-power Intel Q57 Express chipsets. The 8100s are EPEAT Gold-registered, Provisor says, and ship with HP’s “excellent” power management tools.

The company also provides its 50-plus employees with HP EliteBook 8440w Energy Star–qualified notebooks so they can work from home two days a week, reducing their overall carbon emissions.

By using HP ProLiant DL385 G6 servers, Guidance Solutions has packed more than 20 virtual servers into a single physical server, slashing server power use dramatically. And it’s replaced more than a dozen desktop printers, scanners and copiers with a single networked multifunction device from Ricoh.

Not surprisingly, each employee’s energy usage has fallen dramatically as a result of these efforts. The company’s purchase of carbon-offset credits neutralizes any remaining carbon footprint.

One for All, and All for One

Multifunction printers (MFPs) are a terrific energy-, space- and cost-saving solution for companies looking to replace multiple desktop printers, scanners and copiers. Instead of recycling three or four devices when they’re no longer functional, you only have to recycle one.

Networkable and energy-efficient, the Energy Star–qualified HP LaserJet M2727nf delivers 1200 dpi black-and-white laser printing and copying speeds of up to 27 pages per minute. The MFP can print up to 99 copies per page, with reduce/enlarge settings ranging from 25 percent to 400 percent, and includes a built-in, networkable fax and color scanner and HP’s Jetadmin networked printer management software.

Further cost and energy savings come from two-sided copying, a power-save mode and instant-on technology that lets the printer spring to action almost immediately, then revert to power-save mode when a print job is complete.

Fast performance, plus an input capacity of up to 300 sheets (expandable to 550 sheets), multitasking and a 50-sheet automatic document feeder mean you don’t have to sacrifice features and power to reduce your business’s carbon footprint.

Photo: Chad Baker/Getty Images

The top three reasons why companies consider energy consumption when purchasing new technology products.

1 They are trying to contain rising energy costs.

2 They take social responsibility seriously.
3 They have established goals for reducing carbon emissions.

SOURCE: CDW poll of 395 BizTech readers