The Queen's Applied Sustainability Research Group and the Webster Group of Queen's University are collaborating on a project to improve the energy efficiency of IT/S.
Through Queen`s University`s Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering course Mech425, students are developing an open source database of energy conservation measures (ECMs) which can be used to evaluate the economic and environmental benefits of numerous technologies, systems, and processes. By quantifying the economic and environmental benefits in a standard and transparent form, it is hoped that these ECMs will provide businesses and homeowners with reliable information to assess the feasibility of improving their environmental impact, and simultaneously, their bottom line.
This page is for Green IT projects for Mech 425. You can download the 14 page project
in doc format. Thus you can edit the consent forms, etc.
For more information see Category:Queens Green IT and Hardware replaced by a smartphone
To keep people from editing your work - please put the following: {{425inprogress|Month Day, Year}}
| Welcome to our set of open-source Energy Conservation Measure (ECM) calculators for use by organizations. These have been developed in Microsoft Excel by Queen's University students and faculty and have been pretested in organizations. We hope that they will assist organizations in justifying the implementation of sustainable information technology and system (Green IT) initiatives in their organizations.
Each ECM calculator includes a worked example, showing both economic and environmental cost/benefit analyses. In order to determine the potential expected outcomes for their companies, organizations can modify the numbers in the ECM calculators to reflect their own situations. Because the ECMs are open-source, organizations are also free to modify the calculations within Excel as they see fit. Each file has been checked for accuracy and completeness. However, if errors or additions are discovered by any user during analysis, they are encouraged to mark the changes, and re-upload the document under a different file name but in the same file format (.xls), staying as close to the original organizational structure as possible. Main website: Green ITS Research |
A few resources indirectly related to improving energy efficiency of IT/S are listed here as extra sources not included in the literature review:
Double-sided / multi-page printing
Energy efficient printers / copiers
Consolidate printers / copiers / fax / scanners
Teleconferencing + document sharing
Video conferencing + document sharing
Energy-efficient PC/workstations
Energy-efficient monitors
Putting screens, computers on standby
Use power bars for hardware / smart bars
Solar power
Recycle eWaste and donation (end of life)
Turning off lights / motion sensors
Power off copiers
Cartridge-free printers / copiers
Telecommuting
Automatic shut-down (off) of computers/monitors/hardware
Carbon management systems
Replace incandescent light bulbs with CFL
Collaborating documents electronically
Online training
Virtualization of servers
Vendimizer
Document management systems
Cleaning up storage: disk cleanup, defragmenter, etc.
Environmental management systems
Consolidation of data centre hardware
Virtualization of data centre
Move from Thick client to Thin client computers
Proper insulation of windows / building
Regular repair and maintenance of vehicle fleet
Convert vehicle fleet to hybrid
Use of rechargeable batteries
Energy monitoring
Energy efficient software
QShare is a secure space for data storage provided by Queen's ITServices department. Permissions can be set to allow and restrict permissions of each user from each directory or file within the account. Temporary access can be granted to those outside of the university to share files with third-parties. The following outlines the basics for accessing the Green IT space on the server.
First, some basic terms or definitions:
For more information about QShare and its capabilities, check out these great tutorials from ITS to help you navigate. There is also an FAQ page outlining some more common questions about QShare, its intended purpose and its use.
| License | CC-BY-SA-3.0 |
|---|---|
| Organizations | Queens Applied Sustainability Group, Webster Group of Queen's University, Queen's University |
| Cite as | "Queens Green IT". Appropedia. 2009–2025. Retrieved September 28, 2026. |