Citrix Systems, Inc., HP and Intel welcome new sponsor GTSI for the third annual Power IT Down Day on Friday, August 27, 2010. Power IT Down Day encourages civilian agencies and military, and the industries that serve them, to power down their computers, printers, monitors and other peripherals at the end of the work day on August 27 in an effort to help the government reduce its energy consumption. Just last month, the United States Government Accountability Office issued a report that reiterated the federal government is the nation’s largest energy consumer.

These simple, end-of-the-work day steps were echoed and encouraged in the February 2010 GreenGov Final Report, which includes more than 5,000 ideas from more than 14,000 federal employees. The report, which resulted from President Obama’s GreenGov Challenge last fall, lists “powering down all desktop computers, locally connected printers, and other non-net- worked peripherals” as one of the top three ways to conserve energy.

Like the GreenGov Challenge, Power IT Down Day is intended to harness the power of the individual in helping government become more energy efficient. The first two Power IT Down Day events are good examples of what can be accomplished by the individual. Just last year, about 5,600 individuals pledged to power down their IT equipment on August 27, which led to more than 73,000 kilowatt hours saved and enough energy savings to power 77 American homes for a month.

Individuals can sign up for the event at the new Power IT Down website, which also provides green IT resources and information. Registrants have the option to invite friends to participate in this year’s Power IT Down Day activities.

The Power IT Down Day sponsors will again make a donation to the Wounded Warrior Project to show what can be accomplished with the money saved from Power IT Down Day activities. In 2009, the Wounded Warrior Project, whose mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors, received $45,000 from Power IT Down Day sponsors.

Quotes

• Tom Simmons, area vice president – US Public Sector at Citrix – “Participation doubled during last year’s Power IT Down Day, and we hope to reach even more individuals in 2010. Because Power IT Down Day falls on a Friday this year, government and industry have the chance to save even more energy – not only on one night, but for the entire weekend. That’s a potential savings of 55 kilowatt hours per person, which can quickly add up to a significant impact on responsible energy consumption.”
• Nigel Ballard, director of federal marketing, Intel – “Each year, Intel helps drive federal energy efficiency awareness through Power IT Down Day, and each year the response from people wanting to get involved becomes more enthusiastic. Individuals clearly want to do their bit to be part of the solution as opposed to part of the problem. We’re clearly onto something good here!”
• Tom Hempfield, vice president, US Federal, HP – “HP encourages our employees to exercise healthy energy savings habits, and Power IT Down Day is one way we can help our customers do the same. Every individual makes a difference.”
• Denise L. Harrison, chief information officer and vice president, GTSI – “The simple, individual act of powering down at the end of the day can help us gain control of our energy consumption and generate meaningful budget savings along the way. At GTSI, we have targeted about 20% server consolidation through virtualization and server upgrades by the end of this calendar year. Some of the newer servers can have power efficiency improvements as much as 61% over older servers. Evaluating true needs and powering down is good business and good for the environment. We get new technology, better management tools and more power efficiency. Hard to dispute the benefits.”

Facts and Highlights

• The goal for Power IT Down Day 2010 is 6,100 registered participants.
• Power IT Down Day 2009 doubled government and industry registrations compared to the 2008 event (from 2,800 to 5,600) and saved more than 73,000 kilowatt hours in a single night.
• The federal government is the nation’s single largest energy consumer, with federal buildings accounting for about 35 percent of the government’s total energy use in fiscal year 2009. (Source: Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency, U.S. Environmental Protection, August 2007.)
• Power IT Down Day estimates that one person can save 13 kilowatt hours overnight by powering down at the end of the workday. The savings for a full weekend comes to 55 kilowatt hours per person. Reaching our Power IT Down Day 2010 goal of 6,100 participants could save more than 335,000 kilowatt hours – a potential energy savings of more than $45,000.