> Powering off for Earth Hour
Powering off for Earth Hour
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March 25, 2008
It’s just one small contribution, but SFU’s Matthew Laird believes that turning off a cluster of computers in the SFU research lab run by professor Fiona Brinkman on March 29 will do more than conserve a little energy.
Laird has put a challenge out to other departments and labs to turn off unneeded servers, workstations, and other labs where machines sit unused on weekends as part of the global Earth Hour event.
The event (see www.earthhour.org) challenges everyone to spend an hour conserving energy (from 8 – 9 p.m.).
"We felt it was important to do this to help raise awareness about the everyday ways you can contribute to the climate change solution,” says Laird, lead software developer in the field of bioinformatics in the Brinkman lab. He estimates the shut down will save about 116 kWh.
“When you add it up, computers left idling all night draw tremendous amounts of power."
Meanwhile SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences technical staff are encouraging faculty, staff and students via email and poster campaigns this week to power off all their equipment for the whole weekend – for an estimated savings of 2,240 kWh.
According to SFU energy expert Mark Jaccard, the average household utilizes about 12,000 kWh per year.
Several Metro Vancouver municipalities have joined the event, which to date has more than 13,000 businesses and nearly 200,000 individuals signed up. Those numbers are expected to climb significantly during the week.
Laird has put a challenge out to other departments and labs to turn off unneeded servers, workstations, and other labs where machines sit unused on weekends as part of the global Earth Hour event.
The event (see www.earthhour.org) challenges everyone to spend an hour conserving energy (from 8 – 9 p.m.).
"We felt it was important to do this to help raise awareness about the everyday ways you can contribute to the climate change solution,” says Laird, lead software developer in the field of bioinformatics in the Brinkman lab. He estimates the shut down will save about 116 kWh.
“When you add it up, computers left idling all night draw tremendous amounts of power."
Meanwhile SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences technical staff are encouraging faculty, staff and students via email and poster campaigns this week to power off all their equipment for the whole weekend – for an estimated savings of 2,240 kWh.
According to SFU energy expert Mark Jaccard, the average household utilizes about 12,000 kWh per year.
Several Metro Vancouver municipalities have joined the event, which to date has more than 13,000 businesses and nearly 200,000 individuals signed up. Those numbers are expected to climb significantly during the week.