Neel Mehta
As part of the third annual initiative to reduce the government’s energy consumption, Aug. 27 will mark the day when civilian agencies and military, and the industries that serve them will power down all electronics.
Power IT Down Day expands on President Barack Obama’s GreenGov Final Report, which solicited clean-energy ideas from more than 14,000 federal employees. The report lists turning off all computers, locally connected printers, and other non-networked peripherals as one of the top three ways to save energy.
Tom Simmons, vice president of Citrix U.S. Public Sector, a sponsor of the initiative, said because Power IT Down Day falls on a Friday this year, government and industry will be able to save even more energy ““ not only on one night, but for the entire weekend.
“That“™s a potential savings of 55 kilowatt hours per person, which can quickly add up to a significant impact on responsible energy consumption,“ he said.
Intel, another sponsor of the Power IT Down, said it helps drive federal-energy efficiency awareness through Power IT Down Day, and each year the response from people wanting to partake becomes “more enthusiastic.“
“Individuals clearly want to do their bit to be part of the solution as opposed to part of the problem,” said Nigel Ballard, Intel’s director of federal marketing. “We“™re clearly onto something good here!“
According to the Government Accountability Office, the federal government is the nation“™s single largest energy consumer, with federal buildings accounting for about 35 percent of the government“™s total energy use in fiscal year 2009.
