Mayor Aims to Green City's Information Technology

Mayor Aims to Green City's Information Technology

(February 25, 2008)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--Last week, Mayor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Directive 08-01 which will measure and reduce the environmental impact of information and communication technology (ICT). Based on the experience of commercial buildings, approximately 20-25% of building energy is attributable to ICT.



Because of this impact, ICT has significant potential to enable innovative solutions to the environmental challenges of energy use and can be an effective tool to advance sustainable economic development.

Executive Directive 08-01 will limit the environmental impact of the lifecycle of equipment, from production through use to disposal. Actions called for in this Directive aim to reduce municipal government's ICT-related greenhouse gas emissions by 24% by 2012. These actions include:



- Beginning in April 2008, city departments shall only purchase personal and notebook computers and monitors that meet at least the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) Silver standard, with a preference for the Gold standard.

- The Committee on Information Technology (COIT) shall ensure technology projects are reviewed for environmental impact and support the City's environmental goals.

- By June 2008, the Department of Technology and Information Services (DTIS) shall implement a paper reduction pilot program with the goal to reduce general office paper consumption by 20%. At the conclusion of this pilot program, the City's Chief Information Officer will recommend a paper reduction policy to COIT for immediate implementation.

- By September 2008, DTIS shall report on the results of a pilot program to implement centralized power management systems for personal computers. This will strengthen Executive Order 05-104 (September 23, 2005) which mandated the installation of power management functions.



Finally, the City's Chief Information Officer will develop a baseline measurement of energy consumption and environmental impact of the City's overall ICT operations to be able to measure and fully implement supporting steps that will enable us to continue to find new strategies to address the environmental challenges of energy use and waste creation.