An Introduction to Green Computing with a fun quiz.

Contents
•What is a Green Computing?
• Definition of a Green Computing
• Goals of Green Computing
•Mobile Phone Quiz
•Approaches to Green Computing
•History to Green Computing

Green Computing
•Green Computing (or Green IT or ICT
Sustainability) can be defined as “the study and
practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and
disposing of computers, servers, and associated
subsystems, such as projectors, monitors, printers,
storage devices, and networking and communications
systems, efficiently and effectively with minimal or
almost no impact on the environment”.
• Raza, Patle, and Arya, 2012

Green Computing: Primary Goals
•Its primary goals include:
1. Reducing Energy Consumption:
Green computing aims to minimize the energy
consumption of computers and electronic
devices, reducing the carbon footprint
associated with their use.

2. Efficient Resource Utilization:
This goal focuses on optimizing resources, such
as power and raw materials, to reduce waste
and improve efficiency throughout the product
lifecycle.

3. Reducing E-Waste:
By encouraging recycling and responsible
disposal practices, green computing seeks to
reduce the environmental impact of electronic
waste (e-waste).

4. Promoting Sustainability:
Green computing promotes sustainable
practices, such as using renewable energy
sources, eco-friendly manufacturing processes,
and designing devices for a longer lifespan.

5. Supporting Eco-Friendly Technology
Development:
By encouraging the development of
environmentally friendly technologies, green
computing supports innovations that help
reduce environmental impacts.

Green Computing: Mobile Phone Quiz
•The manufacture and use of mobile phones
have an environmental impact, and creates
carbon emissions, so let’s explore what we
know about mobile phones…

•When was the first mobile phone call made?
a. 1973
b. 1983
c. 1993

•When was the first mobile phone call made?
a. 1973
b. 1983
c. 1993
Martin Cooper, an American engineer, placed the
first public call from a handheld portable cell
phone while working at Motorola on April 3, 1973,
from a Manhattan sidewalk to his counterpart at
competitor Bell Labs.

• What was the cost of the first commercial mobile
phone in 1983?
a. $1000
b. $2000
c. $4000

• What was the cost of the first commercial mobile
phone in 1983?
a. $1000
b. $2000
c. $4000
The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X hit the market in
1983 with a hefty price tag of $3,995. By today's
standards, the DynaTAC was woefully basic; its
peak capacity was 30 minutes of talk time, and
the battery lasted only six hours.

•The cost of the most expensive phone, iPhone 5
Black Diamond?
a. $150,000
b. $15 million
c. $150 million

• The cost of the most expensive phone, iPhone 5
Black Diamond?
a. $150,000
b. $15 million
c. $150 million

• The cost of the most expensive phone, iPhone 5
Black Diamond?
a. $150,000
b. $15 million
c. $150 million
The iPhone 5 Black Diamond is the most
expensive phone in the world, costing $15
million. It takes nine weeks to build, made
of 135 grams of solid gold of 24 carat and
the chassis is inlaid with 600 white
diamonds.

• In the UK how many phones are dropped into a
toilet per year?
a. 10,000
b. 50,000
c. 100,000

• In the UK how many phones are dropped into a
toilet per year?
a. 10,000
b. 50,000
c. 100,000
About 19% of people drop phones down into a
toilet. A study by online address-book site Plaxo
suggests that nearly 1 in 5 people accidentally
drop their phones into a toilet, thus losing all
their contacts, and a lot of other data.

•What is the average lifespan of a mobile
phone?
a. 1.5 Years
b. 2.5 Years
c. 3.5 Years

•What is the average lifespan of a mobile
phone?
a. 1.5 Years
b. 2.5 Years
c. 3.5 Years
An iPhone lasts 4-10 years, followed by Samsung
units, which can last 3-6 years. Huawei and
Xiaomi units have an average lifespan of 2-4
years, while OPPO units have 2-3 years.

•BOTTOM LINE: Mobile phones are expensive to
make and purchase, they only last a few years,
so try to avoid having them too near the toilet
bowl (!)

Green Computing
Virtualization
and Cloud
Computing
Data Centre
Optimization
Low-Power
Devices
Software
Efficiency

Virtualization
and Cloud Computing

Green Computing: Virtualization
•“Virtualization” really means pretending.
•So if we have one computer, we can create
many simulated computers by getting it to
pretend to operate as though it were several
independent systems, each with its own
operating system, storage, and applications.

•It could be as simple as buying a computer that
is running the Windows operating system:
•And then we add a second operating system to
the computer…

•We could install Linux onto the computer and
partition the two operating systems…

•From there we can have two different users
using the same computer logged into two
different operating systems.

•And then we can create large computers with
many partitions so that different users can run
different programs on the same machines.

•So this is called “Cloud Computing”.

•More formally, “Cloud
Computing” is the delivery
of computing services
(including servers, storage,
databases, networking,
software, analytics, and
intelligence) over the
internet (“the cloud”), and
you pay for as much
resources as you use.

• The US National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) proposes the following
definition for cloud computing: “Cloud computing
is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-
demand network access to a shared pool of
configurable computing resources (e.g., networks,
servers, storage, applications and services) that can
be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal
management effort or service provider interaction.”

• NIST also says the cloud model promotes
availability and is composed of:
5 4 3
Essential
Characteristics
Deployment
Models
Service
Models

• We’ll look at the three service models:

Three (3)
Service
Models
IAAS
PAAS
SAAS

SAAS
PAAS
IAAS
Virtual
Hardwar
e
Virtual
Operatin
g
Systems
Virtual
Apps or
Program
s

Three (3) Service Models
• 1. IAAS
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) on-demand
access to cloud-hosted physical and virtual
servers, storage and networking - the backend IT
infrastructure for running applications and
workloads in the cloud.
• DigitalOcean, Linode, Rackspace, Amazon Web
Services (AWS), Cisco Metapod, Microsoft Azure,
Google Compute Engine (GCE)
Virtual
Hardwar
e

• 2. PAAS
• Platform as a Service (PaaS) is on-demand
access to a complete, ready-to-use, cloud-
hosted platform for developing, running,
maintaining and managing applications.
• AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Windows Azure,
Heroku, Force.com, Google App Engine,
Apache Stratos, OpenShift
Virtual
Operatin
g
Systems

• 3. SAAS
• Software as a Service (SaaS) is on-
demand access to ready-to-use, cloud-
hosted application software.
• Google Workspace, Dropbox, Salesforce,
Cisco WebEx, Concur, GoToMeeting
Virtual
Apps or
Program
s

Plus, Minus, Interesting
of Cloud Computing

• Pluses of Cloud Computing
• You only pay for what you use
• You don’t have to buy your own servers
• You can experiment with different
configurations
• Access to lots more programs
• IT is managed by cloud company

• Minuses of Cloud Computing
• There is a lack of transparency of data location,
access permission, soundness of security
architectures.
• SLAs are common in the telecommunications
industry and provide corporations with a
guarantee that certain standards will be upheld.
• No commercial standards

• Interestings of Cloud Computing
• Cloud deployments challenge many existing
business processes and the traditional
computer architectures and practices that
support them
• Cloud can be viewed as a disruptive innovation
• Cloud can also be considered as another
outsourcing option -- build-or-buy decision

Green Computing: Data Centre
Optimization
•When using Cloud Services we need to make
sure the data centres are performing well,
including:
• Energy Efficiency
• Network Optimization
• Capacity Planning and Scalability

Optimization
• Energy Efficiency
• Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE): This is a metric used to measure the
energy efficiency of a data centre. It compares the total amount of energy
used by the data centre to the energy used by the IT equipment alone.
• Cooling Optimization: Cooling is one of the largest energy consumers in
a data center (e.g., using hot aisle/cold aisle containment, free cooling, or
liquid cooling) and helps reduce energy consumption.
• Renewable Energy: Integrating renewable energy sources like solar or
wind power can help reduce the carbon footprint and increase
sustainability.
• Efficient UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply): Using high-efficiency UPS
systems and reducing energy loss in power distribution can enhance
energy usage.

Optimization
• Network Optimization
• Bandwidth Management: Ensuring that network
bandwidth is allocated efficiently and that there are no
bottlenecks can improve overall performance.
• Software-Defined Networking (SDN): SDN helps
optimize network management by providing greater
flexibility, control, and automation of network resources.
• Latency Reduction: Minimizing latency through efficient
routing, reducing hops, and ensuring fast interconnects
between servers and storage devices is essential for
performance optimization.

Optimization
•Capacity Planning and Scalability
• Growth Forecasting: Accurately predicting the
future growth of data and traffic helps ensure that
resources are scaled appropriately without
overcommitting.
• Scalable Infrastructure: Using scalable
infrastructure (e.g., cloud-based solutions,
modular server designs) allows the data centre to
grow efficiently as demand increases, without the
need for complete overhauls.

Green Computing: Low Power Devices
APOLLO 13 MOVIE
WHITE - Whoa, whoa, guys! The power's
everything. Power is everything.
GENE - What you mean?
WHITE - Without it they don't talk to
us, they don't correct their
trajectory, they don't turn the
heatshield around... we gotta turn
everything off. Now. They're not gonna
make it to re-entry.
GENE - What do you mean everything?
WHITE - With everything on the LM
draws 60 amps. At that rate in sixteen
hours the batteries are dead, not 45.
And so is the crew. We gotta get them
down to 12 amps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC--IYLU
mhI

Green Computing: Low Power Devices
• Low-power devices are optimized to use as little
power as possible. This is achieved through various
techniques, such as using low-energy components,
efficient power management systems, and energy-
saving software.
• For portable devices like smartphones, wearables,
and IoT devices, low power consumption helps
extend battery life. This is crucial for enhancing user
experience and reducing the frequency of
recharging.

Green Computing: Software Efficiency
•How do we ensure software is efficient?
• Profiling tools to identify performance
bottlenecks.
• Use of efficient algorithms and data structures.
• Minimizing unnecessary computations and
avoiding redundant tasks.
• Leveraging modern hardware capabilities like
multi-threading or GPU acceleration.

Green Computing: Software Efficiency
• One thing we can do as programmers is to write efficient
software that executes tasks quickly and with minimal delays.
Optimized algorithms and data structures are critical for ensuring
high performance, particularly in complex applications.
• We often call it “optimizing the code” when we try to make the
code perform as well as possible within practical constraints, in
other words, when we improve its efficiency and performance
while maintaining its correctness and functionality.
• Let’s look at a Case Study:

Green Computing: Case Study
• Let’s imagine you are asked to write an expert
system to help judges give prison sentences.
• The system will ask the following questions:
• Was the accused found guilty (y/n)?
• Did the accused have extenuating
circumstances (y/n)?

• And will apply the following rules:
Found
Guilty
Extenuating
Circumstances
System
Response
N N “You are free to go.”
N Y “You are free to go.”
Y N “You are sentenced to 5 years.”
Y Y “You are sentenced to 2.5 years.”

• A simple approach to programming this would be:
if (FoundGuilty == ‘N’ && Circumstances == ‘N’)
printf(“You are free to go.”);
else if (FoundGuilty == ‘N’ && Circumstances == ‘Y’)
else if (FoundGuilty == ‘Y’ && Circumstances == ‘N’)
printf(“You are sentenced to 5 years.”);
else if (FoundGuilty == ‘Y’ && Circumstances == ‘Y’)
printf(“You are sentenced to 2.5 years”);

• However we can improve is code by recognizing that
if the accused is found “not guilty”, the response is
the same whether or not there are extenuating
circumstances, therefore we can improve the code.

• A better approach to programming this would be:
if (FoundGuilty == ‘N’)
else if (Circumstances == ‘N’)
else
printf(“You are sentenced to 2.5 years”);

• And a programmer would be happy that they had
optimized the code.

• However, we are data scientists, so we are going to
look beyond the obvious … we are going to look at
the data.
• Let’s imagine we reviewed the past 100,000 cases
that were before this judge, and we found that in
94% of cases, the accused was found guilty, and they
did have extenuating circumstances, then we
should re-write our code as follows:

• A data optimized approach to this would be:
if (FoundGuilty == ‘Y’ && Circumstances == ‘Y’)
printf(“You are sentenced to 2.5 years.”);
else if (FoundGuilty == ‘N’)
else

Data Scientist is happy
Guru

Green Computing
• ACTIVITY
• Form groups of 5-8 people.
• Think of a cool team name
• Working in our groups, discuss the answers to the
following questions, comparing how many people
have a similar answer in your group …

Green Computing
• ACTIVITY
1. How often do you leave devices (like your laptop, phone, or
gaming console) plugged in after they are fully charged?
2. Do you use energy-saving features on your devices (e.g.,
battery saver mode, low-power mode)?
3. How often do you shut down or turn off devices when they
are not in use?
4. What do you do with old or broken electronic devices?
5. Do you know where to recycle e-waste in your community?
6. Do you consider energy efficiency when purchasing new
electronic devices?

Green Computing: History
1970s
Earth Day
April 22nd,
1970
1980s
IBM,
Energy
Efficient
Design
1990s
EPA
Awards,
Recycling
2000s
Green IT,
EPEAT
Cloud
2010s
Eco Data
Centres,
Certificates
2020s
AI for
Sustainability,
Green
Hardware

• 1970s: Early Awareness
• 1970s: The environmental
movement began to gain
momentum, especially
after the first Earth Day in
1970. Concerns around
pollution and resource
consumption led to
awareness in multiple
industries, including
technology.

• 1980s: Energy Efficiency
• 1980s: The term "Green
Computing" wasn't
popular yet, but
companies like IBM
began implementing
energy-efficient designs.
Early initiatives were
primarily about saving
energy costs rather than
environmental protection.

• 1990s: Initiatives and Standards
• Energy Star Program (1992): The
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) launched the
Energy Star program, a voluntary
labeling program to promote
energy efficiency in various
products, including computers
and monitors. This was one of
the first formal initiatives in
Green Computing.

• 1990s: Initiatives and
Standards
• EPA’s Energy Efficient
Computers Initiative (1993):
This initiative aimed to
encourage manufacturers to
create energy-efficient
products. It marked the
beginning of specific
programs targeting computer
energy consumption.

• 1990s: Initiatives and
Standards
• Manufacturing and Recycling
Focus: During this time,
companies started adopting
better manufacturing practices
and began recycling programs
for old computers and
components, driven by both
cost-efficiency and
environmental concerns.

• 2000s: Expansion to Broader
Sustainability Practices
• Green IT Movement (Early
2000s): As climate change and
sustainability gained more
attention, the term "Green
Computing" became widely
used. Companies began
adopting practices that
encompassed energy efficiency,
waste reduction, and
sustainable materials.

• EPEAT (2006): The Electronic
Product Environmental
Assessment Tool (EPEAT) was
launched to help buyers
evaluate and choose
environmentally friendly
electronic products. EPEAT
covers criteria like reduced
toxicity, recyclability, and
energy efficiency.

• Rise of Virtualization and Cloud
Computing: Companies like
VMware popularized
virtualization, allowing multiple
virtual machines to run on a single
physical server, thus reducing
hardware needs and energy
consumption. Cloud computing
also offered energy efficiencies by
centralizing resources.

• 2010s: Sustainability
Becomes a Priority
• Eco-Friendly Data Centers:
Major tech companies, like
Google, Microsoft, and
Amazon, invested in energy-
efficient data centers powered
by renewable energy.
Techniques like server cooling
innovations and AI for power
management became popular.

• 2010s: Sustainability
Becomes a Priority
• Circular Economy and E-
Waste Initiatives:
Governments and tech
companies began prioritizing
the circular economy, focusing
on reducing, reusing, and
recycling electronic devices to
reduce e-waste.

• 2010s: Sustainability Becomes
a Priority
• Green Computing
Certifications: Certifications
such as ISO 14001
(Environmental Management)
and ISO 50001 (Energy
Management) became standard
for organizations wanting to
showcase their commitment to
green computing.

• 2020s: AI and
Sustainability Goals
• AI for Sustainability: AI and
machine learning started
being applied to optimize
energy use in devices, data
centers, and manufacturing
processes, helping achieve
Green Computing goals.

• 2020s: AI and
Sustainability Goals
• Renewable Energy
Commitments: Tech
companies like Apple,
Google, and Amazon
pledged to run their
operations on 100%
renewable energy and
achieve carbon neutrality.

• 2020s: AI and Sustainability
Goals
• Green Hardware
Innovation: The industry is
now moving toward
sustainable hardware
production, such as
biodegradable and recyclable
components and designs
optimized for long-term
durability and repairability.

Deborah Estrin
Rajkumar Buyya
Mahmut Kandemir
Carla Schlatter
Ellis
Urs Hölzle
Jennifer Schopf
Some Famous Green Computing
Researchers

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