Council scoops green awards (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Council scoops green awards

4:05pm Saturday 31st October 2009

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COUNCIL chiefs have scooped two green awards after making their IT more environmentally friendly.

Hampshire County Council received an 'Outstanding Achievement' in the Local Authority category of the Cabinet Office's 'Greening Government' ICT awards.

The second award was in the Sustainable ICT category of the national public sector IT Excellence awards which recognises the importance of reducing carbon footprints and increasing efficiency.

Steps have included the new data centre at the council's new Winchester headquarters Elizabeth II Court, which will be one of the UK's leading low-carbon offices.

The building is being used as a case study for best practice by the Carbon Trust and sees waste heat from the data centre servers recycled to heat the building in winter months.

Simple steps such as encouraging staff to turn off their PCs at the end of the day and thinking twice about printing documents, have helped reduce the council's electricity bill by more than £100,000 a year.

The Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Ken Thornber said: "Green IT plays an important role in the business agenda partly because it accounts for two per cent of total global emissions - the same as the airline industry, but more so because it offers the potential to reduce energy costs and the carbon footprints of individuals, communities and businesses."

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