Technology executives at computer companies are beginning to look at ways to conserve energy, as servers and the systems used to cool them burn up increasing amounts of power, the chief information officer for Sun Microsystems said Thursday.
“The average corporate CIO doesn’t pay his or her power bill. That’s paid by whoever runs the real estate, (so) it’s not in their conscious thought,” William Vass said. “It’s time for the real-estate folks to charge back power resources to the CIO. And suddenly … they’ll look at it in a much different way, and that will change behavior significantly.”
Vass was in town to discuss business strategies for improved energy consumption at the Sustainable Opportunities Summit in Boulder. The three-day conference, which ends today, is hosted by Connected Organizations for a Responsible Economy.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sun saved $24 million on energy bills last year, Vass said, by deploying “thin-client technology” through out its offices in place of desktops and laptops.
Employees insert a smart card – typically a security badge – into a flat-panel monitor to access the company’s network. All information is stored at a central location.
The company said its several thousand thin clients each use only 11 watts, a fraction of what a desktop uses. The company has sold 500,000 Sun Ray thin clients to customers.
“A lot of us don’t have offices,” Vass said. “We’re deploying these thin clients at home now, so rather than lugging a laptop around with corporate data on it, they can simply carry their badge between home and work every day.”
Sun has 38,600 employees worldwide, with 4,700 in Colorado, including Storage Technology. Vass said it would take another 12 to 15 months to integrate its eco- friendly systems with Louisville-based StorageTek, which it acquired in June.
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-820-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
