UVA Sustainable IT Goals

To calculate UVA's local computing efficiency, we first have to take an inventory of all of UVA's servers and their efficiencies. In an attempt to collect this information, we emailed out a survey to all of the departments. This survey asked about each department's server counts, storage conditions, and the department's utilization of UVA's data center and virtualization services. We planned to use the survey's results to figure out how much excess energy, time, and resources are wasted on powering, maintaining, and storing local computing resources around Grounds. Unfortunately, only 8 departments responded to this initial survey. We are currently working on redesigning our approach so that we can more efficiently receive this information.

The director of the UVA data centers is on the Sustainable IT Working Group's Computing Optimization Subgroup. He and his team have undergone an incredible effort to renovate and update the data centers to keep them at the forefront of technological innovation and efficiency. They recently completed a full renovation of one of the data centers and have plans to update another’s cooling system to maximize its efficiency.

The Sustainable IT Working Group's Computing Optimization Subgroup is working on developing a guide that outlines the benefits and limitations of the major computing services used on Grounds, informing faculty and staff about the most efficient and inexpensive option for their needs. We cover services including, but not limited to:

• University Data Centers
• Local Virtual Machines
• External Cloud Services

Computing services usually include enhanced security, sustainable storage, on-site maintenance, and the leading computing systems, greatly almost certainly lowering their customers' workloads, cyber-risks, costs, and environmental footprints.

Many servers host forgotten and unused data, website code, and projects. Even if these unnecessary servers are stored in highly efficient or virtualized environments, they still consume a lot energy. The data center team is already working on finding and phasing out un-utilized servers in the data center. We hope that our server inventory will help to locate under-utilized and forgotten servers outside of the data center, expanding the effort to relocate, virtualize, and decommission under-utilized servers across Grounds.

As a working group, we want to make sure that UVA is committed to buying energy efficiency products whenever possible. Fortunately, UVA has been an EPEAT purchaser since 2012. In FM alone, we are saving _____ by purchasing EPEAT products compared to their non-EPEAT equivalents. However, we do not want to stop there. As a next step, through educational trainings and resources, we hope to encourage UVA students and employees to first consider EPEAT Gold and EnergySTAR certified devices. This will further enhance our sustainable procurement commitments.

To consolidate means to replace several individual devices with one, more efficient shared device. Similarly, right-sizing means purchasing a type of device that will accomplish all of one's needs without any extra energy-consuming functions. These two practices often overlap; opting for a smartphone instead of a camera, desk phone, GPS, and alarm clock is both consolidating and right-sizing. Both practices are also similar in that they help to decrease e-waste and increase overall energy efficiency.

In order to right-size and consolidate in UVA's workplaces, each department must first take an inventory of all appliances. Then, they need to target office spaces with individual and redundant devices and make an action plan to reduce these peripherals. Unfortunately, there is not a universal solution to right-size and consolidate a workplace's devices because every office has different needs. For example, HR might need personal printers for when they print out confidential information. In order to clarify this process, we are working on developing an easy to use quiz that will help employees determine the most efficient machines for their workplace needs.

We implemented strict power settings on all of UVA facilities management's centrally managed Windows devices. We have seen significant savings in energy since we implemented the changes and out of about 1200 employees, only two complained, meaning 99.8% of employees were not impacted at all by the change. We are still waiting for more data in order to calculate significant results, but the initial readings show that there have been clear drops in energy consumption already. Additionally, we are also working with Spectrum Integrators to rewire AV equipment so that classrooms and conference rooms will have centralized power settings as well.

As you can see, the progress bar's range is very large. That is because FM makes up a little more than 4% of UVA's employees and so we are estimating that we make up about 4% of IT devices as well. We do not have any information about other departments' computer settings, so the actual percentage of total centralized green power settings could be much higher. Our next steps, include working to determine how many other departments have mandated strict power settings and showing our savings to the departments that have not in order to convince them to implement settings on their devices.

Vampire IT is a phrase used to describe technological equipment that is left on when no one is using it. Although the power draw from Vampire IT is small, it adds up, costing the average American family hundreds of dollars in electricity each year.

Fortunately, there is an easy and automatic fix: smart power strips. There are many types of smart power strips, but they all turn off after a certain pre-programmed signal, such as a drop in current or a specific time. We are working on a trial to install smart power strips around the office.

However, we do not want to unnecessarily increase our e-waste, so we are running trials to ensure that the smart power strips save a significant amount of power over their lifetime. Additionally, we are using the study and outside research to determine which smart power strips work best in different parts of the workplace.

We are currently metering one workstation's smart power strip to see how it impacts power consumption, but plan to expand this trial soon. An energy engineer on the Sustainable IT Working Group is also running a trial to see how timer-based meters impact workplace kitchen energy consumption.

There are several steps a workplace can take to reduce printer waste without impacting productivity. Below is a list of resources available to UVA workplaces:

• Cavalier Computers offers an ink and toner refill program
• Implement double-sided defaults on the computers
• Restrict personal printers
• Switch to 100% recycled printer paper
• Place paper recycling bins right next to shared printers
• Subscribe to online PDF editors (e.g. Adobe, DocuSign)
• Promote the usage of shared drive services (e.g. Microsoft Teams, Google Drive)

All UVA departments are required to dispose of their electronics through our e-recycling contractor, eCycleSecure, because they ensure data destruction and proper recycling techniques. Therefore, we achieved mandated e-recycling and had to expand our goal from mandating to centralizing electronic recycling.

Until recently, eCycleSecure picked up every department's surplus separately, resulting in confusion about pick-up times, storage space security, and total pick-up quantity. Partially as a solution to this problem, UVA launched the ReUSE Store in 2018 to be a resale location that handles all university-owned surplus. The ReUSE Store stores all surplus and lists it on its website for free internal redistribution. If no UVA employee can use the product for work, items without data security risks are included in a biweekly community sale. Finally, if no one is able to reuse a product, the ReUSE Store ensures its sustainable disposal, including giving IT equipment to eCycleSecure. This project added many benefits to the university, including:

• Encouraging reuse, reducing the number of products manufactured for UVA.
• Lowered workloads for UVA employees that previously had to devote their free-time to storing and disposing of surplus.
• Freed space in departments because they no longer have to store their own surplus.
• Increased information security because surplussed equipments' data is destroyed by trained employees according to centralized standards.

These enhanced data security assurances are especially helpful for surplus IT equipment. Due to space limitations we are not able to securely store all surplus IT equipment yet, but we have started taking in equipment from a couple of better funded departments and have had total success at redistributing their products to less well-funded departments, reducing the amount of e-waste produced by the university. We are working on expanding this pilot so that all department’s surplus is sent to the ReUSE Store to be stored, redistributed, and eventually recycled. Additionally, we are also working on policies that will allow us to safely include IT equipment in community sales.

Many institutions, including some UVA departments, have recommended replacement ages for their devices to ensure that their equipment stays up-to-date and efficient. Although this would seem to be a benefit to employees, it can be disruptive to replace a machine. In fact, the vast majority of calls to our tech help desk occurs in the first few months a device is owned. So, we are working on studying when machine efficiency declines significantly in comparison to the negative environmental and workplace impacts of replacing a device.

SIT has developed a Lifecycle Optimization Calculator that estimates the environmental and financial savings from extending an institution's device lifespan. However, the calculator does not factor in machine efficiency and so we are working with UVA FM’s Help Desk data and UVA customer service data from Dell to determine when machines have such a significant drop in efficiency that it burdens the worker. Ultimately, we want to use this data with the results from the calculator to try to determine the optimal lifespan for every type of device at UVA.

An electronic device’s life cycle is generally broken up into four major phases: manufacturing, transportation, usage, and disposal. Of these, the manufacturing phase is by far the most wasteful. For almost every type of IT equipment, the device will consume nearly all of its energy during its production. Therefore, reducing devices is the most environmentally beneficial sustainable IT practice. Furthermore, reusing electronics also decreases the amount of new products needed, and therefore is the best practice for end-of-life care. Therefore, it is important for UVA to emphasize the 3Rs as an ordered list of steps that dictate how to purchase and dispose of old electronics.

We are committed to emphasizing reduction whenever possible through our right-sizing and consolidation efforts. When it is not convenient to reduce, we have several full time technology staff who are tasked with helping people maintain their current devices, decreasing the amount of new products they will need while maintaining workplace efficiency. If the device cannot be fixed or updated to suit the employees needs, then the employee can look for a replacement at the ReUSE Store and see if the ReUSE Store can take its old product. Through our tech staff and ReUSE Store efforts, we feel that we have made a commitment towards emphasizing reusing before replacement.

Finally, if a device is truly at the end of its useful life, UVA has set procedures to ensure its proper disposal through its surplus process and partnership with eCycleSecure.

Through all of these efforts, w feel that we have made a strong commitment to make it easier for people to follow the

UVA has many resources for employees that have old electronic devices (see “Centralize Surplus Procedures” and “Emphasize the Four Rs of IT”), but we want to keep any e-waste from reaching Charlottesville landfill systems. Therefore, we also aim to encourage electronic recycling throughout the Charlottesville community. In order to do so, UVA Sustainability, UVA Information Security, and eCycleSecure - our e-cycling contractor - have partnered to host annual tech take backs for the Charlottesville community. eCycleSecure collects the equipment for free and ensures data destruction and proper recycling techniques.

UVA collects and stores a lot of data on many of its systems, buildings, and operations. In order to systematically figure out areas of inefficiencies, we can analyze this data. Therefore, before we begin any project we want to make sure that we look through any relevant data to confirm that we are approaching the problem in a beneficial and efficient manner. Additionally, as part of this goal, we want to make sure that data is available to interested students and faculty who want to start their own projects. UVA's DevHub has publicized much of this data as APIs that are accessible in the UVA system. We are also working with Darden Data Science Club, Data Science and Analytics Club, and Machine Learning Club to plan workshops and data case competitions that will help students learn how to analyze data to solve real problems.

Travel can be incredibly taxing on the environment, but telecommuting can pose as an efficient solution. Telecommuting technologies have come a long way over the past decade, so now it is much easier to work from home or virtually attend a meeting. However, we understand that the ability to telecommute greatly depends on the person and workplace environment. Additionally, the benefits from telecommuting are largely felt when a person telecommutes full time or when they have a shared desk space, which is not always possible. Therefore, we are focusing most of our efforts on ensuring that telecommuting technologies are accessible for those who can use it and we are only encouraging that people telecommute to far away meetings.

UVA has a number of systems in place that make it easier to telecommute when an employee is able. They are listed below.

• Partnerships with online meeting systems such as Zoom
• Accounts with Google Drive and Microsoft 365 Capabilities That Make Remote Collaboration Possible
• AV Equipment and Desk Phones in Most Conference Rooms
• A Virtual Meeting Option on Our Meeting Scheduling System

As a working group, we want to help other sustainable efforts with their technological needs. Although we do not have the skills to do every project, we do our best to connect people with technology people who can help them. Below are a list of sustainability and collaboration projects that we were approached to facilitate.

Accomplishments:
Rather than quantifying progress, we are listing accomplishments because we feel that this is an ongoing effort that we have already made a commitment to work on.

AR for Stormwater Best Management Practices

The Environmental Stewardship Subcommittee's Water Working Group asked us to help create an automated reality (AR) application that would allow people to learn about and engage with the stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) and help FM employees inspect the BMPs for efficiency and functionality. Although we were not able to directly help them with this project, we referred them to a group of employees who are now working on developing an application with these specifications.

Surplus Laptops to the Ugandan Heart Institute

Dr. Keita Ikeda from UVA's Department of Anesthesiology volunteers for the Ugandan Heart Institute (UHI), which is desperately in need of more computers so they can more efficiently store and analyze their electronic medical records. Keita was frustrated that his department was disposing of devices that had hit their recommended lifespan, but still would have been very helpful for the UHI. He reached out to one of the SIT co-chairs and we set up a meeting with him and the head of the ReUSE Store, Glenn Shifflett. Glenn connected Keita with our electronic recycling contractors, eCycleSecure, who happily agreed to donate the laptops UHI needed, reducing e-waste and supporting a great cause.

All of the initiatives before this one can largely be categorized in one of two ways: decreasing a negative impact of technology or using technology to provide a benefit to the environment. Our ultimate initiative is to standardize the positive and negative technological impacts at UVA, so that we can compare them and calculate the overall net impact of UVA IT. Once we have this formula, we can target our efforts towards creating a positive impact where the benefits we are creating with technology exceed the negative impacts of tech.

We are primarily working on increasing student awareness in three ways: educational and promotional tabling, volunteering and judging at student-run hackathons, and expanding student involvement in the working groups projects. We believe that the best way to make a difference and promote sustainable technology is by informing and empowering students to engage with sustainable IT practices throughout their lives and future careers.

Accomplishments:
Rather than quantifying progress, for Goal 5 we are listing accomplishments because we feel that these are ongoing initiatives that we have committed to working on.

Tabling

• Activities Fair Fall 2018
• First Year Move-In Fall 2018
• WICS Hackathon Spring 2018, 2019
• HackUVA Hackathon Spring 2018, 2019

Hackathons

• Sponsor Best Prize in Sustainability, HackUVA Spring Hackathon 2018, 2019
• Judge at HackUVA Spring Hackathon 2018, 2019
• Zero-Waste HackUVA Hackathon Spring 2019

Direct Student Involvement

• Planning a Data Science Case Competition with Data Science and Analytics Club
• Created a Sustainable IT Slack Page for Faculty and Student Members to Interact
• Increased Student Membership

Our efforts with staff and faculty are two-fold. On one-hand, we aim to educate tech employees about specific Sustainable IT practices that they can implement in their departments and provide them with tools and resources that will make it easy for them to execute these practices. On the other hand, we want to make sure that the non-technical employees at UVA are aware of ways that they can quickly and easily improve their own sustainable technology footprint, primarily through our training and website resource recommendation survey.

Accomplishments:
Rather than quantifying progress, for Goal 5 we are listing accomplishments because we feel that these are ongoing initiatives that we have committed to working on.

Presentations

• UVA LSP Conferences, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019
• ITAC 2018, 2019
• UVA Shield Security Conference, 2018
• Sustainable IT Workplace Training Presentation

Develop Guides and Tools

• Lifecycle Optimization Calculator
• Resource Recommendation Survey
• In Progress: Computing Resources Guide

UVA's success depends on the success of the community that houses it. That is why all of UVA's sustainability efforts recognize the importance of working in with the greater Charlottesville community. We have volunteered at a few community-wide events in the past and are currently planning a public tech take back with ITS, so people from around the community can responsibly dispose of their own electronics. Additionally, we helped Dr. Ikeda from UVA's Department of Anesthesiology locate used laptops to donate to the Ugandan Heart Institute, where he volunteers much of his time. Large thank you to Ecyclesecure - our electronic recycling provider that donated laptops to this cause, sacrificing their own profit to cut down on e-waste and support a good cause.

Accomplishments:
Rather than quantifying progress, for Goal 5 we are listing accomplishments because we feel that these are ongoing initiatives that we have committed to working on.

• Tabling at Girl's Day 2018, 2019
• Won Overall Favorite Vendor Table at Girl's Day 2019
• Held an Event at FM's Bring Your Child to Work Day 2018
• Developed a Sustainable IT Website
• Facilitated the Donation of Surplus Computers to the Ugandan Heart Institute
• Tech Take Back with ITS and E-Cycle Secure in Fall 2019