UNC-CH Information Technology Services

Classroom Hotline proves it is easy being green

Summer is heating up at Carolina and like many departments across campus, ITS Teaching and Learning has shifted into high-gear, preparing computer labs for fall semester. The Classroom Hotline group will be life-cycling 200 computers in student labs, upgrading each system to the Carolina Computing Initiative’s (CCI) new eco-friendly model, the Lenovo m57eco tower.

New to the CCI line-up in 2008, the m57eco tower is the latest energy-conscious product to be used by the Classroom Hotline staff.

“These units offer reduced power consumption, reduced heat emissions, and less noise,” said Charlie Green, assistant vice chancellor for teaching and learning. “It is another example of ‘green initiatives’ being introduced on campus by ITS, in consultation with Student Government, with the express purpose of promoting energy savings and a cleaner environment.”

Earlier this year, the group introduced a low-emission neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) to its fleet of electric bikes.

The m57eco tower is one of only 40 desktop computers on the market to be granted a gold rating with the new Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT).

EPEAT, a non-profit organization created in 2006, offers computer manufacturers a guide with consistent product performance criteria to use during the design and manufacturing processes. The EPEAT rating system is also used as a procurement tool to help large volume purchasers in both the public and private sectors evaluate, compare, and select desktop and notebook computers and monitors based on their environmental attributes.

According to the Green Electronics Council:

“All EPEAT-registered computers have reduced levels of cadmium, lead, and mercury to better protect human health and the environment. [EPEAT-registered computers] are more energy efficient, which reduces emissions of climate changing greenhouse gases.”

The EPEAT scale, which includes three categories-bronze, silver and gold, is based on established industry criteria, primarily addressing a product’s environmental performance characteristics as well as a corporation’s general environmental policy. A total of 582 computer products have been rated by the EPEAT scale to date. Gold-rated products must pass a stringent test which includes meeting all 23 required criteria plus meeting an additional 21 of 28 (75%) optional criteria.

Classroom Hotline will install the new machines in computer labs in the Frank Porter Graham Student Union and the R. B. House Undergraduate Library as well as in a handful of limited-access labs across campus. Computers are life-cycled on a three-year rotation plan.