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A joint initiative of Commonwealth, State,and Territory government agencies

GREEN

GREEN OFFICE GUIDEA guide to help you buyand use environmentallyfriendly office equipment

OFFICE GUIDE

The Green Office Guide was funded by the Australian and New Zealand Minerals and Energy Council (ANZMEC) and produced by the National Appliance and Equipment EnergyEfficiency Committee (NAEEEC).These following Commonwealth State and Territorygovernment agencies are NAEEEC members:

Australian Greenhouse Office (Commonwealth of Australia)Ministry of Energy and Utilities (NSW)

Sustainable Energy Development Authority (NSW)Sustainable Energy Authority VictoriaOffice of Chief Electrical Inspector

Department of Mines and Energy (QLD)Office of Sustainable Energy

Office of Energy (WA)Office of Energy Policy (SA)

Office of Energy Planning and Conservation (TAS)Department of Urban Services (ACT)

Department of Industries and Business (NT)Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (NZ)

Written by Sustainable Solutions Pty LtdEdited by Margaret MetzIllustrated by Bob Shields

Design and layout by Spiral DesignProject managed by Sustainable Energy Authority Victoria

While every care has been taken in the compilation of this guide to the selection of officeequipment, NAEEEC takes no responsibility in respect to any information or advice containedin the guide. Information that will enable the publishers to correct or update subsequenteditions will be welcomed.

Note:A greenhouse coefficient 1 kg CO2 per kWh and an energy tariff of 15 cents per kWhhave generally been used throughout this guide. Different coefficients and tariffs may apply toyour circumstances. However, the methods shown can be used with applicable greenhousefactors and tariffs throughout Australia.

ISBN 0-7311-5281-6

© Commonwealth of Australia 2001

Printed on Recycled Paper

Contents

3 Introduction

4 Why go green?

5 Myths and realities

6 Energy Star office equipment

7 Green Power

7 Training your staff to use green office equipment

8 General principles for buying green office equipment

10 Guidelines for buying and using green office equipment

10 Desktop computers and monitors

12 Photocopiers

14 Printers

15 Fax machines

16 Scanners

17 Multifunction devices (MFDs)

18 Bonus savings from air-conditioning

19 Case studies

20 Further information

GREEN OFFICE GUIDE 3

Introduction

Many people don’t realise thatoperating office equipment can costmuch more than the equipment coststhem in the first place. For example,a photocopier that costs you $4,000 to buy, that is left on continuously forseven years over its two-million copieslife, may consume $1,500 of electricity,$24,000 of paper and $15,000 oftoner.The greenhouse gas emissionsfrom supplying energy from powerstations and manufacturing anddisposing of the paper you use couldexceed 80 tonnes of carbon dioxide,which is equivalent to more than thetotal greenhouse gas emissions of a typical Australian home over thatseven-year period.Increasingly, leading edge organisationsare considering operating costs as wellas environmental impacts when theybuy their office equipment. Forexample, they understand that if youbuy an energy-efficient photocopierdesigned to work well with recycledpaper and refilled toner cartridges,copy double-sided whenever you can,set up an effective paper recyclingsystem, and set the photocopier topowersave when you’re not using it,over its seven-year life you may:• reduce the electricity you use

by up to 80%• save up to 80% on your

electricity bill• halve your paper and toner bills • reduce greenhouse gas emissions

from electricity, paper and toner by 75%

• leave 50 trees in the ground which would otherwise have beenchopped down to make paper

• involve your staff in doingsomething for the environment

• increase productivity throughimproved staff morale

• enhance your company’s profits.

Paper reduction and recycling schemescan reduce the costs and environmentalimpacts of paper use by 75–95%.To achieve such spectacular savings,effective staff training and feedback on performance are essential.The Green Office Guide helps you buy environmentally friendly officeequipment and use it to reduce youroperating and environmental costs,including greenhouse gas emissions.This Guide has been produced as part of the National Appliance andEquipment Energy Efficiency Programsupported by the Commonwealth,State and Territory governments.

You can reduceenergy, save money

and help theenvironment by

buying and using“green” office

equipment.

GREEN OFFICE GUIDE4

Why go green?

There are some very good reasons formaking your office an energy-efficient,environmentally friendly place.First, buying and using energy-efficientequipment saves you money. It canprovide enormous savings in electricityuse alone, saving you up to $180 per1,000 kilowatt-hours of energy andcutting up to 80% off your electricitybill. It can also cut 20–30% off your air-conditioning bill because you arereducing the amount of heat that yourequipment generates and that needs to be cooled.Paper costs can be almost halvedsimply by printing double-sided,and you can save $100 on toner and$30 on ink by refilling your printerand toner cartridges.You also save onwaste disposal costs because the amountof waste you generate is reduced.Second, the environmental benefits of using energy-efficient equipmentare tremendous. By reducing theelectricity you use you are reducing air and water pollution from powerstations and saving a tonne ofgreenhouse gas for each 1,000kilowatt-hour of electricity you save.Refilling, reusing and recycling thematerials you use reduces the amountof waste and pollution you generate.In addition, making equipment fromrecycled metals, plastics and othermaterials saves at least two kilogramsof greenhouse gas per kilogram of product.Using recycled paper saves trees.Every 100 reams of recycled officepaper that is printed double-sided saves two trees, more than a tonne of greenhouse gas and almost a cubicmetre of landfill space compared to100 reams of paper that is not recycledor printed double-sided.

Third, making your office a “green”one will involve your staff in doingsomething for the environment.Knowing that their actions can really make a difference will enhance a natural motivation to act in anenvironmentally responsible way.Since motivated staff are productivestaff, you can expect an increase inproductivity. Since most office-basedworkplaces spend about 100 times as much on wages as they do onenergy, small increases in staffproductivity can have major impactson profitability and your company’sbottom line.

Making your office an energy-efficient,environmentallyfriendly place reducesair and waterpollution, keeps moretrees in the groundand involves your staffin doing somethinggood for theenvironment.

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2. Citipower, Tariff: Contract Demand Time of Use L, July 2000(assuming summer peak demand of 4.5 megawatts, average peak load of 3 megawatts and off-peak load of 1 megawatt)

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Myths and realitiesPeople often use office equipment in what they believe is a cost-effective andenvironmentally friendly way when in fact what they are doing is exactly theopposite. Often they are acting on widely believed but wrong information, orthey’ve had a bad experience with older models of equipment and don’t realise thatthe problem doesn’t apply to the newer models. Here are some of the more commonpolluting, dollar- and energy-wasting myths and the realities behind them.

Myth Printing double-sided and/or using recycled paper causesphotocopiers to jam and makes youuse more paper.Reality Many of us have had theseexperiences certainly, but they arequite avoidable in modern equipment.When buying new photocopiers andprinters, ensure that manufacturers and suppliers are prepared to guaranteeeffective performance in these areas.Some copier manufacturers (e.g. Canon and Fuji Xerox) willspecify the brands of recycled paperthey approve.

Myth Refilled toner or inkcartridges leak everywhere and makean incredible mess.Reality As with recycled paper, thisproblem is avoidable and manufacturersand suppliers should be prepared toguarantee effective performance.

Myth Turning off or powermanaging computers and printerscauses network problems.Reality Major network softwaresuppliers say that if networks havebeen properly set up there should beno problem with turning off or powermanaging computers and printers inthe network. If you are installing orupgrading a network, you can saveenergy by making effective powermanagement capacity a mandatorycondition of the contract.Whileservers need to be left on, they don’tneed their screens on after hours to assist processing.

Myth The Windows NT operatingsystem prevents you from using powermanagement features.Reality Windows 95 was the firstMicrosoft operating system to fullysupport power management. Formachines running on many versions ofWindows NT, power management canonly be achieved by changing the settingsin the BIOS (basic input/output system).However,Version 5 of Windows NThas extensive and more easily enabledpower management features.

Myth Power managing equipmentin winter means it will generate lessheat in the office and the heatingsystem will need to run longer.Reality True, but it is far more efficient, cheaper and moreenvironmentally sound to heat yourbuilding with a purpose-built heatingsystem than have inefficiently operatingoffice equipment leak heat into theworkplace. In fact, most commercialoffice buildings use much more energyfor cooling than for heating and powermanagement of equipment can reducethe need for cooling considerably.

Screen savers saveenergy—right? Wrong!Don’t be fooled bysome of the morecommon mythssurrounding energyefficiency.

Myth When equipment is turned on,or powers up from sleep or suspendmodes, there is often a current surge.The energy consumed during this currentsurge is so large that leaving yourequipment in normal operating modewastes less energy than turning it offor using power management features.Reality Start-up current surges are of very short duration and at mostthey consume a few seconds of averagerunning time energy.Whenever yourequipment is not being used for morethan a few minutes it makes sense to turn it off or switch to a lowerpower setting.

Myth Screen savers save energy.Reality Screen savers are energywasters. Most computers use abouttwice as much energy lighting up thescreen as they use for processing.Originally, screen savers were designedto stop screens being burnt by aconstant image, but they aren’t neededfor modern screens. Not only canscreen savers use as much energy as a full screen of work, but many requireconsiderable processing energy as well.If you want to save energy you can set your screen saver to ‘none’ or ‘blank screen.’

Myth Turning off computers crashes the hard drive.Reality Switching off computerswill have no significant effect on theuseful lifetime of the hard disk. In thepast larger hard drives were degradedby mechanical stress.Today somemanufacturers specify a life of 40,000power cycles for their hard drives.That is equivalent to 30 stop/start cyclesfor each working day over five years.

GREEN OFFICE GUIDE6

ENERGY STAR office equipment

As well as looking for the ENERGYSTAR logo, it pays to ask questionsabout the actual power rating indifferent operating modes, and to shoparound for the most efficient equipment.To work, ENERGY STAR productsmust have their energy-saving featuresenabled when they leave the factory.Unfortunately, many suppliers, installersand inhouse IT experts disable thembecause of concerns they will confuseusers or cause network problems, andas a consequence people have usedENERGY STAR equipment withoutthe energy-saving features activated,using more energy whilst earnestlybelieving they’re doing the rightthing.You can avoid doing this byasking your equipment installer toshow you that the ENERGY STARfeatures are operating.ENERGY STAR equipment still uses energy while in sleep mode.You can avoid this by turning off yourequipment overnight and when youare away from your desk for a while.Operating your equipment so that it just meets ENERGY STAR criteria will reduce your electricityconsumption by half compared toequipment that is not power-managed.However, you can save a lot more energyby using more efficient equipment andpower-managing it by switching it off when you’re not using it.

Manufacturers of office equipment are responding to consumer desire formore environmentally sound products.An important driving force behindthis trend has been the ENERGYSTAR® program which was begun by the United States EnvironmentProtection Agency (USEPA) in 1992.Under the program, manufacturers candisplay the ENERGY STAR logo ontheir equipment if it meets established,ever-tightening energy efficiencystandards.The program started withstandards for personal computers andmonitors and has since expanded to cover photocopiers, printers, faxmachines, scanners and devices thatcan print, fax and scan as well asphotocopy, called “multifunction devices.”In Australia, the National Energy Star Program is a cooperative energyefficiency program between theCommonwealth, State and Territorygovernments which promotes thepurchase of ENERGY STAR officeequipment. It is funded by theNational Appliance and EquipmentEnergy Efficiency committee andmanaged by the New South WalesSustainable Energy DevelopmentAuthority (SEDA) on behalf of all jurisdictions.Most commonly, ENERGY STARfeatures on office equipment involvean ability to power down or sleepwhen they’re not being used and wake up when they’re needed. Manyproducts in the marketplace exceedENERGY STAR requirements,although there is great variation inperformance. Interestingly, this oftenhas little to do with price.

Energy Starequipment can

reduce the financialand environmentalcosts of electricity by reducing your

energy use.


You can use the financial gains you have made from enablingENERGY STAR to benefit theenvironment even further.Green Power is energy generated from renewable energy sources such aswind, solar, biomass and mini-hydro.Green Power produces less greenhousegas emissions than conventionalenergy supplies.Green Power is available to 96% ofAustralians.Accredited programs areavailable in New South Wales,Victoria,Queensland,Western Australia,the ACT and South Australia.Choosing Green Power provides many benefits to businesses as it:• is an easy way to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions• demonstrates your business’

commitment to the environment• provides an easily quantifiable

measure of reduction in greenhousegas emissions

• enables the use of the Green Powerlogo for marketing activities

• assists with meeting environmentalreporting requirements

• offers numerous public relationsopportunities

For more information about Green Power please seewww.greenpower.com.au or talk to your electricity supplier.

Training your staff to usegreen office equipment

If you introduce power managementfeatures into your office withouttelling your staff about it, you cancause concern that the equipmentis not functioning correctly.On the other hand, you canenhance staff morale andperformance by choosing yourequipment well and following its installation with training.It is desirable to train staff in itscapabilities and explain how theycan help protect the environment.It is equally important to train newstaff in the environmental systemsyou introduce.

Green Power Green Power gives you the chance to useelectricity that comes from environmentallyfriendly, renewable sources.

Require suppliers to demonstrate pre-set power management featuresafter installation in your office.Get them to provide training for all staff in how to operate the pre-setfeatures and program more efficientsettings to suit individual and group preferences.Remember it is important to give staff feedback on their progress and achievements.

GREEN OFFICE GUIDE8

General principles for buyinggreen office equipment

PAPER AND OTHERCONSUMABLESProducing and transporting a sheet of paper to your office usually takesmore energy than your printer,fax or photocopier uses to placeimages on it.The embodied energy of paper is therefore a significant issue, and becomes more so with energy-efficient equipment.Manufacturing recycled paper can use up to 90% less water and 50% less energy than making it from trees.For office equipment that uses paper, specify:• capacity to operate effectively

using recycled paper• capacity for double-sided printing• plain paper instead of thermal paper

for fax machines (thermal paper hashigher embodied energy and morechemicals in it than plain paper and may not be accepted in office paper recycling schemes)

• a capacity for photocopiers to scan paper printed on both sides

• long-life printing drums and tonercartridges, which are generallycheaper overall, and lessenvironmentally damaging than shorter-lived alternatives

• a guarantee that the use ofremanufactured or refilled toner or ink cartridges will not voidwarrantees or decrease reliability

• a list of approved remanufacturers or refillers of cartridges.

Bear in mind that the cost of buying imaging consumables can be much more than the cost of buying the paper-imaging equipment.For example, a very popular brand of colour inkjet printer with twobonus ink cartridges can be bought for $250, while replacement cartridgescost $50–60 each.Think of longevity,reusability and refillability of imagingcomponents when buying equipment.

Following are some general principlesfor buying environmentally friendlyoffice equipment which will ensurethat you achieve the full economic and environmental benefits.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY• Ensure that all equipment conforms

at least to ENERGY STARrequirements. Specifying therequirement of ENERGY STARcompliant and enabled officeequipment in purchasing policiesand procurement contracts ensuresthat your supplier delivers allproducts with the ENERGY STARlow-power feature enabled and tested.

• Check power ratings in operating,low power, sleep and off modes so that you can select the most energy-efficient, value-for-moneymodel that meets all your operatingrequirements. Bear in mind thatsome equipment can still consumeenergy after the on/off button has been switched off and the powerpoint is still switched on.

• Obtain data on the time theequipment takes to return tooperation when it is switched on or woken up so that you can selectequipment that responds quickly.There is no definite correlationbetween energy use in sleep modeand speed of wake-up.

• Look for the lowest possible timeoptions to move to low power,sleep and off modes.This will saveyou both energy and money.

Make the most of your green

office equipment.Keep these simpleprinciples in mind

for both economicand environmental

benefits.


GREEN INDUSTRY/BUSINESS PRACTICES• Reusing or recycling materials

can significantly reduce theembodied energy in officeequipment (see Figure 2 below).Is the manufacturer prepared to take back equipment at the end of its life for reuse or recycling? Does the equipment come aparteasily and are the componentslabelled to make recycling easier? Some manufacturers are grapplingseriously and creatively with“extended producer responsibility,”which sees them as broader serviceproviders and not merely suppliersof equipment. For example, Xeroxbegan dismantling photocopiers and recycling parts in 1968.It now reuses up to 75% of thecomponents, and up to 98% of thematerials from end-of-life copierswhile still offering a three-yearguarantee on “new” copiers.

• Ask the manufacturer or supplierabout any in-house practices theyhave instituted to improve theirenvironmental performance.Are these isolated instances or part of an overall environmentalimprovement plan? Manymanufacturers include usefulinformation on their websites.

• Ask the manufacturer or supplier if there are any other environmentalfeatures of the product that youhaven’t asked about.With technologychanging so rapidly, you can’t thinkof everything and you may besurprised what you unearth with an open-ended question.

Figure 2 Greenhouse gas emissions from producing a tonne of productfrom virgin materials or recycled feedstock

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GREEN OFFICE GUIDE10

Guidelines for buying andusing green office equipment

The advice given in thissection expands on thegeneral principles forbuying green officeequipment given in theprevious section anddeals with each piece of equipment in detail.

When using computers and monitors:• switch them off outside working

hours. If some of your staff won’t do this, consider installing EMOsoftware to switch their computersoff automatically

• you can switch off the monitor if acomputer is being used as a serverand the monitor is not required

• switch off your computer wheneveryou are away from your desk for an hour or more or for whatevershorter time you find convenient

• experiment with your powermanagement time settings to findthe shortest convenient times that suit you

• think twice before printingelectronic documents, particularlydrafts and emails

• investigate using floppy, zip andcompact disks or tape instead of paper filing systems

• optimise electronic communicationmethods including email, forms and transactions.This reduces thefinancial and environmental costs of paper manufacture and supply,imaging, and transporting hard copy documents by mail or courier

• reduce margin settings and typesizes on your computer so that theprinter uses less paper. Commondefault settings for computers are 12 point type and 3.175 cm (1.25 inch) left and right handmargins. Using 11 point type and2.54 cm (1 inch) left hand marginsand 1.27 cm (0.5 inch) right handmargins can increase the amount of information you can fit on apage by up to 27% and save paper.This still allows ample margins forbinding and hardcopy filing.

Desktop computers generally drawabout 40 to 50 watts when in use.Monitors usually use 50 to 100 watts,with lower values becoming morecommon.This is lower than the valuesthat are usually shown on productnameplates and data sheets because themaximum likely consumption is usuallygiven and not the average.The power needed to light up a screenvaries according to the area of the screen.That means that moving from a 15-inchto a 17-inch screen at constant efficiencywill generally increase your powerdemand by about 30%. However, becauseinefficiencies vary markedly betweenmodels, some 17-inch screens use lessenergy that some 15-inch screensAn audit of more than 600 computersand monitors at the University ofNew South Wales revealed:• the average computer used 49 watts

when fully on, 29 watts whenasleep, and 2 watts when switchedoff. (These numbers reduce to 0 ifthe equipment is switched off at thepower point, rather than just at theoff button on the equipment)

• the average monitor used 60 wattswhen fully on, 6.5 watts in deepsleep, and 1 watt when switched off.

Desktop computers and monitors

Switch off computersand monitors when

you’re not usingthem or consider

buying a laptopinstead.

When selecting computers and monitors:• follow the general principles for

buying green office equipment set out in the previous section

• consider buying a laptop, since alaptop is much more energy- andmaterials-efficient than a desktopcomputer and monitor

• consider buying LCD-type flatscreens for desktop computers,as they are more energy- and space-efficient than standard monitors

• if you have a network, buycomputers that have been testedwith your network software.


Laptop computers, including their flatliquid crystal display (LCD) screens,are much more energy-efficient—typically 15–25 watts—when fully on.By selecting an efficient laptopcomputer and operating it efficientlyyou can reduce your energy use by98–99% (see Figure 3).You can saveenergy and give yourself more desktopspace too by replacing a standardcathode ray tube (CRT) monitor with an LCD monitor.

To meet ENERGY STAR requirements,computers with a power rating of 200 watts or less must have a sleepmode of no more than 15 watts.Monitors must have a sleep mode of 15 watts or less, and a deep sleepmode of 8 watts or less.While a significant proportion ofENERGY STAR models only justmeet these standards, others beat themby a wide margin. For each of these three sleep modes the USEPA ProductDatabase* lists models powering downto almost zero watts.Figure 4 shows you the range of sleepmode performance for ENERGYSTAR-compliant computers andmonitors.The wide variation confirmsthe importance of buying best practiceproducts in preference to those thatjust meet ENERGY STAR requirements.

Figure 4 Sleep mode ratings for monitors on the ENERGY STAR database,1 July 2000

Additional requirements for ENERGY STAR computers are:• power management features are to

be activated by the manufacturerbefore shipping—make sure no-onehas disabled them en route

• an ability for ENERGY STAR-compliant monitors to powerdown—they cannot power down by themselves and need a signal from the computer

• an ability to operate in any operatingsystem installed before shipping, unlessclearly stated in product literature

EMOIf you can’t enable ENERGY STAR on your equipment, an alternativeenergy-saving software product calledEnergy Management Option, EMO,is now available.This software canswitch off your computer when you’renot using it and shut it down at night.It also provides calculations on energy,cost and greenhouse gas emissionssavings which are useful details toinclude in your business’s energy audits and reports.EMO offers significant energy savingsfor the approximately one-third of all computers which are left onunnecessarily when not in use.If EMO finds that a computer hasbeen inactive for a certain time,it saves all open data files, closes allapplications and the operating system,then switches the computer off. Itprovides users with positive feedbackvia an on-screen log-on of the amountof energy, dollars and greenhouseemissions that have been saved duringthe previous day and since theinstallation of the software.EMO was trialled in the AustralianGreenhouse Office and has beenimplemented throughout EnvironmentAustralia and the Department ofIndustry, Science and Resources. It wasfound to provide a convenient, thoughnot complete, range of powermanagement functions for operatingsystems such as Windows NT4 which doesn’t workwell with ENERGY STAR.You stillneed to take additional action to sendyour monitor and CPU to sleep,or to power down your hard drive.EMO can also be used in conjunctionwith ENERGY STAR to ensure that computers and monitors are off after hours, rather than just sleeping.

Figure 3 Annual greenhouse gas emissions and electricity consumption for PCs and laptops

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* http://www.epa.gov/appdstar/estar/products.html


When using photocopiers:• make sure you need a printed copy

before you photocopy the document• turn the photocopier off at the

power point at the end of theworking day and during periods of inactivity. If the machine is in avery humid environment, this maynot work well. In that case, theoptions are to turn the photocopieroff at the machine and not thepower point, or turn the heatingelements back on for some timebefore copying at the start of the working day

• set low power and off mode defaulttimes to the lowest available settingsthat suit your purposes

• copy double-sided whenever you can• use paper with the highest recycled

content the manufacturer or supplierwill recommend for your printer

• use recycled or refilled toner and ink cartridges

• where possible communicate by email instead of paper.

The ENERGY STAR guidelines for standard-sized photocopiers (those handling A4 and A3 paper) are summarised in Table 1.There areseparate criteria for large formatphotocopiers (A2 or larger).

Photocopiers

Table 1 ENERGY STAR criteria for standard-sized photocopiers

Copier speed Low-power Low-power Maximum recovery Off mode* Off mode(copies per minute mode default time time of 30 seconds (watts) default time= cpm) (watts) (minutes) (minutes)

0 < cpm ≤ 20 None Not applicable Not applicable ≤ 5 ≤ 30

20 < cpm ≤ 44 3.85 x cpm + 5 15 Yes ≤ 15 ≤ 60

44 ≤ cpm 3.85 x cpm + 5 15 Recommended ≤ 20 ≤ 90

* This is when the copier has been turned off via the auto-off feature or physically switched off at the machine but not at the power point.

Smart photocopiersdon’t waste energy.

Smart people usesmart photocopiers

to save energy,paper and toner.

When selecting a photocopier,follow the general principlesfor buying green officeequipment set out in thegeneral principles for buyinggreen office equipment section.• If you are looking for a copier

with accessories, make sure that the quoted power rating in lower power mode includes the powerconsumed by accessories.

• Look for a copier with an “energy save” button in addition toprogrammable power managementfeatures so that users can put themachine into low power mode assoon as they finish copying.

• Choose a copier with a seven-dayclock that allows you to program it to turn off when it isn’t needed at the end of each work day and on weekends.

• Unless you are buying a smallformat photocopier, choose onewith the capacity to reduce from A3 to A4.

• For multi-user copiers, consider asecond paper bin to feed paper thatis already printed on one side.

• Select a photocopier with a highrecycled material content and thatmakes use of recycled components.


ENERGY USED BYPHOTOCOPIERSThe major part of photocopier energyuse is the heating of componentswhich fuse toner to paper.Thesecomponents are often kept hot when the machine is idle, so powerconsumption can stay high unless you switch the machine off or power-manage it.These factors affect copier energy use:• warm-up time. If the machine

warms up quickly, it can beswitched off when you’re not usingit.The best office copiers warm upin less than 10 seconds, while smallhome office machines warm upeven more quickly

• consumption while copying.Electricity consumption whilecopying varies from a few hundredwatts to several kilowatts, generatingfrom a quarter to more than threekilograms of greenhouse gas andcosting from four to 45 cents perhour of continuous copying. Eachtime you start photocopying, themachine uses extra energy to getready to operate.You can saveenergy by “batch copying,” whichinvolves saving up your copyingtasks and doing them in one batch

• standby consumption whenswitched on but not copying.Keeping the operating componentsof your photocopier warm or “on standby” ready for immediatecopying uses from 15 to 400 wattsof electricity.This generates akilogram of greenhouse gas every2.5 to 65 hours and costs from 0.2 to 6 cents per hour. It is far betterto power-manage your machine

• power management features.Some older models of photocopiershave “energy save” buttons whichare supposed to reduce energyconsumption while on standby butwhich in reality save little or noenergy.However, the newer ENERGYSTAR photocopiers include anefficient energy save button in theirrange of power management features

• energy consumption when switchedoff. Some copiers have small electricelements of up to 50 watts thatoperate continuously unless thephotocopier is switched off at thepower point.These are only neededin humid environments

• energy consumption of accessories.Document feeders and collators may consume a lot of energy if theydon’t power down with the rest ofthe machine.You can see in Figure 5the greenhouse gas emissions fromphotocopiers operating underdifferent power management regimes.

Figure 5 Annual greenhouse gas emissions and electricity consumptionfrom photocopiers (50 cpm, 1,000 copies/day)

PAPER USED BYPHOTOCOPIERSPaper (including toner) is the biggestcost of a photocopier and has themost environmental impact. Strategieswhich reduce the need for multiplecopies of documents can save energy,money and the environment.These include options such as:• reducing the number of printed

copies you make by communicatingthrough circulation lists, noticeboards and email and storing theinformation communicated onfloppy, zip and compact disks

• reducing the number of sheetsneeded to print a given amount ofinformation by using double-sidedcopying, reducing two pages to fiton one sheet, and loading paperalready printed on one side into an extra paper supply bin.

MATERIALS USED BYPHOTOCOPIERSGreenhouse gas emissions from theenergy used to manufacture a standardfloor-standing photocopier from rawmaterials are about 0.5 tonne.This is a tenth to a quarter of the greenhouseemissions from energy use during thecopier’s lifetime, and 1–3% of thosefrom the paper used. Reuse andrecycling of components and materialsis becoming more widely practised byphotocopier manufacturers and cansave more than half of this impact.Whilst prolonging your photocopier’slife will save the materials needed to manufacture a new machine,if you replace it with a machine that substantially reduces paper and energy use you will be saving the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Note

1. An efficient copier, operated efficiently would not be left on continuously

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Printers

Before you print, think about whether you really need a printedcopy.Whenever possible, communicateby email instead. For those documentsyou do need to print, here are someenergy and paper saving tips:• turn off the printer when you’re

not using it and at the end of theworking day (make sure no-one elsewants to use it first, particularly ifit’s part of a network)

• set sleep mode default times to the lowest available setting that is convenient for your needs

• print double-sided whenever you can• use the Print Preview function

to check layout and style instead of printing

• adjust your margins and type size to fit more on the page

• use paper with the highest recycledcontent the manufacturer or supplierrecommends for your printer

• use ink and toner saving settings• recycle or refill toner and ink cartridges.Table 2 sets out the ENERGY STARguidelines covering standard desktopprinters such as inkjet, laser/LED(light emitting diode), dot matrix andhigh end colour printers (thermal waxtransfer, colour laser and high endlaser-quality).

When selecting a printer, follow thegeneral principles for buying greenoffice equipment set out in thegeneral principles for buying greenoffice equipment section.Ensure the printer has toner- or ink-saving modes such as draft or “econosave” and ask to seedocumentation of the amount of toner and ink saved in this mode.Choose a printer that can printdouble-sided and consider installing a third paper bin for networkedprinters so that you can print draftsand internal documents on paper thatis already printed on one side.For small-volume printers that don’thave the ability to print double-sided,make sure odd and even pages can be printed easily.

Table 2 ENERGY STAR requirements for printers after 31 October 2000

Rated printer speed (pages per minute) Sleep mode (watts) Default time to sleep mode (minutes)

0 < ppm ≤ 10 ≤10 ≤ 5

10 < ppm ≤ 20 ≤ 20 ≤ 15

20 < ppm ≤ 30 ≤ 30 ≤ 30

30 < ppm ≤ 44 ≤ 40 ≤ 60

44 < ppm ≤ 75 ≤ 60

Choose a printer that can print double-sided.But before you print, ask yourself if you reallyneed a printed copy.

Laser printers use similar technologyto photocopiers, so their energyconsumption is similar to that of smallphotocopiers. Inkjet or modern dotmatrix printers can provide very highprint quality but they are slower thanlaser printers.Whilst inkjet printers are oftencheaper than laser printers, the cost ofbuying new ink cartridges may makethem more expensive in the long run.You can cut down the cost and theirenvironmental impact by refilling the inkjet cartridges—either throughcommercial refillers or do-it-yourselfkits. Cartridges can often be refilledfour or five times while maintainingacceptable print quality.Many companies now recycle lasercartridges too. Long-life cartridges thatare usually cheaper to use per page arealso available. Some of the newer laserprinters, such as the Kyocera Ecosysones, have a long-lasting print drum and require only toner refills.This reduces both environmentalimpacts and costs.


The ENERGY STAR program hasresulted in much more efficient laserprinters being developed.These canrival the better inkjet printers in sleepmode, but they still use more energy while printing.Some examples of the greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity usedby printers operating under differentpower management regimes are given in Figure 6.

Figure 6 Annual electricity-based greenhouse gas emissions andelectricity consumption from printers printing 200 pages a day

Fax machines When selecting fax machines, followthe general principles for buyinggreen office equipment set out in thegeneral principles for buying greenoffice equipment section.Buy a plain paper machine. If it’s a laser or LED machine, make sure your warranty covers reusing paper.Otherwise, choose an inkjet machine.For fax/printer machines, make surethat the model you choose is moreenergy-efficient than running twoseparate machines would be.Ensure the fax machine has toner- or ink-saving modes such as draft or “econosave” and ask fordocumentation of the amount of toner and ink saved in these modes.Before faxing something, think aboutwhether you can communicate usingemail instead. If you can’t, here aresome energy and paper saving tips:• if you have many fax machines,

divert calls to a few units after hours and turn the rest off

• set sleep mode default times to the lowest available setting

• fill the paper bin/cartridge withpaper that is already printed on one side

• adjust your margins and type size to fit more on the page

• use ink and toner saving settings• recycle and refill toner and

ink cartridges.

Before the introduction of theENERGY STAR program very few fax machines had a sleep mode.However, nowadays most of them do.From 1 November 2000 ENERGYSTAR requirements for fax machinesare the same as for printers (see Table 2 on page 14).Over the past few years, fax andprinting technologies have movedmuch closer together to the pointwhere there are now many combinedfax/printers on the market.Therefore,many of the guidelines for buyingenvironmentally friendly printers apply to fax machines too.Because most fax machines send and receive faxes for only a smallproportion of their operating time,the energy they use in standby andsleep modes is important.There aremodels available that consume from0.5 to two watts in sleep mode, whileothers just meet the ENERGY STARrequirements.You may be able to find a fax/printer with lower energyconsumption than two separate machines.Most people still leave their faxmachines on all the time. However,if you rarely receive faxes outsideworking hours, consider switchingthem off after hours to save energy.In the case of larger offices with manyfax machines, energy can be saved by turning off some machines afterhours and diverting calls to one or a few machines.

Note

1. An efficient laser printer operated efficiently would not be left on continuously

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Fax machines aremostly inactive so it isimportant to choose

one with a lowstandby energy rating.

On continuously

On 10 hours/day

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Thermal paper can cost about two and a half times as much as plainpaper, and plain paper already printedon one side is often reused in faxmachines. For laser and LEDmachines, you will need to check that reusing paper is covered by themanufacturer’s warranty.Whilst using a 100 metre roll of thermal paper aweek would cost more than $3,000over five years, reusing plain paperover the same period would cost only$400.Another problem with thermalfaxes is that the image fades over time and faxes often have to bephotocopied onto plain paper anyway.In many offices, faxes are transmittedwith a separate cover sheet andindividual transmission or statusreports are printed.This increases theamount of paper used by one-third.You can avoid the problem by usingstick-on labels or rubber stamps forthe front pages of faxes and writing in the name of the recipient, the dateand the number of pages being sent.Fax modems and electronic faxdevices connected to computers orprinters can be very energy-efficientbut if they require a computer orprinter to be left on when they wouldotherwise be switched off, they canlead to significant energy use. Manydevices have adequate buffer memoryto store incoming faxes until theprinter is next turned on.For most purposes, however,email is likely to be the cheapest,convenient and environmentally sound option available.In fact, for many businesses fax traffichas dropped off markedly with thewidespread use of email.Examples of the electricity-basedgreenhouse gas emissions from faxmachines operating under differentpower management regimes are shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7 Annual electricity-based greenhouse gas emissions andelectricity consumption from fax machines

When you buy a scanner, follow thegeneral principles for buying greenoffice equipment.Only turn your scanner on when you want to use it.To meet ENERGY STAR requirementsscanners must be able to enter a sleepmode of 12 watts or less in no morethan 15 minutes.There are some scannerson the market with a power rating forsleep mode of about 3 watts, but mostare three to four times that amount.Generally, high resolution scanners use more energy in sleep mode thanlower quality ones. However, there are a few high resolution machines at the energy-efficient end of the scale.Consult the manufacturer regardingthe ‘sleep mode’ energy rating.While relatively rare a few years ago,scanners are now one of the fastestgrowing segments of the office equipmentmarket and are commonly included inhome/small office computing packages.In most offices scanners are only usedoccasionally.They can therefore beswitched off for most of the time.Networked scanners can be switched offoutside working hours and during officehours if they are not used very much.

Scanners

0

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In most officesscanners are usedonly occasionally.Switch yours off formost of the time.

50 copies/day

500 copies/day

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Laser, Laser, Inkjet Laser,Energy Star Energy Star very efficient

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Multifunction devices (MFDs)

Multifunction devices (MFDs) are machines which print and fax as well as copy.

When selecting MFDs:• follow the general principles for

buying green office equipment set out in the general principles for buying green office equipment section

• evaluate the likely recurrentfinancial and environmental impactof the MFD compared to individualpieces of equipment.

When using MFDs, consider the issuesraised for single pieces of equipmentin the earlier sections of this booklet.You can see the ENERGY STARrequirements for MFDs in Table 3.

Table 3 ENERGY STAR requirements for multifunction devices

Multifunction device speed Low-power mode Recovery time Sleep mode Sleep mode Automatic duplex(images per minute = ipm) (watts) 30 seconds (watts) default mode time (minutes)

0 < ipm ≤ 10 Not applicable Not applicable ≤ 15 ≤ 15 No

10 < ipm ≤ 20 Not applicable Not applicable ≤ 70 ≤ 30 No

20 < ipm ≤ 44 3.85 x ipm + 50 Yes ≤ 80 ≤ 60 Optimal

44 < ipm ≤ 100 3.85 x ipm + 50 Recommended ≤ 95 ≤ 90 Optimal

100 < ipm 3.85 x ipm + 50 Recommended ≤ 105 ≤ 120 Optimal

The advantages of MFDs includesystems integration, ease of use, officespace savings and often significantlylower capital costs compared to buyingseveral equipment items performingthe same range of functions. Choosingan MFD over individual pieces ofequipment can also create significantsavings in embodied energy, materialsand environmental impacts.Comparing the recurrent financial andenvironmental performance of MFDsand single function machines can be quite complicated. For example,whilst the lowest power sleep modefor a copier/printer/fax/scanner listedon the ENERGY STAR ProductDatabase is 45 watts, it is possible tofind single function machines whichsleep at about a quarter of that.

If you use any of the four functionsrelatively infrequently, it may cost you more because you can’t turn thatfunction off while the machine is on for other functions.This may be most significant if your need forphotocopying is light.There could alsobe extra costs involved if you need tokeep the fax on after hours, becausethe whole machine has to be left on.Given the recent history of designimprovements in the very best officeequipment, it is likely that moreefficient MFDs will become available.

Weigh up theadvantages ofmultifunction devicesover single pieces of equipment.Your decision onwhat to buy willdepend on howmuch you use them.


In medium to large offices, thenumber of people and presence ofequipment and lights all generate extraheat.This adds to the load the coolingcycle of air-conditioning systems has to deal with.That’s why even in Australia's coolest cities it takesmore energy to cool office blocks over a year than it does to heat them.Estimating the air-conditioning energy savings due to efficient officeequipment is complicated by twofactors. Firstly, air-conditionerstypically produce two to three units of cooling for every unit of electricityconsumed (that is, their coefficient of performance or “COP” is betweentwo and three). So, to remove a kilowatt-hour of heat energy requires between a third and a half a kilowatt-hour of electrical energy.Secondly, in cold weather the heatfrom office equipment may help heatthe building, saving on heating fromother sources. However, this is a relatively minor effect.Once these factors are accounted for,air-conditioning savings from usingmore efficient office equipmentusually bring an extra 20–30% savingin energy costs and greenhouse gasemissions.That is, if an efficient copiersaves 1,000 kilowatt hours a year(saving about $150 and generating a tonne less greenhouse gas),additional savings will be up to $45 on air-conditioning costs and 300 kg of greenhouse gas emissions.Older office buildings were notdesigned to cope with the high densityof office equipment they now have to deal with.The result is that manybuildings cannot be cooled enough to deliver comfortable workingconditions throughout the year.This leads to either discomfort and lowering of staff morale and productivity, or very costlyreplacement or augmentation of air-conditioning systems, since a kilowatt of air-conditioning capacity typically costs about $250.

Bonus savings from air-conditioning

Currently, most office buildings aredesigned assuming a peak heating loadfrom office equipment of 15 watts persquare metre. In other words, they areactually designed with inefficientenergy use in mind.A new, more environmentally friendly approach has been taken in the design of the 60 L GreenBuilding in Melbourne, a four-storeycommercial development to be built in late 2000.This innovative building,which will incorporate the newnational headquarters of the AustralianConservation Foundation, has beendesigned with energy-efficient officeequipment and lighting in mind.For about a quarter of the year, thebuilding will be ventilated naturallyand people will be able to open theirwindows if they wish. During thistime there will be no heating orcooling at all, creating a 75%reduction in cooling energy.Thecooling plant, which will be used inhot weather, will be 20% smaller thanconventional plants and will save anestimated $100,000 in capital costs.Overall, it is anticipated that the totalannual energy bill for this building will be about 70% less than for atypical commercial building of thesame size—a saving of about $50,000 a year.Building owners and tenants can beassisted to reduce energy use, energycosts and greenhouse gas emissionsthrough the Building GreenhouseRating scheme.This scheme benchmarks a building’sgreenhouse impact on a star scale ofone to five, one being the mostpolluting and five the least.The star rating is based on energyconsumption and greenhouse gasemissions resulting from energyconsumed by your building or tenancy.For more information on the BuildingGreenhouse Rating scheme visit thewebsite, www.abgr.com.au.

Using energy-efficientequipment will give

you bonus savings onyour air-conditioningbills because you aregenerating less heat

that has to be cooled.


Case studies In the following scenarios for commercial and homeoffices, computers and monitors comprise 85–95% of energy costs, with printers and copiers next mostsignificant, at 3–6% of energy costs.This highlights the importance of careful selection and managementof computers and monitors.

Pattern of use ENERGY STAR Electricity (annual) Greenhouse gases (annual)

Scenario 1 Equipment left on all the time ENERGY STAR features disabled $42,000 280 tonnes

Scenario 2 Equipment switched off at night ENERGY STAR features disabled $12,000 80 tonnes(except 10 computers acting as servers and 1 fax)

Scenario 3 Equipment left on all the time ENERGY STAR enabled $13,500 90 tonnes(at default settings)

Scenario 4 Equipment switched off at night ENERGY STAR enabled $8,000 70 tonnes(except 10 computers acting as (at default settings)servers and 1 fax)

Scenario 5 Equipment switched off at night ENERGY STAR enabled $5,000 30 tonnes(except 10 computers acting as (at user defined settings)servers and 1 fax)

HOME OFFICEA home office has a personalcomputer, fax machine, inkjet printer,scanner and small photocopier.If this equipment is left oncontinuously, it will generate annualgreenhouse gas emissions of around1.8 tonnes, with an electricity bill of around $220. Switching off theequipment outside working hours will cut greenhouse gas emissions bymore than 60% and save $135 eachyear on energy bills.

Selecting the most efficient equipmentavailable, and switching it on only whenneeded, as well as enabling the ENERGYSTAR features will cut electricity costsand impacts to less than 20% of thecost of equipment left on all the time.If the office used a laptop computerand either the best available printer,fax, scanner and copier, or a smallcombination printer/fax/copier/scannerand enabled the ENERGY STARfeatures, greenhouse gas emissionswould fall to around 150 kilograms ofgreenhouse gas each year, and annualenergy costs would fall to under $20,which is more than a 90% reduction.

COMMERCIAL OFFICEThis case study considers a typicaloffice of 200 people using thefollowing equipment:• 200 personal desktop computers• 20 networked laser printers• five fax machines• five scanners• five photocopiers.

Note: Citipower, Tariff: Contract Demand Time of Use L, July 2000

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Based on paper use of 80 sheets perday, using ordinary office paper wouldcost around $240 each year. Efficientpaper use, reuse of paper printed on one side, purchase of premiumrecycled paper and recycling of allpaper no longer needed could cut thisby 70%, saving around $170 on annualpaper costs.Annual greenhouse gasemissions from paper use would bereduced from around 700 kilograms to less than 50 kilograms.

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Figure 8 Annual greenhouse gas emissions from office equipment fora typical commercial office.


Further information

The following websites provide usefulinformation on equipment energyefficiency, ENERGY STAR andenvironmentally sound office practices.

Australian National ENERGY STAR:http://www.energystar.gov.au

US-EPA ENERGY STAR:http://www.epa.gov/appdstar/

Energy Smart:http://energysmart.com.au

Australian Greenhouse Office:http://www.greenhouse.gov.au

NSW Sustainable Energy DevelopmentAuthority (SEDA):http://www.seda.nsw.gov.au

NSW Ministry of Energy and Utilitieshttp://www.doe.nsw.gov.au

Sustainable Energy Authority Victoria (SEAV):http://www.seav.vic.gov.au

Western Australia Office of Energy:http://www.energy.wa.gov.au

South Australian Office of Energy Policy:http://www.pir.sa.gov.au

Queensland Department of Mines and Energy:http://www.dme.qld.gov.au

Environment Australia:http://www.ea.gov.au

Appliance Energy Rating:http://www.energyrating.gov.au

Green Power:http://www.greenpower.com.au/

New Zealand Energy Efficiency andConservation Authority:http://www.energywise.co.nz

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network(US Department of Energy):http://www.eren.doe.gov

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory:http://eande.lbl.gov

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy:http://www.aceee.org

Rocky Mountain Institute:http://www.rmi.org

The following publications may be ofparticular interest.

Mercer, K; Kasula,V; and Nilson, R, Does Power Cycling a Desktop Computer Harm It?:http://www.energywise.co.nzNordman, B; Piette, M; Kinney, K; and Webber, C(1997),User Guide to Power Management in PCs andMonitors, January: http://www.eande.lbl.gov/EAP/BEA/LBLReports/39466McQuinlan, P (1997), Implementing ENERGY STARFeatures on Network Computer Equipment, June:http://www.energywise.co.nzUniversity of New South Wales Green Office Program(2000), Personal Computers and Energy Conservation—the Case for Switching Off.University of New South Wales Green Office Program(2000), UNSW Library Building Office Equipment Energy Audit,April.Fuji Xerox Australia Pty Ltd (1997), Down-to-earth officecarePickin, J (1996),The Environmental Impacts of Paper-Consuming Office Technologies in Australia,Australian Conservation Foundation, Fitzroy.Smith, L, Ledbetter, M and Dandridge, C: (1996) Guide to Energy-Efficient Office Equipment,American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy,Berkeley: http://www.aceee.org/pubs/o2.htm

http://www.seav.vic.gov.au/

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