Oral Presentations - Session 1B: UC 327
ENERGY CONSERVATION STUDY OF STUDENT COMPUTING FACILITIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA
Presentation Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Tom Gallagher
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Applied Computer and Electronics
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Energy consumption was studied in a student computer lab for the purpose of mapping out and reducing the carbon footprint created by the daily use of student lab computers. Data was collected by using four passive energy monitors to record the consumption of fifteen lab computers over a period of three weeks. The accumulated power consumption was recorded after each day of use and each week was used to measure energy consumption with a different set of power management options. These three sets consisted of using first, no power saving options, second, the default power saving options put in place by the University and third, adding increased power saving options inspired by Energy Star. This third set of options was implemented on each computer via a group policy. By using a group policy, each computer was able to automatically change its behavior depending upon whether it was in use by a student or sitting idle. When in use, a computer would only turn off the monitor and hard disk drive after ten minutes of inactivity. Once a student logs off, the computer would enter a sleep state after one minute and consume minimal amounts of energy. After the data collection was complete, it was discovered that an energy savings of approximately 37.7% was attained from the computers. This data can be used to map a carbon footprint for the Campus and aid in helping the University reach its commitment of carbon neutrality by the year 2020.
Category
Physical Sciences
ENERGY CONSERVATION STUDY OF STUDENT COMPUTING FACILITIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA
UC 327
Energy consumption was studied in a student computer lab for the purpose of mapping out and reducing the carbon footprint created by the daily use of student lab computers. Data was collected by using four passive energy monitors to record the consumption of fifteen lab computers over a period of three weeks. The accumulated power consumption was recorded after each day of use and each week was used to measure energy consumption with a different set of power management options. These three sets consisted of using first, no power saving options, second, the default power saving options put in place by the University and third, adding increased power saving options inspired by Energy Star. This third set of options was implemented on each computer via a group policy. By using a group policy, each computer was able to automatically change its behavior depending upon whether it was in use by a student or sitting idle. When in use, a computer would only turn off the monitor and hard disk drive after ten minutes of inactivity. Once a student logs off, the computer would enter a sleep state after one minute and consume minimal amounts of energy. After the data collection was complete, it was discovered that an energy savings of approximately 37.7% was attained from the computers. This data can be used to map a carbon footprint for the Campus and aid in helping the University reach its commitment of carbon neutrality by the year 2020.