We’re One Year Old!

The Climate Savers Computing Initiative celebrates its first anniversary this month! The relevance of our mission has never been higher. Since our founding in June 2007, the cost of a barrel of oil has doubled, climate change has continued to intensify, and the global demand for energy efficiency has accelerated. In response to these growing challenges, many organizations, governments, and individuals have stepped forward to join us and share their resources and expertise.

In the past 12 months, we’ve grown our membership to nearly 250 companies, published best practices for power management, completed our first round of technical specifications for more energy-efficient computers, and formed alliances with organizations who share our vision. Starting with a small membership base and small marketing budget, we have steadily increased the visibility of the organization, and with the help of new members, have also raised our worldwide impact and goals moving forward.

Tokyo, Hanover, Beijing, Taipei, Stockholm, Shanghai, Melbourne, not to mention Kansas City, New York and San Francisco – just some of the places where we’ve promoted energy efficient computers and use of power management. The organization has become more and more global as we’ve added active sponsor and associate members outside the U.S. Regional Committees are driving the Climate Savers Computing agenda in Japan, Europe and Asia.

CeBIT gave us a big boost in Europe and just last month we signed an MOU with the Green IT Promotional Council in Japan. And we formed an alliance with the China Electronics Energy Saving Council in China who will carry out the Climate Savers Computing effort there. In the U.S. we’ve aligned with the EPA to promote common efficiency targets and power management.

We are in the middle of compiling the results of our first member survey to calculate the performance against our energy savings goals. We should have an update for you on that in the next few weeks, but the early data looks very good.

And that brings me to the point that we’re not finished. We need to stay focused on the 2010 goals! Along with our anniversary comes the first increment in our efficiency goals. All members should review the efficiency criteria for our 2^nd year and be sure to update procurement plans accordingly. Achieving the 50% savings by 2010 requires that we move to more efficient systems each year.

Thank you for the great support of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative’s work over the last year! Thanks to our growing list of members, we have considerable momentum and expertise heading into our second year. Please post comments on any ideas you have to make us more effective. We are in the midst of planning our annual members meeting -- you’ll hear more on this soon. And I hope to meet you soon.

- Lorie Wigle, Intel Corporation

CeBIT: Green IT Village and Climate Savers Computing

This was my first CeBIT, and I was not sure what to expect. I had heard that it was a very big show, but you have to see it to believe it. With more thank 30 huge halls spread over a large area, it would be exhausting to walk corner to corner. There is no way that anyone can see every stall in every building. The halls are generally organized by themes. Inspite of the size and the large number of attendees, it does not feel crowded. They have 3 color buses running different routes for the attendees, and VW minivans that take exhibitors to any destination.

My visit started with the opening ceremony where my CEO, Steve Ballmer, gave the opening keynote followed by speeches by German Chancellor Merkel and French President Sarkozy. It was especially gratifying to hear Steve mention Microsoft's involvement in the Climate Savers Computing Initiative in his speech (of course, I knew he was planning to, but things can change at the last minute)!

There were plenty of signs all over the CeBIT campus pointing to the Green IT Village in Hall 9 with the Climate Savers Computing logo displayed prominently. We were in the back of Hall 9, but still had a fair amount of traffic in sporadic bursts. Allyson (renamed Allymore :-)) was on the front page of the CeBIT News on Tuesday morning. There were several TV stations and radio stations (that I had never heard of before) who came by and interviewed Kevin, Allyson or me. We had print reporters, individuals, and small companies visit the booth. Many signed the pledge. Companies promised to have their management look into it.

Several questions came up, but most were predictable. Some were skeptical. Some wanted to know how this would work in Europe. Were our goals too aggressive? How can we monitor if people really do what they say? I even chatted with someone from Greenpeace!

I was pleased that I had a full house (don't ask how big the house was) for my presentation. I proved to Barbara that I could do 20 slides in less than 20 minutes. I also had several questions, mostly from the moderator from BITKOM, who appears to be warming up to Climate Savers Computing. It will be great if our discussions with BITKOM actually result in them joining and helping us connect with their membership. BITKOM is a national trade association that represents information and communication technology, and new media companies in Germany, with over 800 members.

It is clear that we need a strong European leader to give us more credibility in Europe. The European marketing teams of our US members are doing a good job for us in Europe, but there is nothing better than having a local champion. I have a potential candidate, but don't want to count my chicken(s) too soon.

It will take more than a Green IT Village to save our climate!

From dreary Hannover,

Dileep

- Dileep Bhandarkar, Microsoft