Green IT: A holistic approach for identifying sustainable performance

Green IT is more than taking single factors into account or realising technical improves such as energy efficiency or lead free components. Green IT has to be considered holistically in order to ensure added value for your company and to face the challenges in near future. Today the ICT-sector contributes with 2 percent of worldwide CO2-emissions - the same amount as the aviation sector. But responsibles often only think about influencing the use phase, about reduction of heat generation and about an efficient cooling system. But that is just a part of the entire story. The paper will address more layers of Green IT. It will show how to address the entire life cycle of information technology, i.e. equipment, the entire life cycle of infrastructure, i.e. facility management, and most importantly the optimization of first level effects, i.e. the entire IT system, and the credits from second level effects, i.e. substitution effects through application of IT instead of old fashioned systems. Each section will be supported from examples and methods how to assess and evaluate the sustainability performance of IT, discuss mechanisms and approaches how to do it efficiently and will show results accompanied by related action items to go for green IT planning and implementation.