Colleges get help to go green

School energy bills can be high

JISC, the body that oversees IT in education, has launched a three-year programme to support colleges and universities in their adoption of more environmentally friendly IT practices.

The programme began last week with invitations to universities and colleges to bid for funding for projects to investigate green IT and to run exemplar projects in energy-use reduction.

JISC programme manager Rob Bristow said the scheme was even more important now the government has proposed to link institutional capital funding to carbon reduction targets.

"Given that institutions’ ICT-related electricity bills in 2009 are likely to be in the order of £116m… it’s clear that action needs to be taken," he said.

"JISC is developing tools to help universities and colleges address the environmental impact of their ICT use."

Earlier this year, JISC released a report entitled Sustainable ICT in Further and Higher Education, which contained institutional examples of best practice.

It also gave recommendations on purchasing environmentally friendly hardware and software, as well as recommendations on server virtualisation, thin client technology, energy efficiency, power management and remote working.

The body has also launched a tool that helps institutes calculate their IT footprint.