Energy costs keeping you awake?
Saving Energy and Money is easy with our
program of:
INCENTIVE PAYMENTS
for in-house enabling of ENERGY STAR®
settings:
 More about incentives
FREE SOFTWARE
to enable "sleep" mode settings for computer monitors
More about EZ Save software
DISCOUNTS ON ENERGY-SAVING HARDWARE
subsidized by public funding:
More about "smart" power strips
More about occupancy sensing light switches
Your organization can:
- Cut energy costs now
- Reduce air conditioning loads
- Help California and the Planet
Preliminary results for the program:
Phase I: 495 kW, 110% of goal.
Phase II: 1287 kW, 192% of goal.
As of 12/31/01 funding for Incentives & Hardware has expired.
|
Who is eligible?
- Current and former Pacific Gas and Electric business customers who
pay a "Public Goods Charge" on their utility bills.
- Service requests must be able to be satisfied before the program's
December 21, 2001 completion date.
Because the funding and duration of these funds are limited, Energy Solutions
cannot guarantee that all interested and eligible customers will receive services.
How does the program work?
The Office Equipment Efficiency Program helps
organizations save energy and money in two ways: enabling the ENERGY
STAR "sleep" mode on computer monitors,
and using energy-saving hardware to automaticlly turn off other office
equipment such as printers, desk lights, and personal heaters when a
space is not occupied. The Energy Solutions program team is available
to meet with you and your information technology (IT) staff.
ENERGY STAR® is the national symbol for energy efficiency, jointly managed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Energy (DOE).
|
The Office Equipment Efficiency Program
complements the EPA's national effort to promote ENERGY
STAR monitor power management. To learn
more about this ENERGY STAR
promotion, visit [www.energystar.gov/powermanagement].
|
Saving energy through "sleep"
Computer monitors
Computer monitors use two-thirds of the energy
consumed by a computer workstation. Putting monitors in "sleep"
mode can reduce their electricity use by 90%. 
However, less than half of the machines in offices typically use the
ENERGY STAR settings that
put equipment in this low-power mode when idle. This program offers
Incentive Payments for activating
the sleep settings that are already built in to your computer monitors.
The program also offers Free Technical Support
and Free Software to help you enable sleep settings more easily. Free
"EZ Save" software from ENERGY STAR
allows your IT staff to quickly activate sleep settings for hundreds
of computer monitors throughout the computer network. (To download this
software visit www.energystar.gov/powermanagement.)
The program also offers assistance for manually turning on sleep settings,
including easy step-by-step instructions. [Click
here]
How does sleep mode work?
ENERGY STAR power management works by sensing when a certain amount of time has
passed with no activity and putting the monitor in a low power or "sleep" mode. Once
in "sleep" mode, a simple touch of the mouse or keyboard "wakes" the machine back up
within 10 seconds, without affecting what you were previously working on. And because
manufacturers have increased the reliability of components, your equipment will not be
harmed by frequently powering down. [Click here] for additional information.
Energy-saving hardware
Lights on, nobody home?
Our program has partnered with the manufacturer
Watt Stopper, Inc. to offer you deep discounts on energy-saving hardware
that will save your organization energy and money.
Offices today are using more equipment with higher wattage requirements.
To reduce consumption,you can install an occupancy sensing power strip
or a wall-mounted lighting sensor. These "smart"
power strips use an occupancy sensor to turn on and off task lighting,
fans, printers, and other equipment. Occupancy
sensing light switches use a motion detector to turn overhead lights
on and off based on the occupancy of the room.
User awareness
We understand that worker productivity remains the top priority.
Care will be taken to clearly communicate the goals of the project
to your employees before and after any changes are made to their
equipment. Program services include free informational brochures
to explain the program and any equipment changes to your employees.
Sponsor
This Energy Solutions program is funded by California utility customers
and administered by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, under the
auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission. Hardware provided
by this program is not eligible for utility rebates.
FACTZZZ:
FACT #1:
Setting all computer monitors in California for sleep mode would save as
much power as is produced by a medium-sized power plant, and avoid 430 thousand
tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
FACT #2:
Even if your computer has the ENERGY STAR
label, you may not be receiving the full benefits of sleep mode. The
built in power management settings must be turned on to save energy.
FACT #3:
EPA estimates that if everyone bought and enabled ENERGY
STAR labeled office equipment instead of conventional
equipment, by the year 2010 the annual pollution prevented would be
equivalent to taking more than 6.5 million cars off the road.
FACT #4:
A screen saver is not an energy-efficient feature. Graphical screen
savers save the phosphors in your monitor, but generally don't save
energy. If you do use a screen saver, be sure to choose one that displays
images for a pre-determined period of time and then triggers the sleep
mode.
| 
