Earth Day and Energy Efficiency: GovLoop Poll Results

In anticipation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Earth Day 2010 today, we worked with GovLoop last week to poll community members on workplace habits related to energy efficiency. I was pleased and encouraged by the over 150 responses to our poll, which consisted of the following three questions:

1) How does energy efficiency influence your purchase decision for a PC?

2) What is your top motivation in purchasing an energy efficient PC?

3) How many days per week do you power down your computer and monitor at night?

While purchasing energy efficient PCs and powering down at night are not the only ways to help your government agency “go green,” they are easy first steps in reducing our environmental impact. An example of another “green” topic that I am personally passionate about is telework – a simple and effective way for government employees to reduce pollution by taking cars off the road. GovLoop has a page with some great resources if you’d like to read more.

And now on to the results from the poll – Govloop also has a write-up on the poll results that you can check out here.

1) 39% of respondents indicated that energy efficiency has some influence on their purchasing decision when buying a PC while 23% responded that it has a “high degree” of influence.

2) 52% are motivated by a combination of cost savings and reduced environmental impact upon purchasing an energy efficient PC.

3) 50% power down their computer and monitor every night.

Overall, some great statistics showing that GovLoop community members are conscious and committed to doing their part to help. I’m proud to work for a company (HP) that also does its part to not only reduce its own environmental impact, but produces some really cool solutions that allow our customers to do the same. Eliminating or reducing hazardous materials, using fewer resources, reducing energy consumption, as well as designing for recyclability – the advancements and innovations have been astounding.

Just yesterday, in fact, we announced several new PC products, including the HP Compaq 6005 Pro Ultra Slim desktop, which has some solid “green” credentials as it is BFR/PVC free, offers an 87 percent-efficient power supply, meets ENERGY STAR qualifications and EPEAT registration, and includes preinstalled software tools such as the HP Power Assistant that I mentioned in a recent blog post.

If you’re interested in learning more about HP’s “eco solutions” you can find additional information here: HP Eco Solutions.

I’d love to hear how you plan on celebrating Earth Day this year, as well as your tips for helping to create a “greener” government.