The vast majority of large companies have yet to build green IT requirements into how they buy and use technology, according to analyst Forrester Research.

While 85 per cent of IT professionals believe environmental factors are important in planning IT operations, just a quarter have written green criteria into their company’s purchasing processes.

'Our customer survey and interviews provide a directional view into the nascent green thinking of enterprise IT organisations,' said Christopher Mines senior vice president at Forrester Research.

'We heard two reasons why green matters: efficiency and corporate responsibility. Most IT decision-makers told us that a green purchase would only happen in the context of cost reduction.'

One chief technology officer at a manufacturing company said: 'We would do green because it makes business sense, not because it’s green. It would have to show cost savings.'

The Forrester survey found that IT buyers want to hear more about vendors’ efforts to design more environmentally responsible products.

Only 15 per cent of the IT professionals surveyed have a high level of awareness of vendors’ green initiatives, and most say they are hearing little or nothing from top-tier vendors about green solutions.

But Mines says green issues will impact purchasing decisions in the future.

'Technology marketers today will find increasingly receptive audiences for green evangelism,' he said 'Slowly, that receptivity will translate into action on the part of enterprise IT organisations.'