State cuts greenhouse emissions with new software

State cuts greenhouse emissions with new software

Energy-saving software now available from the Washington State Department of Information Services (DIS) will reduce state government greenhouse emissions by millions of pounds each year. This effort is part of a request from the Governor's Office for all state agencies to achieve measurable energy savings.

The software cuts energy usage by automatically placing desktop and laptop computers into lower power settings when not in use, resulting in an average cost savings of $20 per computer, per year.

DIS, a technology provider for state and local government, negotiated a master contract with software company, Verdiem, making energy-saving software available to not only state agencies, but also local and tribal governments, and qualified non-profit organizations in Washington.

The DIS master contract provides the lowest price available -- $15 per computer, with an annual maintenance cost of $2 per computer.

Early reports indicate that drops in energy consumption will be considerable. When the Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT) has implemented the software on all 7,200 DOT computers, the agency will save approximately 5 million kilowatt hours each year, equivalent to over 2 million pounds in greenhouse emissions.

The energy-saving software will be used by all cabinet level state agencies by June 30, 2008. The ultimate goal is for energy-saving software to be implemented on all state-owned desktop and laptop computers.

For more information about Verdiem software, contact Scott Smith at 360-902-3336, or via email at ss@dis.wa.gov.