How Windows 7 Can Help You Green Your Nonprofit or Library

In these tough economic times, there are a few relatively easy steps you can take to reduce waste in your IT systems. These measures will not only make your systems more efficient; they'll also save money and reduce your impact on the environment.

Why is it important to reduce your computer power use? Power plants are the largest source of CO2 emissions in the US, creating approximately 40% of emissions. Of course computers get their power from the power grid, but did you know that computers waste nearly half the energy they pull from the wall as heat?

Starting this month, most new PCs will have Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system on them. Windows 7 is much more advanced in power conservation than its predecessors, both for end users and for IT administrators. The new operating system makes it easier both to reduce power consumption and to minimize hardware obsolescence.

For those who want to try the software, TechSoup already carries Windows 7 upgrades for nonprofits and libraries; even those that have already made a Microsoft request this year can order.

Power Management

Microsoft made three key improvements to power consumption in Windows 7:

• They changed the way Windows works with displays.
• They added new tools for managing energy consumption.
• They changed the way the operating system runs different services in the background.

What that means for you:

• The factory setting dims your monitor after a few minutes of inactivity before it shuts off completely; also, monitors with built-in ambient light sensors can produce less backlighting when they detect sufficient ambient light.
• The user has a finer level of control over the power management settings and it's easier to manage those settings remotely.
• Sometimes computer programs run tasks in the background without you even knowing it. Sometimes those tasks can prevent your computer from going to sleep when it should or have your processor turn on and off repeatedly when you aren’t even using it. Windows 7 minimizes this problem and unless you’re a developer, you probably won’t even notice a change

In early November, we had two Microsoft experts demo the new power saving features of Windows 7 in our two webinars:

Green Tech Tips from Microsoft for Small Organizations and Green Tech Tips from Microsoft for Large Organizations

Several reviewers have been analyzing Windows 7 from an environmental perspective:

• Can Windows 7 make PCs Green? “With hundreds of millions of PCs draining batteries and tapping into power outlets around the world, even a small tweak in Microsoft Windows can influence global energy consumption.”
• CNet Video Review
• ZDNet "It’s no secret that I’ve been left struggling to come up with a Windows 7 killer feature. I think I might have found it, and it comes in the form of lower power consumption."
• Treehugger "According to Engadget, Microsoft showed off the battery-saving capabilities of Windows 7, which proved a bare minimum of 11% better battery life thanks to the software, helping users green up their laptop by using that much less electricity for charging."

Hardware Obsolescence

According to a Softchoice study, 88% of corporate PCs currently in use can run Windows 7 today (by comparison, only 50% can run Vista); from an e-waste perspective, that's great news. Softchoice found that 93% of PCs are still running Windows XP, which disables power management by default.

If you're already ready to upgrade, you can find both the professional and enterprise versions of Windows 7 on TechSoup. Request your donation now (Admin fees = $8-$9/license).

Learn More About Windows 7

For third party reviews, upgrade steps, software compatibility, and everything you need to know to make the best decision for your organization about Windows 7, visit our Windows 7 Resource Center.

Learn more about saving power on your computers in our educational campaign: Unpower Yourself! Enter our contest before November 20, 2009.

Photo: Grant MacDonald, CC license