14. Sustainable ICT

Message to our students and staff

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is central to daily life at Charles Sturt University. As technology continues to advance, the ICT community works to focus progress on efficiently and sustainably serving individuals, institutions and broader society.

The term ICT can be applied to any piece of technology that helps people communicate and interact with one another. ICT equipment is PCs and monitors, data centres, server rooms, network cables and routers, printers and copiers, telephones and video conferencing equipment, etc. All of this equipment requires the use of resources in manufacture (plastics, metals etc.) as well as electricity to operate. Sustainable (or green) ICT refers to the minimal use of resources and energy in the manufacture, use and disposal of ICT equipment.

• See the Sustainable ICT sheet [PDF 273KB]

Importance of sustainable ICT

ICT-related energy and environmental issues, such as electricity consumption in data centres, and e-waste are increasingly important to Charles Sturt University. The turnover of hardware is quickly becoming one of the greatest waste issues of this century, along with associated costs and the social implications of disposing, often toxic, e-waste to developing countries.

Our investment into ICT reflects the increasingly important role it has in enhancing the student experience, improving workplace efficiency and maximising wider social benefits and impacts.

• Division of Information Technology Environmental Sustainability (DITES) Working Group meets quarterly with Sustainability at Charles Sturt.

Progress towards best practice

This framework was benchmarked in 2014. The below graph illustrates our progress towards best practice across the eight (8) activity areas as of May 2020. The absence of a blue bar indicates ‘no progress’ for this activity area.

Action Plan

• See the Charles Sturt Sustainable ICT Action Plan [PDF 269KB]

Improved sustainable information and communications technology (ICT)

Charles Sturt University has recently taken a number of steps to improve ICT sustainability including:

• establishing automated processes for shutting down public access computers after hours across the University
• implementing a proactive default energy management policy on staff computers which places computers in hibernation mode after hours
• consideration of Energy Star ratings in the procurement of computers – find out more about the performance of individual equipment at the Charles Sturt University Computer Shop webpage
• relocation of enterprise servers to externally-hosted, state-of-the-art data warehouses offering best practices in energy efficiency (e.g. hot and cold aisles)
• continual advancement in video and desktop conferencing technologies ensuring these are convenient to access and offer a viable alternative to face-to face meetings requiring physical travel
• rationalisation of standalone printers to shared multi-function devices to reduce equipment needs and associated energy use
• partnership with Ricoh Australia for used toner cartridge recycling
• driving the proportion of e-waste sent to landfill towards zero via a comprehensive asset collection and re-sale process

Steps you can take to support sustainable ICT systems in place across Charles Sturt University include:

• avoid modifying proactive energy management policies and duplex / black and white printer settings that have been established on your computer
• using a powerboard with master power switch to eliminate stand-by power
• ensuring you make use of the toner cartridge recycling system available across Charles Sturt University
• placing used batteries from wireless peripheral devices into the nearest battery recycling bin
• becoming familiar with the various Charles Sturt University conference technologies and ensuring you and your colleagues make use of these whenever possible in place of physical travel
• always logging an IT Service Desk request and submitting an Asset Disposal Form when you have an obsolete Charles Sturt University issued computer or peripheral device that requires responsible disposal
• returning old laptop batteries to the university Computer Shop for responsible disposal

Relocation of the data centres to Sydney from Wagga and Bathurst, Division of Information Technology.