FAILING TO SWITCH OFF COMPUTERS COULD COST BRITISH BUSINESSES UP TO £123.2 MILLION A YEAR

Fujitsu Siemens Computers launches the “Big Turn Off” to support Energy Saving Week

Failing to switch off PCs costs British industry a whopping £123.2 million each year, according to Fujitsu Siemens Computers. The company is using Energy Saving Week as a platform to launch its Big Turn Off campaign and to call for Britain’s businesses and workers to make the effort to flick the switch on their PCs when they leave the office.

To help individual businesses estimate how much this problem might be costing them Fujitsu Siemens Computers has developed a special online calculator which can be found on its UK website.

The idea to work out the financial cost of not switching off PCs came after recent research1 from Fujitsu Siemens Computers found a rise in the number of Green Collar workers (those that take their green consciences to work with them). Indeed 78% of British employees claimed to be more environmentally conscious today than they were five years ago. But over one third (37%) indicated that they don’t turn off their PCs when they leave the office.

The research also found that more than a quarter of employees (27%) say they have gone as far as actively lobbying their employer to implement more environmentally friendly policies (such as procurement of green IT systems, energy saving and recycling).

Fujitsu Siemens Computers released the first RoHS compliant “green” laptop – the AMILO V2030 in September 2005. Garry Owen, Head of Product Marketing at Fujitsu Siemens Computers commented: “It was surprising to see that so many workers claimed to have ‘gone green’ in the workplace and yet they still overlook the most basic way to save energy – which is to turn their PC off when it’s not in use. UK businesses need to consider both the financial and environmental implications of leaving a computer running and make turning off their PCs each night a policy. So many employees think it’s sufficient to leave their PCs on standby, but this still wastes valuable energy resources”.

He continued, “Nowadays most people are concerned with ways in which we can help protect the environment and I’m sure if we all started to address little things like this it would make a huge difference.”

Fujitsu Siemens Computers has pioneered the development of green IT systems and has promoted their use both in the home and the workplace for some time now. It supports Energy Saving Week and hopes to raise awareness of both the environmental and financial implications of the nations IT habits.