In previous LEF research, we established that much of the ‘Green IT’ emphasis was misplaced.  Reducing the energy consumption of IT equipment and services is certainly a very good idea, but IT power consumption accounts for only 2% of the world's energy consumption.  The real value of information technology will be in reducing the other 98% of energy usage through smarter buildings, products, management, and logistics.  

Towards this end, we have sponsored a special issue of Yale University's Journal of Industrial Ecology focused on the Advanced Environmental Applications for IT.  The journal includes peer-reviewed assessments of real world examples of how IT can be used to improve, control and monitor environmentally sensitive operations. 

In this web conference, Eric Masanet, the Acting Deputy Leader of the International Energy Studies Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, will join our own David Moschella to describe this project and present some of today’s leading edge examples, including:

• The energy implications of different music delivery options.
  
• The use of IT for ‘industrial symbiosis’ – that is, one firm’s waste is another firm’s input.
  
• Improving electricity audits and load monitoring in residential buildings.
  
• The use of semantic web technologies to improve industrial ecology.
  
• The use of intelligent water systems for municipal landscapes.
  

The web conference will conclude with a discussion about our research plans in this area over the next twelve months.

Who should attend?

This web conference will appeal to CIOs and other business/IT leaders concerned with environmental strategies and corporate social responsibility.