According to Information Week, companies in every industry are
getting into the “green” movement—more out of a desire to save
money, rather than being motivated by saving the planet—by
slashing operating costs. However, the scale of energy
consumption is so immense that policymakers are considering
additional regulation. A cadre of government and industry
leaders is attempting to establish a clear green computer
standard with which IT execs may have to comply. Companies’ and
government agencies’ desire to embed green criteria in IT
requests for proposals inspired an IEEE council to create the
Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), and
President Bush signed an executive order in late January,
requiring 95 percent of all electronic products purchased by
federal agencies to adhere to EPEAT standards, so long as a
standard exists for that product. EPEAT standards currently only
encompass PCs and monitors, but it is probable that will be
extended to servers, routers, printers and cell phones. Da