(This is the second article in a five-part series.)

Though it’s ultimately as much a facilities issue as an IT issue, burning lights in unoccupied offices is a key source of wasted electricity. You can avoid it by installing a motion-sensor control system that automatically turns off lights—and even turns down the thermostat—when it senses people are no longer present.

Here are some other techniques for keeping unused resources from consuming power:

Implement remote equipment monitoring tools: These can help you shut off idle audio-visual equipment, for example, without sending someone to perform the task manually.

Deploy administrative systems with power management features: For instance, Rich Siedzik, director of computer and telecommunications services at Bryant University, in Smithfield, R. I., is using IBM Tivoli systems management software to optimize energy usage in his data center, as well as IBM Maximo asset management technology to control energy usage in campus facilities. 

Conduct user education: Spread the word that energy savings is everyone’s responsibility, and that everyone should do their part by turning off lights and equipment when they’re not needed. “Just shutting off the monitors is important,” observes Laxmi Rao, IT energy coordinator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.

Use a printer management system: These help you collect detailed information on who is printing, what they’re printing, and what that activity is costing you. You can then use that information to cut unnecessary printer usage, conserving paper and expensive printer ink cartridges. Software Shelf International Inc. of Clearwater, Fla., and 366 Software Inc. of Atlanta, Ga., are two of many companies that offer printer management products.

Finally, if your server and desktop hardware includes advanced power management features that shut down unused systems automatically, make sure they’re enabled. They can’t save you energy and money if you don’t use them.

Stan Gibson is a Boston-area technology writer.

Other articles in this series:

Getting started on green IT, part one: Update your hardware

Getting started on green IT, part three: Virtualize, virtualize, virtualize

Getting started on green IT, part four: Straighten out your storage

Getting started on green IT, part five: Consolidate data centers