From research labs to staff desks to student dorms, computers are a way of life here at Stanford. Everywhere you go on campus, you are in the midst of technology. Stanford hosts approximately 35,000 desktop and laptop computers and has roughly 6000 servers used for administrative and research computing. All of this equipment is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, especially when every stage of its production and use lifecycle is accounted for, such as manufacturing, use, and disposal. In addition, computers generate heat and it often takes as much energy to cool computing equipment as it takes to run it. Approximately 15% of our campus electricity energy use is due to our IT infrastructure.

The Sustainable IT program began as a joint effort between the Department of Sustainability and Energy Management (SEM) and Information Technology (IT) Services to address sustainability issues for both the equipment and the energy used to run it. The ultimate goal is to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by computing and information technology-related activities.

Programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from IT result in costs savings as well. As Stanford becomes more efficient in running the computing infrastructure, the campus is purchasing less hardware, using less electricity, reducing cooling needs, and recycling more electronic waste.