NYU has demonstrated significant strides in its commitment to sustainability over the past 40 years, commencing in 1982 when the first student environmental group convened. In 2007 NYU solidified its commitment to sustainability as a partner of NYC Carbon Challenge, pledging to reduce carbon emissions 30% by 2017. This was accomplished in 2012—an impressive 5 years ahead of schedule.
Fast forward to 2018: NYU President Hamilton formed a Sustainability Advisory and Working Group, identifying IT as a major source of potential carbon reductions and energy savings. Accordingly, in 2019 IT launched NYU’s IT Sustainability Initiative. The Initiative is contributing to the University’s 2025 & 2040 sustainability goals in collaboration with the NYU Office of Sustainability. The University’s current overarching goal is to reduce carbon emissions 50% by 2025, and to become carbon neutral by 2040.
2020: the COVID-19 impact offers a unique moment to reflect on and demonstrate sustainable measures, from leveraging telework and remote study technologies to reducing travel. As IT remains committed to NYU’s sustainability goals, the IT Sustainability Initiative has exciting news to share. Below are updates, and steps you can take at home or on campus to keep us moving towards a more sustainable future. As IT encompasses a large range of services – from office and lab computers, to remote tools, to large servers that power University essential services – small changes equate to sizable impact.
Data Center and IT Infrastructure Upgrades
Data centers are a backbone of NYU’s presence, powering research projects, University-wide services, and more. As centers’ compute and storage power require copious amounts of energy, a key goal is improving centers’ efficiency. Thus, IT has undertaken a tremendous effort to relocate its data centers from Manhattan to a sustainable, leading edge, cost and energy-efficient shared data facility. With this shift, NYU will leverage improved cooling and heat management solutions, gain efficiencies by housing equipment in a core location, and will benefit from greatly reduced electricity costs. Given the enormity of the task — this transition will complete in 2023.
IT Sustainability Guidelines
The IT Sustainability Initiative recently achieved an important milestone. IT Sustainability Guidelines were authored by Initiative members, and subsequently endorsed by the University CIO Council. With a strong focus on sustainable purchasing and management of computers and equipment, softphone technology, as well as going paperless — the Guidelines align with University-wide sustainability efforts and apply to the NYU community at-large.
Changes to NYU Office Culture and Equipment
Although COVID-19 will keep most employees working remotely for the remainder of 2020, several on-campus recommendations apply to home workspaces:
- NYU IT offices use and promote softphone and virtual conferencing technologies, Jabber and Zoom. These technologies use less energy and natural resources than traditional phone and conferencing configurations, and easily integrate with computers.
- New purchasing guidelines stress the importance of eco-friendly office supplies. If you are an NYU employee working remotely, your office administrator can assist you in making the same wise purchasing decisions at home.
- NYU IT offices transitioned from water coolers to installations of filtered fountain systems, eliminating plastic water jugs. At home, filtered tap water can replace bottled water.
- Print reduction remains a core sustainability effort. Reduce whenever possible, and the team encourages you to continue a habit from telework and remote learning — no printing! During Summer 2020, IT also initiated the Print Management Project. The Goal of this project is to standardize and reduce printing by implementing a unified multifunction device (MFD) solution across NYU.
- NYU IT is deploying a smart system for monitoring power needs in various campus locations, which automatically adjusts power needs based on a series of criteria.
Changes to NYU Classrooms and AV
Efforts to refresh classroom space were underway prior to the pandemic, and changes continue to be implemented. These include:
- Hundreds of Zoom Classrooms were added to NYU in time for Fall 2020. As we all know, Zoom facilitates learning from any location, reducing commuting’s environmental impact. The new Zoom rooms also have easy shut-down and turn-on functionality, which saves energy.
- Older, inefficient classroom audio/video equipment is being replaced with new equipment. New equipment features energy enhancements such as efficient housing for the equipment, decreased the amount of heat control needed, and improved startup and shutdown features.
- IT AV Standards: new AV standards for NYU are in development, with an eye on sustainable features and touchless requirements.
IT for the Future
As technology continues to evolve, NYU IT and the NYU Office of Sustainability will continue to identify areas for improvement. With the blended nature of Fall 2020–there’s an opportunity for all of us to make wise environmental decisions, wherever we may be. Supporting NYU’s sustainability goals does not just forward us individually, it forwards us as a community.