158 Green Computing
8.10 Understanding the Unique Energy Needs of IT
Using renewable energy for IT is different than for just about any other major
organizational activity. That’s because IT is so much about heat.
All the devices that are part of IT generate heat. End-user devices—smart-
phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, and monitors—all generate heat. So do the
transformers that help power them.
This heat adds to heat from lighting and body heat, as well as heat trapped
in a building’s materials and air spaces, to significantly increase the cooling
needs of a typical office. So end-user devices contribute a great deal to air con-
ditioning costs in typical offices.
The real villain, though, from an energy-use perspective, is the racks of ...