Commercial Sector Case Studies

Px³ has conducted IT sustainability consulting, baseline reporting and strategy modelling for hundreds of commercial sector businesses across the globe. This includes generating end user computing carbon footprint reports every day for major brands from all sectors such as Financial, Healthcare, Hospitality, Information Technology, Professional Services, Retail and Utilities.

Utilities: OVO Energy

In January 2023 OVO Energy engaged sustainability specialists Px³ Ltd to evaluate the carbon footprint of its IT devices and data centres. 

OVO Energy launched in 2009 and since then has grown to over four million customers, planting a million trees every year to help slow down climate change. In 2019 the company launched its “Plan Zero” designed to make the company a Net Zero carbon business by 2035. The energy company is also committed to helping UK homes on their Path to Zero, with a toolkit of smart technology and advice to help customers reduce their energy bills and carbon footprint. OVO also recently called for a new kitemark system for the green tariff market, helping customers avoid ‘greenwashing’ practices by clearly identifying which tariffs directly support decarbonisation or the generation of renewable energy. OVO Energy won the Sunday Times 2023 award for Best Place to Work for Women for offering forward-thinking policies and better flexibility for everyone to balance work with life and also placed in the Top 10 for Best Places to Work: Very Big Organisation (2,000+ employees).

“Collaborating with Px3 Ltd has empowered us to acquire a depth of understanding that transcends the information typically provided by manufacturers concerning sustainable products. Previously, we were heavily reliant on manufacturers’ claims; now, our approach is more proactive and data-driven.” OVO Energy Project Sponsor, James Whitlock, Senior Technology Services Manager

Px³ Ltd used their world leading methodology based on published scientific research and a modelling tool which has been used to calculate the carbon emissions of nearly five million ICT devices in use across 164 countries. 

The results indicated that the annual energy consumption of IT devices at data centres at OVO Energy is responsible for producing nearly 40,000 kg of CO₂e each year. To put that in perspective, it is the equivalent of driving 150,000 miles in an average car, roughly 6 times round the world 

As well as the “scope 2” emissions from the electricity use, Px³ also calculated the scope 3 “embodied emissions” for OVO Energy’s laptop and desktop devices.  This figure, which includes the manufacturing and shipping of the devices, came to a total of nearly 1.5m metric tonnes of CO₂e, and would require a mature forest of 429 acres, an area the size of nearly 7,000 tennis courts, to remove the annual emissions from the atmosphere. As part of the project Px3 Ltd looked at options and strategies which would help OVO Energy reduce their emissions as part of their overall Carbon Reduction Plan.  Px³ Ltd also provided OVO Energy with unlimited access to its online tools for IT carbon footprint Calculation and sustainable IT device procurement Compare apps.

“We are working diligently this year to ensure that the devices we provide to our staff, as well as our refresh cycles, align with the highest sustainability standards. We’ve been able to actively use the data and tools provided by Px³, which has significantly enhanced our ability to monitor and manage our device estate and lifecycle.”

OVO Energy Project Sponsor, James Whitlock, Senior Technology Services Manager

Comments from James Whitlock of OVO Energy on how the report findings and online tools would be used:

“We’ve recently launched a self-service onboarding portal which allows new hires to select their own hardware, we’re planning on adding the carbon emissions data to the portal so that there will be a total carbon cost to their associated bundle as well as packaging and delivery estimates. Our strategic partnership with Px³ is instrumental in our pursuit of selecting the most environmentally friendly options and demonstrating our dedication to our sustainability commitments – it underscores our commitment to promote a greener and more sustainable future for everyone.”

OVO Energy Project Sponsor, James Whitlock, Senior Technology Services Manager

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Finance: IGEL and Standard Life

IGEL Technology is a German multinational software company best known for their “Next generation edge operating system” which is purpose-built for secure access to cloud workspaces such as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure and/or Desktop as a Service. The technology is used widely in the Finance and Banking sectors.

IGEL and Px³ worked together with Standard Life, a life assurance, pensions and long-terms savings company in the UK, to calculated the planet and profit benefits associated with thin client remote working solutions.

Instead of disposing of existing computers and buying new devices, the financial sector organisation repurposed over 3,000 desktops to become thin clients using IGEL OS. By doing so the lifespan of the computers was doubled due to their new role.

Having avoided emissions associated with end of asset recycling and disposal plus new product manufacture and supply, the company reduced the IT project’s carbon footprint by 1.4 million kgCO₂e. In context that’s equivalent emissions caused by driving a combustion engine car 8.5 million km or 212 times around the Earth.

Additionally, £1.7 million in new product costs was avoided proving that sustainable IT is in fact good for the planet and for profit.

With sustainable IT options such as IGEL, barriers to adopting sustainable IT are removed and particularly ‘keeping devices for longer’ becomes a very potent reality when considering GHG abatement.

Adopted at scale the impact is significant. It is feasible that if the industry standard retention period was to transition from 4 years to 8 years, then new product demand globally will plummet by 50%. This would mean the annual production of over 300 million new devices would cease.

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Hospitality: Strawberry Group (Nordic Choice Hotels)

Px³ and Google show that transforming several thousand Windows computers to Chromebooks using ChromeOS Flex avoided 1.5 million kgCO₂e of IT GHG emissions and saved Strawberry over £5m by reducing new computer procurement and IT related electricity consumption.

The Strawberry group (formerly Nordic Choice Hotels) operates 200+ hotels in five different countries across the Nordic region. Already evaluating ChromeOS Flex and considering its use across the group, in late 2021 the company experienced a serious ransomware virus attack by criminals, rendering the affected Windows computers encrypted and effectively unusable. Faced with the choice of disposing of thousands of notebooks and PCs, Strawberry enlisted the help of Google to convert the estate to Chromebooks using Chrome OS Flex and carbon footprint expert and Px³ CEO Dr Sutton-Parker to determine the GHG abatement and costs avoided by making the more sustainable choice.

Download and read the full case study at Google’s dedicated sustainable IT website https://chromeenterprise.google/os/sustainability/

‘I really, really like the fact that we can use technology innovation and sustainability together. Working with the research company we have seen that over the next eight years we will save as much as 1.5 million kg of CO₂e. That amounts to 2,000 acres of mature forest and saves 20% of the electricity from our computer usage.

’Kjetil Neergaard, Green Tech Manager, Strawberry Group

Watch the case study video here 

Read the full Strawberry (formerly Nordic Choice Hotels) case study to see how the Px3 recommended sustainable IT strategy significantly reduced IT carbon footprint and associated costs:

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Public Sector Case Studies

Px³ conducts consulting, research, IT baseline carbon footprint and strategy modelling for both national government, government departments plus associated organisations such as councils, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities. To date Px³ has conducted sustainable IT work with over 300 public sector organisations. In fact, Px³ CEO Dr Sutton-Parker conducted the initial ICT supply chain research included in the UK Government’s Greening Government ICT: Annual Report 2021 to 2022 plus end user computing carbon footprint calculation and reporting improvement research for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). Recently, Dr Sutton-Parker led a sustainable IT research project in conjunction with the Department of Education to substantiate metrics to be used to form national sustainable ICT policies within the education sector.

Schools & Colleges: Department for Education

During 2024 and 2025, the Department for Education, University of Warwick and Px³ worked together to conduct what is recognised as ‘one of the largest sustainable IT research projects conducted to date‘.

The project determines the carbon footprint created by end user computing IT operations within UK schools and colleges to develop scientifically validated best practice sustainable IT strategies and policies designed to reduce future IT GHG emissions, electricity consumption and costs.  

‘We consider this a key step towards the progress of sustainable IT adoption associated with an estimated 16.1 million teachers, support staff and pupils and recognise this as one of the largest sustainable IT research projects conducted to date.’ 

Professor Russell Viner, Chief Scientific Advisor, Department for Education

The research was led and conducted by sustainable ICT expert Dr Justin Sutton-Parker (University of Warwick research fellow and Px³ chief scientist) using Px³‘s unique ICT carbon footprint applications platform and with the support of a multi-stakeholder project team represented by all three parties. The project spanned 12 months and is designed to assist over 25,000 schools and colleges to drive climate action via sustainable low carbon computing.

‘Having an opportunity to enable UK schools to reduce ICT GHG emissions at such a scale and to contribute meaningfully to national carbon reduction targets is of great value to everyone involved and for the field of sustainable computer science.’ 

Professor Rob Procter, Computer Science Department, University of Warwick

Request the full Px3 sustainable IT research paper for Schools and Colleges

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Central Government: The Department for Works and Pensions (DWP)

Citrix is one of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) strategic technology partners. Providing digital workspace and application access solutions to support flexible working Citrix engaged Px³ to undertake a detailed study of the carbon footprint created by the DWP’s end user computing estate. Doing so enabled the DWP to improve the quality of sustainable IT reporting in response to the United Kingdom’s Greening Government

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy. As the UK’s biggest public service department ICT administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers. A major central government department, the DWP is part of the STAR (Sustainable Technology Advisory and Reporting) group and submits an annual report to DEFRA (Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) showing their carbon footprint. In common with most organisations, the DWP was exploring ways to improve the quality of their reporting. This is because the “Greening Government” ICT strategy has increased the focus on sustainable ICT to drive GHG abatement across the public sector.

With nearly 300,000 devices in scope (covering desktops, laptops and monitors) the department was keen to determine both Scope 2 (electricity) and Scope 3 (supply chain) GHG emissions values.

Using the Px³ IT carbon footprint applications platform, the results indicated that devices used at the DWP produce over 1m kgs of CO₂e annually. In context, this is equivalent to GHG emissions caused by driving 4 million miles in an average car and requires a mature forest of over 1,300 acres to remove the carbon from Earth’s atmosphere. Using the same Px³ applications, it was determined that Scope 3 supply chain GHG emissions (computer production, distribution and end of life services) produced of over 90 million kgCO₂e.

Tony Sudworth, Sustainability Lead, DWP Digital

“To manage towards a goal of Net Zero emissions we first needed to understand where we are today. This research work by Px³ provides a starting point for us to now aim to drive down the emissions from the DWP IT infrastructure to meet the Greening Government commitments”.

Read Dr Sutton-Parker’s sustainable IT research paper for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)

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Local Government: The Royal Borough of Kingston & Sutton Council

The Royal Borough of Kingston and Sutton Council chose ChromeOS and Acer Chromebooks to accelerate progress on local sustainability goals. Px³ produced detailed findings about the link between the devices’ energy savings and driving climate action.

Note: The following is written by David Grasty, the Corporate Head of Digital Strategy & Portfolio at Kingston council in Southwest London. The blog can also be seen here.

To fight climate change on a global level, we have to start in our home boroughs. Both the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames and the London Borough of Sutton declared a climate emergency in 2019, so bringing sustainability to every daily activity is critical. We need partners that understand our goal. Since Google has committed to operating its business on carbon-free energy 24/7 by 2030, Chrome OS, Android Enterprise and Acer Chromebooks are the perfect partners. Committing to sustainability is very important, but it has to be done in a way that doesn’t hinder service to our communities. We’ll adopt low-energy devices and resource-saving productivity apps that help keep employees productive.

The devices we chose had to meet our objective to give employees an “any device, anywhere, anytime” experience. They also had to reduce our carbon footprint within our borough offices—for example, reducing energy consumption and sparing us costly and wasteful IT upgrades. We’ve also made a commitment to close one of our data centres by late 2022, and we knew that shifting to the cloud would play a large part in the sustainability program. Our 5,000 council employees were already using Google Workspace apps, and accessing our borough applications through Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop.

As my colleague Jason Sam-Fat, the borough’s Digital and IT Commercial Manager, points out, we had to be practical as we studied which devices would contribute to both sustainability and usability. Fortunately, we had the numbers to show the expected sustainability improvements of our top choice, Acer Chromebook Spin 513 with LTE. Our partner Px³ produced detailed findings about the link between the devices’ energy savings. 

“We received clear metrics from actual energy usage. That way, we have a level of assurance and confidence that we can validate our sustainability objectives.”

Jason Sam-Fat, Digital and IT Commercial Manager, Royal Borough of Kingston and Sutton Council

The Acer CP5-417 Chromebook devices met our sustainability objectives. The latest LTE-enabled Acer Chromebook Spin 513 version that we’ve aligned to further supports our objectives while adding flexibility for employees.  “The Acer Chromebooks are 46 percent more energy efficient than the alternatives in the market,” Jason explains, citing findings from sustainable IT consultancy Px³, which partnered with Kingston and Sutton. “And they have 14 hours of battery life.” That’s something employees really enjoy, since they don’t have to search for electric outlets when they’re in the middle of projects.

The sustainability reporting from Px³ benchmarked a 32 percent reduction in energy with the move to Citrix and Acer Chromebooks—building on previous Px³ research by Dr Sutton-Parker about ChromeOS and energy savings. If you combine this with the resulting reduced levels of commuting by employees, you would need 3,700 acres of mature forest, roughly one and a half times the size of London’s Richmond Park, to remove the equivalent amount of pollution from the atmosphere. The combination of Citrix and Acer Chromebooks will help us make steady progress toward sustainability for years to come. Our previous devices used a lot more computing power than we needed, given our growing reliance on cloud apps. With Chrome OS devices, we can better take advantage of moving the actual computing tasks to the cloud, which is a less energy-intensive way of working.

We’re pleased that we can make progress toward sustainability goals while we also free up employees to travel around the boroughs as needed, Acer Chromebooks in hand. We gave Chromebooks to people who generally do desk work but like the flexibility to work at home. For employees who meet with residents in the community, Acer Chromebooks also allow them to undertake tasks that they need to do there and then, rather than taking notes and then coming back to an office to update records. All of our staff can access their council systems on their own phones using Android Enterprise with work profiles, which keeps their work data separate from their personal data. With work profiles, our IT team can still manage the work data and keep it secure. The pandemic brought home the flexibility of our Chromebooks and digital architecture. In March 2020, once the decision was made to switch to remote work, we had 90 percent of employees working from home the next day. 

“If we hadn’t had the Chromebooks in place, our remote-work situation would have looked very, very different,” says Steve O’Connor, our Chief Digital Information Officer. “Because we seamlessly moved so many people to remote work literally overnight, it meant that meetings scheduled for the next day still took place.”

As Jason explains, seeing the remote-work experience play out has helped us think about other ways to improve sustainability, such as reducing employee commutes.

“Having the right technology, like the Acer Chromebooks, is crucial to our entire journey,” Jason says. “It’s helped us make better decisions around IT, and it will definitely help to define how we can better incorporate sustainability. It’s about continuing to build on what we’ve got, and improving it.”

Watch the Royal Borough of Kingston and Sutton Council Sustainable IT case study

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Higher Education: The University of Southampton

In Spring 2024,  the University of Southampton engaged sustainability specialists Px³ to evaluate the carbon footprint of its end-user computing devices to explore driving climate action with IT

As a member of the UCISA Sustainability Group (University and Colleges Information Systems Association) and with approximately 6,000 staff, the University of Southampton was aware that its information technology operations may be able to contribute to driving climate action. The simple concept is that energy and supply chain emissions associated with almost 26,000 end-user computing devices such as laptops, desktops and displays could be reduced moving forward by a variety of sustainable IT strategies. This includes:

• keeping devices for longer periods to displace new product demand
• seeking out low carbon footprint devices during procurement exercises to reduce scope 3 supply chain and scope 2 energy-related GHG emissions.

The university needed first to create a carbon footprint report for the existing computer equipment to see how the strategies would lower emissions and energy use. To do this, the university engaged ICT carbon footprint experts Px³. Analysing and calculating carbon footprint data for almost 26,000 devices, Px³ found that the University of Southampton generates  9.05 million kgCO₂e end-user computing-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the total lifespan of the current environment.

This is equivalent to emissions caused by an average car driving 54.3 million kilometres (km) or 1,355 times around Earth’s equatorial circumference.

Currently, the annual GHG emissions of 1.13 million kgCO₂e requires over 51,000 mature trees to remove the resulting ICT carbon footprint from the Earth’s atmosphere via photosynthesis during every year of operation. 79% of the total carbon footprint is generated by computer supply chain GHG emissions (scope 3) including device production, distribution and eventual end-of-life services such as recycling e-waste. This equates to 7.14 million kgCO₂e. The remaining 1.9 million kgCO₂e or 21% of the total carbon footprint is caused by computer electricity consumption which generates use-phase GHG emissions (scope 2). Annually, 1.07 million kWh of electricity is consumed, generating over 238,000 kgCO₂e emissions per year. At 26p per kWh, this costs £279,034 annually. While potential e-waste based upon the current computer asset inventory is 80,407 kg. With almost 26,000 identified EUC devices in operation, the average e-waste value per device is 3.1 kg.

Michael Shaw, who is responsible for Business Performance Management & Continuous Improvement at the University of Southampton noted:

‘The comprehensive information generated by Px³ has enabled us to baseline our end-user computing carbon footprint with details we never previously thought possible. It is clear that we already excel in ensuring devices are kept for as long as feasible which is important as the report shows that almost 80% of our ICT carbon footprint comes from supply chain emissions. Looking ahead, Px³ modelled the concept of including carbon footprint as a selection criterion for new device purchases. The results were staggering with a potential reduction of 48% in our carbon footprint available. Also, selecting low carbon footprint devices will reduce our energy consumption by 45% saving almost £1m in long term utility costs. We look forward to driving climate action with sustainable ICT and lowering our operating costs in the process’. 

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Third Sector Case Studies

Px³ conducts sustainable IT baseline and strategy reports for many charities. This includes a variety of focus areas including nature, climate change and social development plus computer specific environmental focus.

Charities: British Film Institute (BFI)

The British Film Institute (BFI) takes steps to measure and reduce its ICT carbon footprint on the journey to net zero. Conducted by Px³, the study analysed the carbon footprint of onsite computer systems, staff computer electricity GHG emissions and major services suppliers.

Founded in 1933, the British Film Institute (BFI) is a registered charity governed by Royal Charter and the UK’s lead organisation for film and the moving image. A distributor of National Lottery funds, the BFI seeks to support creativity and actively seek out the next generation of UK storytellers. It also promotes the UK’s screen industries including programmes and festivals while growing and caring for the BFI National Archive, the world’s largest film and television archive.

Having declared a climate and ecological emergency, the BFI has pledged to reduce its emissions to Net Zero, exploring how quickly this can be done across plant, buildings and archives and committing to publishing its plans and progress. Supporting its Digital First strategy, the BFI was keen to examine the emissions created the use of its information and communications technology (ICT), both by the organisation itself and by some of its key technology suppliers. In order to establish a computer carbon footprint “baseline” assessment, the BFI engaged Px³.

Overall the BFI’s use of ICT is calculated to be responsible for just over 77,000 kgCO₂e of greenhouse gas emissions per annum. This is equivalent to GHG emissions produced by driving an average car over 280,000 miles each year and requires more than 90 acres of mature forest to remove the carbon emissions from Earth’s atmosphere.

Over 95% of the BFI’s emissions were created by the on-site data centres, while one external supplier was notable for creating zero emissions. The BFI has selected Positive Internet to host some of their services and the organisation is based in a carbon negative business park, drawing their power directly from wind farms on the Cambridgeshire fens.

“On our journey to zero carbon, we are continuously looking to reduce our emissions in all activity areas. We were mindful that digital activity is only set to grow and that we were about to embark on essential digital upgrades. Establishing where our largest impacts were, ahead of this work, has helped inform the digital strategy going forward. Our thanks to Px³ for assisting us with this important piece of work.”

Frank Horn, BFI Sustainability Lead

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Not for Profit: TCO Certified

TCO Certified is the world’s leading computer eco-certification uses Px³ ICT carbon footprint results and findings to populate the carbon footprint aspect of the organisation’s new ‘Report Generator’. Leading sustainability magazine, My Green Pod discusses the approach and what it means for climate action.

The following article was first published by My Green Pod on 27th December, 2022 and can be found here

End-user computing has a heavy footprint in relation to global warming.

However, generating 1% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from production and use, the potential as a source of abatement is also significant. But to do this organisations need information to form a more sustainable IT product strategy.

Sustainability certification for IT

TCO Development is the organisation behind TCO Certified, the world’s leading sustainability certification for IT products. For 30 years the company has led the way, ensuring IT products meet responsible manufacturing standards and energy efficiency criteria. You might have seen the TCO Certified logo on, for example, monitors or computers. The vision of TCO Certified is that all IT products should have an environmentally and socially sustainable lifecycle.

An app for device emissions

Sustainability reporting is a very important tool for driving sustainability progress. To help organisations measure and communicate progress toward key sustainability targets such as reduced climate impact, waste reduction and worker protection in the supply chain, TCO Development is collaborating with sustainable IT research and consulting specialists Px³. 

Leveraging product carbon footprint data produced by Px³ CEO and research fellow for the University of Warwick, Dr Justin Sutton-Parker, TCO Development has created an online application that uses Px³ calculated average emissions of different device types.

Soren Enholm, CEO of TCO Development notes, ‘Measurements of product carbon footprints have been a difficult topic to address. The scope 3 carbon footprint, which is the footprint happening outside your own organisation, is the most difficult part, and for a typical notebook this makes up more than 80% of the total footprint. The reason it’s difficult to calculate scope 3 emissions is that the supply chains of most IT products are very complex. Currently, there is no standardised way of doing the product carbon footprint calculations, and the same product will therefore get different results depending on the tool and method used. To avoid this problem we chose to use the average Scope 3 calculations made by Px³ in our Report Generator’.

Longer device lifespans

The application reveals GHG emissions generated by production and use for a typical notebook, desktop, tablet and monitor. Since most of the carbon footprint of IT products generally takes place in the manufacturing and supply chains, the most important action for organisations that want to lower their IT carbon footprint is to find different ways of prolonging the lifespan of the IT products they use.

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Information Technology Case Studies

Px³ has conducted IT sustainability baseline, strategy reporting and modelling for many of the world’s leading information and communications technology brands. This helps companies such as Google and Microsoft to ensure their customers make sustainable IT decisions based upon scientific evidence. The following offers some examples.

Information Technology: Google ChromeOS

In 2019 Px3 CEO, Dr Sutton-Parker conducted independent academic research that determined Chromebooks consumed on average 46% less energy than competing operating system devices. Speculating that the increased efficiency would be part caused by the operating system and partly by common components used in Chromebooks, Dr Justin conducted a related experiment that transformed Windows devices to Chromebooks using ChromeOS Flex. Results showed that on average ChromeOS reduces computer electricity consumption by 19%. The concept was simple in the fact that while the operating system had changed from one measurement to the next, the hardware remained identical.

Google’s ChromeOS team led by EMEA director Michael Wheeler-Wyatt understood what the research meant in relation to forming meaningful sustainability strategies for their existing and prospective customers.

In simple terms, both ChromeOS and ChromeOS Flex are capable of delivering reduced scope 2 (electricity use-phase) GHG emissions. While ChromeOS Flex is capable of extending the useful lifespan of Windows and Mac devices and therefore reducing scope 3 (supply chain) GHG emissions. The message is so powerful that Google has a dedicated ChromeOS sustainability website.

To test the impact at scale, a 100% ChromeOS sustainable ICT strategy was theoretically applied to one of the UK’s largest commercial computer user groups. In spring 2022, Dr Justin had already conducted scope 3 computer supply chain research for the UK Government’s Sustainable Technology Advice & Reporting (STAR) group who are responsible for over 2m end user computing devices. The research findings and high level computer install base data became publicly available later in the year as part of the Greening Government ICT 2022 Strategy update.

Specifically, Px³ calculated two end user computing use and procurement policies that followed an 8-year time horizon to 2030. The first was a ‘do nothing’ policy where the UK government continues to buy new models of existing end user computers and keeps devices for a 5-year period. The second was a ‘ChromeOS Sustainability’ policy where the government extended retention periods to 8-years by transforming existing devices to Chromebooks and Chromeboxes with Chrome OS Flex. Additionally, when future computer purchases became necessary, the policy ensured that only highly energy efficient low carbon footprint equivalent Chrome OS devices were selected.

The results showed that average scope 2 GHG emissions abatement driven by improved existing and new computer energy efficiency would be just over 1m kgCO₂e per year. In context, this is equivalent to avoiding emissions caused by driving 3.67m car miles every single year for 8-years.

From a financial perspective, by 2030 the sustainable IT strategy enabled by ChromeOS could potentially deliver an overall annual utility cost saving of nearly £9m at today’s commercial electricity rates.

More significantly, using ChromeOS Flex to extend the lifespan of devices and by seeking out low carbon footprint alternatives potentially avoids almost 57m kgCO₂e of scope 3 supply chain emissions every year. This is equivalent to avoiding emissions caused by driving 207.5m car miles annually.

Financially it is hard to argue that extending device lifespans is not compelling. The sustainability strategy returns an average annual device procurement cost saving of just over £68m.

In total, the difference between the ‘do nothing policy’ and the proposed ‘sustainable IT’ policy for the projected 8-year period was breath taking and certainly answers the question whether sustainable IT strategies deliver impact.

Cumulatively, 464m kgCO₂e of GHG emissions could be avoided from now until 2030 by implementing the proposed ChromeOS Sustainability policy. This is equivalent to avoiding emissions created 1.7bn car miles. This is so significant that the avoided GHG emissions would otherwise require 70,000 forest acres every year to remove the resulting carbon from the atmosphere. Plus, during the 8 year period £651,388,610 is potentially saved by reducing utility and procurement costs.

As such, during a time of financial and climate turmoil both Google and Px³ decided it was vital that all organisations could perform the same calculations.

Together with several sustainable IT strategies, Px³ EUC Strategy Reports also include:

• Reducing E-waste by transforming existing computing devices with ChromeOS Flex
• Reducing supply chain GHG emissions and procurement costs by giving existing devices a second life with ChromeOS Flex
• Reducing utility consumption, use phase GHG emissions and utility costs by transitioning to energy-efficient ChromeOS devices

Read how Google ChromeOS can help to drive sustainable IT strategies that reduce carbon footprint and costs

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Information Technology: Microsoft W365

Many of us have been using Windows most of our working lives and the regular cycle of upgrades and updates has been part of “business as usual” planning since the 1990s, but that may be about to change. Windows 365 provides a cloud-based desktop that is dynamic, flexible and secure – as well as being always up to date.

The latest research from Px³ CEO, Dr Justin Sutton-Parker conducted on behalf of Microsoft examines and calculates the sustainability implications of Windows 365, from reduced energy consumption to longer life span of devices accessing Windows desktops in the cloud.

The objective of the research is to answer the question, “can modern work applications
and endpoints abate end user computing greenhouse gas emissions and drive climate
action?” The purpose is to determine if Microsoft Windows effectively supports the United Nations aspiration to leverage existing technologies to lower societal emissions.
This is achieved in two stages. Firstly, by conducting an experiment to determine if
endpoint cloud computing technologies influence notebook and desktop electricity
consumption during the use-phase. Secondly, these findings together with further primary and secondary data are used to create greenhouse gas emissions pathways for two information technology strategies. These include operating endpoint devices on-premises and then as Windows 365 Cloud PCs.

Both utility and hardware procurement costs are also calculated to substantiate that
sustainable information technology strategies support both planet and profit and therefore appeal to stakeholder role-based needs. The overall reduction to financial expenditure between the on-premises policy and the Windows 365 policy is 45% due to reduced utility and hardware procurement costs.

Bring your own PC schemes and remote working enabled by Windows 365 are also
examined. In the case of the former, supply chain emissions were further reduced by 17% as dual-device ownership transitioned to single-device adoption. In the case of remote working, a reduction of annual commuting emissions of 20% per additional weekly remote working day adopted by all users.

It is concluded therefore that Windows-based modern work applications and endpoints
are capable of driving significant climate action due to enabling the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goal number 12, responsible production and consumption. As
such, it is reasonable to state that end user computing using cloud technologies will
contribute to the reduction of societal emissions if adopted at scale.

Read how Microsoft Windows 365 Cloud PCs can help drive sustainable IT strategies that reduce carbon footprint, e-waste and costs.

Growing pressure to meet global sustainability frameworks, including the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), is driving demand for automated carbon footprint reporting. According to the 2024 Gartner® report The Impact of CSRD on Enterprise Sustainability Strategies estimates^[1] “that 50,000 companies within the EU will have to comply with the CSRD by 2028, compared with the 11,700 companies covered by the current rules.” ControlUp’s platform integration with Px³ addresses this need by integrating ControlUp ONE DEX platforms real-time endpoint device data (manufacturer, location, usage) with Px3’s carbon footprint reporting platform. This enables companies to automate carbon footprint reports across their endpoint estate without additional licensing cost.

“Px³ is a global expert in sustainable ICT strategy modelling and greenhouse gas emissions accounting which has been proven to help organizations reduce their carbon footprint by over 30%. This partnership will help ControlUp customers automate the calculation of their carbon footprint, e-waste, and energy consumption to simplify the acceleration of their sustainability goals.”

Simon Townsend, Senior Vice President of Marketing, ControlUp.

“By integrating with the Px³ sustainability platform, ControlUp has taken a significant step toward empowering organizations to lower their CO2e emissions for a more sustainable future,” said Dr. Justin Sutton-Parker, Px³ founder and research fellow with the University of Warwick. “This partnership not only supports global sustainability efforts but also empowers organizations to proactively manage their environmental impact through advanced data-driven insights.”

Device information collected by the ControlUp ONE platform is now automatically integrated with the Px³ platform to automate the production of carbon footprint reports. The generated reports are available in real-time as part of the ControlUp ONE license.

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The research paper is available here.

Information Technology: Acer

Dr Justin (Px³ CEO) has worked with Acer for several years advising on ICT product carbon footprint reporting and lifecycle assessment (LCA) practices. This forms part of our strategy to ensure that we can work with ICT manufacturers to help both responsible production and consumption.

During that time Px³ has developed a variety of sustainable ICT research led campaigns with Acer. This includes:

• The Green Rewards program delivered by Consenna
• Acer Chromebook 311 for education research
• 513 and 713 Chromebook Sustainability
• The first Vero carbon footprint reports
• A sustainable ICT survey across 250 decision makers within the UK service sector
• Customer case study videos

The key to the work is that all of the data, results and findings are based on science and are therefore substantiated. This helps Acer to reassure customers that they are making sustainable choices based on valid information.

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Information Technology: Circular IT Group

Px³ research shows that over 80% of end user computing device carbon footprint is created during the production phase. Therefore, the longer organisations keep computers the better it is for the planet as GHG emissions and e-waste are reduced as demand for new product slows.

The device useful lifespan doesn’t have to be the sole responsibility of a single organisation. Giving a device a ‘second life’ to support circular economy strategies is equally as meaningful.

To enable curious organisations to explore the positive impact of refurbished equipment, Px³ developed and powered a Circular IT app to assist Circular IT Group customers.

Simply input your existing end user computing model and quantity data and create e-waste, GHG emissions and cost reduction results based on sustainable ICT strategies such as:

• Extending existing device lifespans to reduce supply chain GHG emissions
• Extending existing device lifespans to reduce procurement costs as replacement cycles become less regular
• Selecting refurbished computer equipment to reduce e-waste
• Selecting refurbished computer equipment to reduce supply chain GHG emissions

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Information Technology: Qualcomm

End user computing generates over 1% of global greenhouse gas annual emissions caused by the production of over 460m new devices annually and the use-phase activity of 4.2bn users. In context, this is equivalent to emissions generated by 1.4bn fossil fuel car miles and requires a 2.8m km² forest the size of Argentina to sequester the carbon from our atmosphere.

Approximately one-third of the total carbon footprint of personal computers is generated during the use-phase due to electricity consumption. Consequently, legislation, policies and third-party certifications exist to ensure devices are produced and consumed responsibly in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The rationale being that organisations are able to select energy efficient devices using available typical energy consumption data and therefore reduce concomitant scope 2 (electricity) greenhouse gas emissions in the workplace.

However, empirical research by Dr Sutton-Parker identifies that current end user computing energy consumption methodology does not accurately reflect device electricity use when subjected to human-interaction. This is because the typical energy consumption benchmark data used to determine efficiency focuses on measuring only the low power modes such as off, sleep and idle. The results exclude the active state when power draw is at its highest causing inaccuracies between -60% to +121% and creating a disparity maxim of 181%.

The reason for this is that varying operating systems and components require
different levels of power draw during active use. The difference is so great, that despite comparable low power mode results, devices using alternative operating systems can exhibit energy consumption reductions of 46% on average. Consequently, organisations believing they are purchasing computers that will consume the least electricity and produce the fewest emissions can often be unintentionally misled. To overcome such
issues, Px³ conducts Device Use Phase Analysis (DUPA^TM) testing to generate energy consumption data that includes the active state. The resulting Px³ commercial typical energy consumption (cTEC^TM) value measured in kilowatt hours (kWh) per year enables organisations to accurately compare prospective devices by real-life energy based sustainability criterion, predict ongoing lifespan utility costs and quantify annual scope 2 emissions.

In this research three similar Lenovo ThinkPad X13 notebooks are examined to determine if electricity consumption, concomitant scope emissions and resulting utility cost differs between models which are powered by different processors.

The results substantiate that the notebook powered by Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 consumes 45% less electricity than the notebook powered by Intel Core i5-1240P and 24% less than the notebook powered by AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U. This was achieved by Snapdragon reducing average active state power draw up to 66%.

Consequently, scope 2 emissions and utility costs are reduced by a similar percentage therefore substantiating that notebooks installed with Snapdragon generate gains for both planet and profit.

Read how Qualcomm helps to drive energy efficiency related sustainable IT strategies

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