Hi Louise,

This is a great topic to bring up.

Last year the AASHE interview series covered this topic with David Steinour, Interim Chief Information Officer, The George Washington University. Here is a link to the interview:

http://www.aashe.org/blog/aashe-interview-series-david-steinour-interim-...

I am curious to see what others believe has changed since then and/or what they are doing on their campuses.

Thanks,

Seann

Hi Louise,
Delta College began a server virtualization pilot for the Dell server environment in 2006. The main goal of server virtualization is to provide a more sustainable environment by reducing the number of physical servers without impacting the level of service. Advantages realized through server virtualization include reductions in cost for on-going hardware replacement and its disposal and on-going energy and cooling consumption. 

The pilot was highly successful and a four year implementation plan was adopted in 2007 to convert the remainder of the Dell server environment. You can find documentation on the program in our Sustainability Master Plan pgs 27 & 28 http://www.delta.edu/sustainability.aspx (right menu Climate Action Plan 2010).  You'll find a grid showing the active consumption for each category as identified by the environment as it transitions from year to year, hardware cost avoidance, and other related cost and energy reductions.

Linda Petee
Sustainability & Risk Mgmt Coordinator
Delta College
University Center MI