IT asset management specialist, Certero, today launches PowerStudio™ to help businesses reduce wasted utilities and work towards creating a low-carbon Britain, as part of an international agreement on climate change to be set by the DECC in Copenhagen in December 2009. PowerStudio™ from Certero is a web-based management application that enables organisations to easily apply power policies and profiles, set cost savings and green targets, and quickly see a return on investment.

John Lunt, managing director and co-founder of Certero, says, “Two thirds of our emissions come from the energy we use and businesses can reduce their IT power consumption through a better understanding of utility usage. Each PC left on when not in use can produce over half a ton of greenhouse gas annually and for every six PCs left on, an acre of trees is required to restore the greenhouse gas released. Because of this, we’ve specifically designed PowerStudio™ to efficiently manage all desktop elements and demonstrably contribute to green computing targets to ensure organisations can reduce their drain on energy and financial resources.”

The intelligent PowerStudio™ software identifies daily, monthly and annual trends of computer power usage and helps set centralised power policies in accordance with user activity to prolong the life of computer equipment and meet environmental computing targets. For example, a policy can be created to automatically switch off monitors and place PCs into standby or hibernation when computers are idle, enabling energy savings of up to £48 and 642 kWh per PC per annum to be achieved*. PowerStudio™ saves power on all XP embedded thin client devices as well as PCs and includes a wastage reporting system that highlights where additional savings on utilities can be made in the business including CO2, coal and water.

Lunt continues, “We’re delighted to help businesses save power and meet the Government’s initiative of reducing carbon output by 80 per cent by 2050. What’s even more exciting is the UK being the first country to adopt a legally binding objective to reduce emissions. Within PowerStudio™, every user is encouraged to reduce their individual carbon footprint through a point scoring system that awards and deducts points depending on each user’s IT habits. The trials of PowerStudio™ have been overwhelmingly successful in the NHS PCT space, local government and the commercial sector, where initiatives such as the Low Carbon Industrial Strategy, from BERR and the Department of Energy and Climate Change, have been introduced.”

More information about Certero’s PowerStudio™ can be found at:
http://www.certero.co.uk/power-studio/

*Additional information for editors:
Online demos are available on request

Environmental Statistics from Certero:
Reducing the overall power that is consumed by PCs when not in use produces a significant positive impact on the environment. The following information illustrates the environmental impact associated with using the Sleep feature in Windows Vista on a typical Pentium 4 with a 17-inch LCD monitor:

If this PC was left on continuously it would equate to: 24 hours x 365 days per year = 8,760 hours per year, which is approximately 963 kWh per year (assuming 70 watt for the PC and 40 watts for the display).

If this PC was in standby when it wasn't in use it would equate to: 10 workday hours x 5 working days per week x 52 week = 2,600 operating hours.

That's a difference of 8,760 hours - 2,600 hours = 6,160 hours which equates to a saving of 642 kWh per year (assuming 35 watt for the PC in standby).

Carbon Dioxide Emissions (Greenhouse Gas)
In the UK, 1 kWh produces 0.51 Kg of carbon dioxide; this takes into account the different ways in which electricity is generated (15% is generated without producing any carbon dioxide). According to the Department for Transport figures from 2007, the average car in the UK produces 2.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

So, taking the example above, leaving your PC on continuously will use 963 kWh * 0.51kg = 491 kg of CO2 per year. On a large estate of 5,000 PCs this would equate to 2,455,000 kg of CO2 per year. By implementing power saving features on these machines so they are in standby outside of working hours, we could hope to bring this down to 818,550 kg of CO2. That's a saving of 1,636,450 kg of CO2 per year, the equivalent of taking 682 cars off the roads per year.