ENERGY-EFFICIENT OFFICE EQUIPMENT

Many scientists now say that global climate change is underway due primarily to the burning of fossil fuels and the resulting build-up of carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gases" in the atmosphere. Climate change threatens human health and well-being because it causes more severe storms and droughts, rising sea levels, increased spread of infectious diseases, and other adverse effects.

As the debate unfolds over a stronger international treaty to curtail greenhouse gas emissions, there is much that individual Americans can do in our homes and workplaces to reduce our contribution to global warming. The good news is that many of these actions can save money as well as protect our environment.

Office equipment is the fastest growing use of electricity in U.S. commercial buildings and among the fastest growing in homes. With this increased power consumption comes an increase in the amount of fossil fuels burned in power plants and more emissions that contribute to global warming, urban smog, and acid rain. The electricity used to run our office equipment already costs businesses and homeowners about $4.85 billion each year.

Office equipment that is left on overnight or for long periods during the day when it is not in use accounts for a large share of office equipment electricity use. Fax machines, typically on for 24 hours per day, are active for only about one hour. Computers and monitors are used more intensively than most other office equipment, but on average are active barely half of the time during the day. Amazingly, about a quarter of this equipment is left on in offices at night.

To curtail such unnecessary energy consumption, new “power-managed” office equipment has been developed. Power-managed products save energy when the equipment is inactive, but not “off,” by entering a low-power or “sleep” mode. As a result, electricity use can be cut by 40 to 60%. The savings from power management are particularly large for products that use a lot of energy, such as computer monitors and most copiers, laser printers, and fax machines that contain electric heating elements.

Nearly all manufacturers of office equipment have joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s voluntary ENERGY STAR^® Office Equipment Program. The ENERGY STAR label identifies new energy-efficient, power-managed office equipment. [See sample ENERGY STAR label below.] While manufacturers of ENERGY STAR equipment are required to ship their products with their power-management features enabled, users should make sure that these features are operating on new equipment.

To see how the savings can add up, consider a typical small office, with 10 computers, 10 monitors, 1 printer, 1 fax machine, and one medium-volume copier. The copier consumes more electricity than any single piece of equipment, but taken together, the 10 monitors consume the most electricity -- over twice as much as the copier. In this small office, power-managed ENERGY STAR equipment can save more than 3,500 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, worth $265 at today’s average commercial electric rates. [See chart of cost savings below.] The EPA estimates that the ENERGY STAR Office Equipment Program will save 21 billion kilowatt-hours and 2.3 billion pounds of carbon dioxide in the year 2000, equivalent to taking 807,000 cars off of the road.

Power-managed office equipment costs no more than comparable equipment without this feature, and it performs equally well. In addition, the equipment is generally less noisy (from reduced fan operation) and lasts longer. These products also produce less waste heat, improving comfort within the office and reducing air-conditioning load. Innovations like ENERGY STAR office equipment can help us take significant steps to save money, reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and protect the planet from global warming.