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Top2. Green Computing: A Background
The first step towards the green computing movement was the commencement of the Energy Star programme in 1992 by US government. The major objective of the energy star programme is to assign a voluntary label to the computer products that were successful in minimizing energy consumption while maximizing efficiency. This label was also awarded to monitors, refrigerators, television sets, air conditioners, etc. The first result of green computing research was resulted in the introduction of sleep mode function for the computer monitors. This function allows the computer to go standby mode after a pre-set period passes without any user activity. Concurrently, the Swedish organization (TCO Development) launched the TCO Certification program to promote low magnetic and electrical emissions from CRT-based computer displays. This program was later expanded to include criteria on energy consumption, ergonomics, and the use of hazardous materials in construction. Basically, the whole green aspect came about quite a few years back when the news that the environment is not a renewable resource. Then the people started realizing that they had to do their part to protect the environment. After this, various concepts like energy cost accounting, thin client solutions, e-Waste, virtualization, etc. were developed.
On the other hand, in Information Technology (IT) domain, the term “green computing” can be define as the efficient use of computers and computing environment. The triple bottom line is what is important when it comes to anything green and the same goes for green computing. This considers social responsibility, economic viability and the impact on the environment. But, when it comes to computers, many businesses simply focus on a bottom line, rather than a green triple bottom line due to the economic viability. But the whole idea is to make the whole process friendlier to the environment, economy, and society. This means manufacturers should create computers in a way that reflects the triple bottom line. So, once computers are sold, the businesses or people can use them in a greener way by reducing power consumption and finally disposing them properly. The idea is to make computers from beginning to the end a green product.