Greenstone Bolsters Carbon Accounting Suite With The Launch Of Green IT – A New Tool To Audit IT Estates

…Carbon accounting tool facilitates IT infrastructure scenario planning and strategic reduction of energy consumption…

Monday 14th September 2009 – Greenstone Carbon Management, the global specialist carbon solutions company, has announced today the launch of Green IT, an addition to its Acco2unt carbon accounting suite*. Green IT allows large organisations to accurately audit and rationalise their IT estate – such as desktop computers, servers, peripherals and data centre appliances – for energy efficiency and carbon emissions. It offers a detailed view of the energy consumption of complex IT infrastructures and allows organisations to accurately report their carbon emissions for mandatory emissions trading schemes such as the Carbon Reduction Commitment[1].

Green IT is based on the Greenhouse Gases (GHG) protocol methodology so it conforms to internationally recognised standards in carbon measurement. It also builds on Greenstone’s existing suite of carbon accounting tools, known as Acco2unt. Acco2unt helps organisations to drill down to data on specific emission sources from anywhere in the enterprise, to perform comparative analysis and to help model carbon emission reduction policies. Green IT provides the additional functionality of helping the organisation to analyse the relative impact of individual IT infrastructure components on the organisation’s overall carbon footprint.

Ram Ramachander, Chief Operating Officer at Greenstone Carbon Management, said: “It is incredibly difficult for global organisations to get an accurate view of the energy consumption and carbon emissions of their IT infrastructures. Many organisations still rely on Excel spreadsheets and this method just isn’t reliable or practical to update. Green IT has been specifically developed to help large organisations gain meaningful information about their IT estate and enable them to develop practical strategies to tackle carbon emissions. Accurate reporting allows management teams to make informed decisions about future IT infrastructure changes and upgrades, and helps them understand which IT investments will provide the greatest reductions in energy consumption. Furthermore, these detailed and timely reports will help organisations avoid the heavy fines and other penalties potentially incurred by providing inaccurate information to mandatory reporting schemes.”

Organisations whose half-hourly metered electricity use in the UK is above 6,000 mega watts per year are scheduled to receive qualification packs in September 2009 – ahead of the April 2010 carbon reporting scheme start date. This will require organisations to calculate their energy use, buy an emissions allowance for each tonne of C02 emitted and surrender these allowances to government.

Ramachander adds: “As well as simplifying the auditing process for large organisations, we also see Green IT assisting many IT vendors and systems integrators as the tool can quickly model the impact of upgrading or replacing IT equipment on energy consumption and carbon emissions. This information can form a key part of decision-making process, particularly if reducing energy consumption is one of the prospective client’s primary requirements.”

Greenstone is accredited by the Carbon Trust to provide specialist carbon management strategies and solutions that help private and public sector organisations manage their climate change risks within a commercial context. Greenstone’s consulting team includes experts with a blend of capabilities covering scientific and commercial skills in sectors such as IT, automotive, travel and leisure, building and property, utilities, financial services, FMCG and retail.

A video interview with Ram Ramachander, Chief Operating Officer at Greenstone Carbon Management can also be accessed on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/GCMgmt where he talks in more detail about this announcement and the challenges facing organisations today.

- end -

Notes to Editor

[1] The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) is a mandatory emissions trading scheme covering large businesses and public sector organisations. Inclusion will be a legal requirement for organisations whose half-hourly metered electricity use in the UK is above 6,000 mega watts per year.

See www.defra.gov.uk/Environment/climatechange/uk/business/crc/index.htm or http://www.carbonreductioncommitment.co.uk/ for further information

* Greenstone’s unique Acco2unt software product suite provides organisations with robust carbon management and accounting solutions. It enables organisations to measure, manage, plan, store and report emission data, track performance on their carbon footprint at multiple organisational levels and to accurately model carbon footprint reduction strategies. Acco2unt can significantly reduce the burden of auditing and reporting for compliance purposes, for stakeholders and customers. An extensive list of emission sources is included in the software’s calculation covering energy, travel and transport, together with waste and water consumption.

About Greenstone Carbon Management Limited
Greenstone Carbon Management Limited is a specialist carbon solutions company – based in London, United Kingdom. Formed in 2006, it works in partnership with major commercial and public sector organisations to help measure, manage and mitigate their carbon emissions to realise business and financial benefits. Greenstone’s proposition comprises both consulting advice and access to a suite of Carbon Management software tools through a SaaS model.

Typically, engagements with clients follow a three step process: (i) Carbon Readiness Assessment; (ii) Carbon Measurement and iii) Carbon Reduction Strategies. During the engagement, Greenstone will provide tools to help measure and manage the organisation’s carbon emissions, help set up processes to gather data and to train personnel to manage their carbon footprint on an ongoing basis.

Greenstone has worked with a range of global businesses and respected brands such as the Virgin Group, Fujitsu and Ocado Limited. For further information please visit http://www.greenstonecarbon.com or http://www.youtube.com/user/GCMgmt

Greenstone is available for further video comment by contacting lena {at} technologypr(.)eu
Press contact:
Lena {at} technologypr(.)eu
Technology PR
Mobile +44 07908 725212