Green Computing Information
Did you know that your computer, printer, and monitor all use electricity, even when they are turned off? Help SUNY Fredonia save power, and keep your room and board rates low!
- Definition of Power Management
- Why Conserve Energy?
- Enabling Windows XP Power Management
- Enabling Mac OS X Power Managment
- More Resources
Definition of Power Management
According to Wikipedia, Power management is a feature of some electrical appliances, especially copiers and computer peripherals such as monitors and printersthat turns off the power or switches the system to a low-power state after a period of inactivity.
What does this mean to you?
All recently manufactured computers have power management features, and most of the the time they are enabled by default. Sometimes however, manufactuers or accidental disabling of power management features can occur. Refer to the following screenshots on how to enable power management.
The production and consumption of energy from conventional sources impacts and damages our world in many ways. We can reduce those impacts by using less energy.
Energy Conservation mitigates:
Global Warming:
- Fossil fuel burning produces greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides (25% increase in atmospheric CO2 in the past 150 years).
- Leads to atmospheric warming and global climate change - heat waves, droughts, stronger and more frequent hurricanes, rising sea levels and coastal inundation, damaged ecosystems, species extinction, changes in agricultural productivity, migration of tropic diseases northward, etc.
Air Pollution:
- Carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, hydrocarbons, ozone (smog)
- These pollutants can cause bronchitis and pneumonia, irritate the lungs, and cause childhood asthma.
- Nitrogen oxides cause the brown haze seen over many cities.
- Ozone can cause permanent lung damage and reduce crop yields.
- Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides contribute to acid rain, which causes the death of lakes the world over, including the Adirondacks, even remote parts of Alaska.
(Excerpts Taken from UBGreen)
Enabling Windows XP Power Management
You can use a tool from Energy Star to automatically adjust your power settings, or you may follow the following steps to ensure your settings are optimal.
To see and enable Windows XP Power Management Settings, go to the Start menu and click Control Panel. You will then click on Power Options in the control panel.
After you select control panel, select Power Options:
After opening the Power Options Menu, you will be presented with the whatever powerscheme is setup on your computer. ResNet recommends setting up your computer for Home/Home Office. The default screen is provided:
If you often walk away from your computer or want to have your computer last longer, ResNet recommends setting your computer to the following options:
Select OK. Your computer will now be setup for power management.
Enabling Mac OS X Power Management
To enable the power management features on a Mac OS X system, go to the apple menu and select System Preferences.
After selecting System Preferences, select Energy Saver from the System Preferences Screen.
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The recomended settings are shown below:
Close out. Your computer will now be setup for power management.
- Wikipedia on Power Management
- Energy Star Government Program
- Saving Money by turning off your computer & monitor
- NYSERDA New York State Energy Research
- Campus Recycling - SUNY Fredonia Campus Recycling
- Energy Conservation - SUNY Fredonia Energy Conservation