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Green Survey
Higher Ed Least Likely Sector To Adopt Energy Management Policies
8/5/2008
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Information technology leaders in colleges and universities are more concerned about environmental issues than their counterparts in every other sector--corporate, state/local, federal, and higher education. But they are also least likely to have formal policies in place for addressing energy efficiency, according to a new survey released Monday by CDW Government (CDW-G).
The Higher Education IT Energy Efficiency Picture
According to the report, dubbed the "Energy Efficient IT Report" (E2IT), 65 percent of higher education IT pros said they support environmental initiatives versus and average of 54 percent in all other sectors combined. They're also more likely than others (56 percent versus 46 percent) to work with top executives "who are concerned with environmental sustainability."
However, according to the survey, they are also the least likely to have a formal, institution-wide policy in place governing purchasing decisions that impact energy use and are also least likely to have "enforced programs" to manage energy consumption. Forty-nine percent of higher education respondents said they did not have a formal policy in place versus an average of 33 percent across all other sectors. And only 31 percent reported having "enforced programs" for energy consumption in place versus 43 percent across other sectors.
E2IT was based on a survey of 778 information technology professionals in both public and private sectors. Those surveyed were responsible for equipment purchases for their organizations. One hundred sixty-nine of these worked in the higher education sector.
"... [T]he E2IT Report detects high levels of support for energy efficiency among IT executives, but E2IT also finds serious deficits in the information needed to address it effectively," said CDW Vice President Mark Gambill in a statement released to coincide with the survey findings. "There are tools to help, but the range of available options may be daunting for organizations that lack resources to tackle the challenge."
The report provided several recommendations for improving the energy situation in colleges and universities.
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