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In many offices around the KMC, when the workday is complete and employees head home, Common Access Cards are removed and computer monitors remain on. Department of Defense personnel are required to restart computers at the end of the day and leave them on overnight to receive network security updates.
But, with a one-time adjustment and one more button pressed at the end of each day, we can save massive amounts of energy and money on monitor power.
It is a common misunderstanding that power does not need to be turned off because a screen saver will save energy throughout periods of inactivity and nonworking hours. The truth is the screen saver still consumes energy while activated and was originally designed to prevent phosphor burn-in on CRT and plasma monitors. Nowadays, using a screen saver with a flat panel or LCD screen instead of powering down can actually reduce the lifetime of the display by aging the fluorescent backlight. Turning off the monitor will not only save energy, but will also prolong the life of the monitor.
Ramstein has an estimated 16,800 monitors in use, and approximately 90 percent of these are already Energy Star rated, which means they consume less energy than traditional monitors. However, even with an Energy Star monitor, you can waste energy without proper adjustments. By utilizing sleep settings, low power modes, and turning off monitors at night and when idle, we can save approximately 196 kilowatt-hours and $29 per year per monitor. Multiply that by the estimated number of monitors in use, and the savings potential is greater than $400,000 on Ramstein alone. Imagine the savings potential throughout the KMC.
Recommended power-offs include lunch time, evenings and weekends, and throughout the workday when not in use. Because monitors require only a moment in startup time, you can easily reduce your overall power consumption and extend the life of your display with minimal effort.
To reduce your required effort even more, you can set your computer to monitor the power for you. Depending on your operating system (most DOD computers are now operating on Windows Vista or Windows 7), the steps may vary slightly, but most of us savvy computer users will have no trouble finding the way.
First, right click on your desktop, select personalize and turn off your screen saver. Next, visit your control panel and select power options. From here, you can set a power plan and adjust the plan settings. See the photo at right for a screen shot of what you should find. Set your display to turn off and your computer to sleep (without turning off the hard disk) after a period of inactivity. Fifteen minutes is often a standard setting, but opting for 10 or even five minutes can up your savings.
At the end of each day, once you begin the restart process and remove your CAC, take a moment to turn off your monitor before you walk away.
Hold your co-workers accountable, and remind others that pressing one more button can save energy, money and natural resources. If you see someone has forgotten during lunch or in the evening, reach over and turn it off. Don’t worry, you won’t erase any of their data. Carry these lessons home and adjust your home computer settings as well.
Without the network hookup, home computers have an even greater chance for energy savings because you can turn off both the computer and the monitor when not in use. If you are running an older version of Windows, these steps might be found in your control panel under display, or if you are running a Mac, find the Energy Saver preferences and similar options.
Remember, October is Energy Awareness Month, and we can all play our part.
(Courtesy of 86th Civil Engineer Squadron)
