Sustainable IT
IT services play a vital role in helping us reduce the impact we have on the environment across our University, reducing our reliance on paper and printed resources in our teaching and operations, enabling us to connect and collaborate virtually with colleagues and partners all over the world, and providing tools to help us operate our buildings efficiently.
Technology can help us minimise our environmental footprint, but we also need to use IT and tools responsibly. Staff can get involved and learn more about environmentally responsible behaviours on campus through our training and Green Impact programme.
Reducing the environmental impact of our IT equipment
We work closely with suppliers who share our commitment to sustainability and sustainable procurement priorities.
We are working to minimise the environmental impact of equipment across its lifecycle, from production and delivery to use and disposal.
- Our standard IT products are Energy Star certified, meeting internationally recognised energy efficiency standards and helping to reduce overall energy consumption.
- Staff are encouraged to request only the devices they need and return unused equipment for reallocation, extending product lifecycles and reducing waste. Old IT equipment can be returned by raising a call with the IT Service Desk.
- Importantly, none of our end-of-life IT equipment goes to landfill. All items are responsibly recycled through accredited channels.
Energy-efficient digital infrastructure
We want to grow our University and benefit from innovative digital tools so we need digital infrastructure that will enable us to minimise the environmental impact of our communication, data processing and digital information exchange.
Our data centres consume a lot of energy; we are working to reduce the environmental impact of our data centres whilst keeping our digital operations running smoothly by moving our core services from on-campus data centres to Microsoft Azure. Azure will reduce our need for excess hardware and energy, helping us lower our carbon footprint and improve our operational efficiency.
Responsible use of Emerging Technologies
We support responsible use of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI). Staff are encouraged to use AI mindfully and purposefully in their work and research practices. All staff have access to an AI Hub where they will find guidance and resources designed to help staff understand the impact of using AI and practices, they can employ to ensure they are using AI responsibly.
Sustainable high-performance computing
A globally leading university is built on a foundation of world-class research. One of our key research goals is to amplify the scale, visibility, and impact of our research; as our research activity grows, so will our demand for high-performance computing.
High-performance computing uses a lot of computing power. We are proud that our purpose-built Grange Road research data centre is the first in the UK higher education sector to use a state-of-the-art water-cooling system, which enables us to reduce the cooling energy needed by 83%.
Research staff are encouraged to reduce the demand on our energy centre by reducing digital storage and considering their approach to research. The Advanced Research Computing (ARC) team delivers Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR), offering support to research academics on how to reduce the environmental impact of their computing and analysis. The team can also provide support to code efficiently to reduce energy consumption or support applications to the Green DiSC certification scheme, which fosters environmentally responsible research computing.