The majority of companies rely heavily on technology (and associated infrastructure) to support their business. It is estimated that, within the service-industry, current computer systems account for 50-60% of an organisation’s overall energy consumption. However, most companies’ actual consumption, costs and impact on the environment, are not understood.

Australian organisations are recognising the potential that ‘being green’ offers their business. Potential advantages include:

reduced power consumption and cost of the overall IT infrastructure

On average, power consumption in the data centre increased by 14% a year. Further, the three year cost of powering and cooling servers is close to one and a half times the capital expense of purchasing server hardware. In projecting such figures to the year 2012 the operating cost (power and cooling only) will be three times capital cost. (reference 'The Uptime Institute')

reduced overall capital expenditure
Improving efficiency will lead to less capital expenditure for such things as computer room air conditioning, uninterruptible power supplies, data centre space and servers. (reference 'Berkeley National Laboratory')

competitive advantage through fulfillment of social responsibility obligation
A survey done by  Cone Inc. in 2006 “Millennial Cause Study”  on generation Y found that 83% of people between the age of 13 and 25 will trust a company more if it is socially/environmentally responsible. The same survey also found that:
66% of this group recommend products/services if the company is socially responsible
69% consider a company’s social and environmental commitment when deciding where to shop
89% are likely or very likely to switch from one brand to another (Price and quality being equal) if the second brand is associated with a good cause.

differentiate against competitors – be the first ‘green’ company in your industry
Obtain certification under the Federal Government ‘Green Friendly’ program. If certified you could use the Green Friendly Logo on your website and on advertising.

Mitigation against imminent environmental legislation
In the future, Australian companies will be asked to comply with ‘green’ regulations (either current or the ones we know are coming). In the tax year 2010-1011 it will be a requirement for all companies, which produce more that 50kt of carbon emissions to report under section 13 of the NGER Act. We are likely to see regulations from the EPA on toxic waste like the regulation in the EU today. Thus, when buying new equipment part of the evaluation matrix should include a preference for equipment with reduced toxic parts.