Putney School Vermont

Putney School Vermont

Putney School Vermont

Earth Day conjures up images of gardens and roadside cleanups, but there are many ways to celebrate the Earth indoors. Environmentally friendly computing practices require some habit breaking and a little education, but can make a large impact on both the environment and energy costs. Consider enacting green changes at school this spring.

Cost of Computers

A typical PC uses about 100 watts of power, a small monitor from 50 to 150 watts, and printers anywhere from 5 to 100 watts. Assume a lab at school has 20 computers running on average about 200 watts each (including sharing one printer for the lab) and are not shut down at night or on the weekend. If the cost per kWh is around 8 cents then the annual cost to run the lab, not counting air conditioning, is about $1500. By shutting down the lab for nights and weekends, that annual cost drops to around $600.