EcoFIT2: EcoLOGICAL FOOTPRINT for IT ASSESSMENT

After the successful completion of the 1st project phase EcoFIT (1) in spring 2009, Siemens IT Solutions and Services, footprint consult and SERI are continuing their interdisciplinary cooperation. Purpose of this project: creating an EcoFIT-Assessment-Tool to evaluate, for instance the ecologic footprint of IT-based Business Services (e.g. E-mail).

The main object of this project is to calculate the ecological footprint per Business Service and furthermore the footprint from the transactions of the service, for example of an E-mail. The implementation of a service-index model, which is considering the ITIL guidelines, makes it possible to determine the resource coefficient for the needed infrastructure of the business service. Scientific consultants together with technical and commercial specialists are developing through mutual expert talks a system for calculating the ecological footprint per Business Service. Siemens’ – special data is used on a common level as well as a questionnaire for the determination of such data of potential customers is elaborated.

The preliminary study demonstrated that 75 % of the EF of the Data Center is due to its high energy consumption. That is the reason why a higher degree of consolidated knowledge, especially regarding the share of IT equipment and non IT equipment, is desired. In addition a more detailed assumption to define a typical office working place in terms of energy- and resource efficiency is taken in consideration.

Important parts of a company’s EF are the specific mobility and the specific alimentation of its employees. National average peak indicators are the basis for the results in EcoFIT (1). A bottom-up approach, to investigate the specific mobility and the specific nutrition, but still considering the employees privacy, is recommended.
At the moment, no scientific proofed evidence of sufficient data for embodied EF and embodied energy for IT- and non-IT-Equipment can be found. For this reason, data provided from the producers and interviews with technical experts should fill these data gaps.

Long-term goal of the “EcoFIT-Calculator”
Intended EcoFIT-Consultants together with the customer, are able to evaluate (reasonable accurate) the requested IT Footprint due to a EcoFIT Calculator (similar to the Footprint calculator) and compare the result to the potential IT Footprint from the Siemens IT Solutions and Services Data Center in order to make adequate suggestions for improvement.