Topten Product Criteria Paper on Computers
Contents
1. Topten Product Criteria Paper on Computers Alain Anglade ADEME Sophie Attali Sowatt ADEME Agence de l Environnement et de la Ma trise de l Energie December 2011 Supported by ce INTELLIGENT ENERGY f EUROPE W Coordinated by The Project in brief Topten is part of the international Euro Topten Plus initiative supported by the Euro pean programme Intelligent Energy Europe and several national institutions energy agencies WWF consumer associations research institutes On global level Topten is coordinated by TIG the Topten International Group This association promotes to the Topten Charter TIG statutes and Rules of Procedure www topten eu Topten is a service that supports the market for energy efficient products It aims at making energy efficient products the first choice for consumers by offering them a user friendly tool for product comparison and selection The key element is an online information platform for consumers presenting the most energy efficient appliances currently available in various product categories including household appliances office equipment consumer electronics and cars Information on energy consumption and performance of products as well as several other characteristics i e brand model price picture is provided Product data is based on labels and standardized declara tions as well as tests from accepted well known institutions The service2. 3 4 Type of processor The processor uses around 40 of the energy of a desktop computer 20 for a notebook Multi core processors are delivered by several manufacturers and can save energy up to 60 for a dual core processor several tasks can be performed in parallel with each other instead of one task after the other In principle a dual core processor is as fast as a single core processor with twice as high clock frequency Since the energy consumption is proportional to the clock frequency the energy consumption could in theory be reduced by half with a dual core processor The reality is not that good but a substantial improvement can be seen in the multi core proces sors Another benefit with multi core processors is the ability to shut down or reduce the clock frequency of one or more of the cores for specific tasks This can be useful for instance when the PC shall perform only one simple task like streaming a video or audio file For such a task the PC can be operated in a mode with only one core running In data provided by computer and processor manufacturers a decrease in energy consumption of more than 60 can be seen for a PC processor of the multi core type compared to a single core processor if the operating system OS supports optimised use of the multi core processor because it requires OS and software adaptation so that they are able to use the processor s design This is also explained by the fact that dual or multi
3. e The product environmental attributes hazardous substances batteries safety consumable materials packaging e Environmental conscious design disassembly recycling product lifetime mate rial substance batteries energy consumption noise emission ergonomics 4 2 Other regulations covering computers 4 2 1 WEEE Directive for Waste of Electric and Electronic Equipment 2002 96 EEC February 2003 Member States shall encourage the design and production of electrical and electronic equipment which take into account and facilitate dismantling and recovery in particular the reuse and recycling of WEEE their components and materials In this context Member States shall take appropriate measures so that producers do not prevent through specific design features or manufacturing processes WEEE from being i http www ecma international org i http ec europa eu environment waste weee_index htm 23 Product Criteria Paper reused unless such specific design features or manufacturing processes present overriding advantages for example with regard to the protection of the environment and or safety requirements Member States shall adopt appropriate measures in order to minimise the disposal of WEEE as unsorted municipal waste and to achieve a high level of separate collection of WEEE a systems are set up allowing final holders and distributors to return such waste at least free of charge Member States
4. 50 to 75 percent less energy than standard efficiency models This equates to possible annual savings of 65 to 100 kWh per device Starting out from 45 million desktop PCs in use in Germany 32 millions in private households and 13 millions in office environments in 2009 2010 energy savings could reach 2 9 to 4 5 TWh if efficient units would replace standard equipment This equates to potential CO reductions of between 2 0 and 3 0 million tons of CO eq per year Using current state of the art technology at least 8 2 million of the desktop PCs sold in the EU 15 countries in 2008 could be replaced by thin clients 1 6 million devices in Germany alone This could save 5 3 million tons of CO eq in the EU 15 countries or 1 0 million tons of CO2 eq in Germany over a five year period of use The Blue Angel specifications also cover recyclable design choice of material plastic parts low emission materials thus reducing possible damage to environment and human health Today there does not seem to be TCO labelled computers on the market at least they do not show on their website 4 1 6 The Nordic Swan The Nordic Ecolabel is the official Ecolabel of the Nordic countries and was established in 1989 by the Nordic Council of Ministers with the purpose of providing an environ mental labelling scheme that would contribute to a sustainable consumption It is a voluntary endorsement Ecolabelling of products and services It is very well known in N
5. EU sink eas eee acs Se ta en LS a na tn ln Mt 5 2 Prod ct D finition ne nine fn A tip de ed pee re a era ta nee 6 2 1 Computer sisene a a dure mets Ne Tr le tin PT ES ait te 6 2 2 Desktop and integrated desktop computers 6 2 3 Notebook computers annn n nannan anann Ennan nnna 7 2 4 Computer components iaee e aae a aaa A A a eaaa EEn 7 2 5 Modes of operation according to ENERGY STAR 8 3 Computer features influencing energy consumption and their possible a A A AT 9 3 1 Distribution of power use 2005 scc sccccicaieseersdssnchepdecancedaracneoeeegacabaa ales Hatantabanees 9 3 2 Power Management nn NE A uiia ner Bd a ead 10 3 3 Using notebooks instead of desktop 10 3 4 Type Of processorn coha a a a A A aad aS e 11 3 5 Adaptive intensity of processor USC ccececeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeeeaeeeaeeaaeeaaenaaeeaen 11 3 6 Energy Savings Of the MiOtnenO Oar Gs sa cusesciec seionnepeehasadocttesceunsdansaet amen tt 11 3 7 Energy savings by the design of the power supply 12 3 7 1 Internal Power Supplies IPS iii 12 3 7 2 External Power Supplies EPS 248 12 3 8 Design and selection of energy efficient data storage drives eee 13 3 9 Hybrid Hard IDS Ketek se TR een ner re nee ne te te dE 13 3 10 Cooling technologies nine nd ie inebtes 13 3 11 Change to renewable plastiesss sn nn ne Te d 14 3 12 Batteries for notebook
6. Pourcentage des m nages quip s d un ordinateur 2010 92 90 2010 2 88 86 p2 2010 7 76 76 74 69 o 65 0 y i Rn j 1 4 k 8 i Ve Pan i H s Ey Ior Ve 7 en Ma Re a Chomp m nages comprenant au moins une personne de 15 74 ons Source OCDE indicateurs cl s des TIC 2010 Households equipped with a computer Household comprising at least one person between 15 and 74 years Source OECD 1 http www observatoire du numerique fr indicateurs cles usages grand public equipement 29 Product Criteria Paper For the Office sector the IT study of 2010 from the OECD shows the following equipment rate as a percentage of wage earner using internet or a computer in their 14 work des salari s utilisant Internet ou un ordinateur dans leur travail 71 71 68 64 64 64 a 61 58 59 55 55 55 52 49 5 51 0 44 43 33 0 i Ay Yo 1 R in me 3 k Yue Wp 7 ie lt Chomp Entreprises de 10 salari s ou plus des secteurs morchonds non agricoles hors secteur financier Source Eurostat enqu te communautaire TIC 2010 Utilisation d un ordinateur Utilisation d Internet Utilisation d un ordinateur M Utilisation d Internet Utilisation d un ordinateur M Utilisation d Internet Wage earner using internet or a computer in their work Companies with more than 10 employees in the for profit sector excluding agriculture and finance Source OECD 1
7. Program Requirements for Computers Version 5 0 www eu energystar org en 254 shtml EPEAT Label http www epeat net IDATE Impact environnemental de la TIC en France 2010 quoting Th se de doctorat Institut National des T l communications 2008 Techniques d estimation de consommation sur la hauteur la structure et l volution de l impact des TIC en France IVF Industrial Research and Development Corporation Preparatory study for Eco design Requirements of EuPs Lot 3 Personal Computers desktops and laptops and Computer Monitors Final Report 2007 Okolnstitute EcoTopTen Kaufempfehlungen f r Desktop PCs Kompakt PCs Note books und Netbooks Nordic Swan label http www nordic ecolabel org criteria product groups TCO label http www tcodevelopment com 39
8. annual electricity use measured in kilowatt hours kWh using measurements of average operational mode power levels scaled by an assumed typical usage model duty cycle The TEC is a method of testing and comparing the energy performance of computers which focuses on the typical electricity consumed by a product while in normal operation during a representative period of time In order to get the ENERGY STAR label there is a list of prerequisites Below are quoted the main ones but for the full specifications including for enterprise and public procurement and the test method standard see ENERGY STAR Program Re quirements for Computers Version 5 0 The following tables indicate the required TEC levels for the current Specification for desktop and notebook categories version 5 0 Table 1 below lists TEC requirements 2 www eu energystar org en 254 shtml 16 Product Criteria Paper for Version 5 0 while Table 2 gives weightings for each operational mode by product type TEC are determined using the formula below TEC 8760 1000 Poff Toff Psleep Tsleep Pidle Tidle where all Px are power values in watts all Tx are Time values in of year and the TEC is in units of kWh and represents annual energy consumption based on mode weightings in Table 2 The various categories of products depend on the number of cores the size of the memory the presence of a graphic processing unit Table 1
9. by a fan that forces air to flow through the cabinet Often the cooling fan is temperature controlled particu larly for notebook computers Alternative systems for cooling are available such as liquid cooling but the indications are that the technology is not mature and that the pull from the market is not here It remains as a technology for enthusiasts or for energy intensive configurations e g gamer PCs for the moment The main benefit of the liquid cooling is not the energy savings but the fact that the processor can be kept at a very low temperature An additional benefit is that the system of liquid cooling can be quiet but it also has a high cost Product Criteria Paper 3 11 Change to renewable plastics The plastics were of some importance when discussing the focus areas in task 5 even if it was not the most important issue All the products in the study are containing rather big volumes of plastics and therefore a discussion on renewable plastics can be of interest for all of them The use of non renewable materials including plastics made of oil is being dis cussed New technologies are developed in order to make these materials renewable One such technology is to use biofiber reinforced bioplastics The biofiber can for example be made of linen kenaf or cellulose Plastics can for example be made through a polylactid acid polymerisation from corn to polymer There are mobile phones on the market using these
10. for batteries not yet available best technology Much of that development aims at produc ing safer batteries less risk for explosions or fire but also in order to make them cheaper or giving higher energy capacity per weight These new chemi cals are for example Lithium Mangan Oxide Spinell LiMn204 which is safer but have less energy capacity and lon Phosphate FePO4 which is cheaper than today s chemicals Another solution is Zinc air batteries used in hearing aids for example where oxygen in the surroundings is used as one of the chemicals in the process making the need to carry all the chemicals less There is also an ongoing development of new electrolytes in order not to use the toxic organic ones In order to improve the end of life treatment it is of importance to make the batteries easy to remove from the product That will stop the toxic and danger ous explosive substances from the batteries to spread in the environment To fully utilise this option some kind of take back circulate system for old batteries is needed 3 13 Choice of application and their frequency of use Some applications are more energy intensive than others working with images working with sound but also delocalised activities cloud computing surfing on the web sending mails etc which require the use of servers based outside the premises of the user but nonetheless consuming energy and emitting CO2 see section 7 Prod
11. technologies However the environmental qualities of bio plastics have not yet been adequately documented so the potential improvement cannot be quantified in addition the lifetime of the renewable polymers are sometimes less than those of non renewable polymers 3 12 Batteries for notebooks Batteries used for notebooks are now of the Lithium ion type even if also Lithium polymer batteries are being used The difference between the two of them is that the electrolyte in the latter is bound in a polymer One of the important characteristics for batteries of mobile equipment is energy per weight where both these types are good solutions They both also have a rather low self discharge rate Another important quality of rechargeable batteries is how they behave when not fully charged Old time batteries such as Ni Cd have a memory effect making them less effective after bad charging habits and are therefore no longer used for notebooks Regarding the environmental impact there are a few main things to bear in mind e Energy efficiency There are always energy losses in the charging process In order to minimise that the charging process should be as effective as possible In docking units for notebooks the charging is often always on which gives losses all the time even if the battery is fully charged The charging should pre ferably stop when the battery is fully charged because this will reduce charging losses and extend battery se
12. the European market in 2011 We present below the projections that were made at the time and some numbers from research companies and regular OECD studies Rough approximation of installed base of computers 2009 2010 Desktops Laptops million million Office Home Office Home 2009 50 123 82 55 2010 51 130 94 63 Source Lot 3 Personal Computers desktops and laptops and Computer Monitors Final Report Task 1 8 IVF Industrial Research and Development Corporation 2007 More recent information shows that the market for PCs grew by 13 4 in 2007 according to the Gartner institute which announces 271 2 millions desktops and laptops sold around the world The region formed by Europe the Middle East and Africa was at that time the largest market because of the growth in Eastern Europe the Middle East and Africa whereas the Asian and pacific regions were starting their rise Hewlett Packard Dell Regarding manufacturers the 3 main groups LEA oe were Hewlett Packard Dell and Lenovo with respective market shares up to 18 2 14 3 Source Gartner and 8 9 World market shares of PC manufacturers World Sales 271 1 Millions PC in 2007 Source Gartner institute 12 from http www journaldunet com cc 02_equipement equip pc mde shtml 28 Product Criteria Paper For the Domestic sector the IT study of 2010 from the OECD shows the following equipment rate per home
13. the computer housing e g notebook or integrated desktop computer a Discrete Graphic Processing Unit GPU a graphics processor with a local memory controller interface and local graphics specific memory a power supply unit among the two following types an external power supply EPS which is regulated for the no load energy consumption and the active ef ficiency by the Eco Design specific Directive EC 278 2009 or an internal power supply IPS various generic components which characteristics and number could have an impact on the energy efficiency of the computer o number of cores of the Central Processing Unit CPU o type and size of the Random Access Memory RAM Product Criteria Paper o storage devices hard disk drives solid state disk drives optical drives etc o audio interface either integrated to the motherboard as an extension card or as an external device e g connected through a USB port o TV tuner as an extension card or as an external device e g connected through a USB port o input devices such as keyboard mouse trackpad digitizer game con troller 2 5 Modes of operation according to ENERGY STAR Off Mode The power consumption level in the lowest power mode which cannot be switched off influenced by the user and that may persist for an indefinite time when the appliance is connected to the main electricity supply and used in accordance with the manuf
14. to activate within 30 minutes of user inactivity Com puters shall reduce the speed of any active 1 Gb s Ethernet network links when transitioning to Sleep or Off e The display s Sleep mode set to activate within 15 minutes of user inactivity 17 Product Criteria Paper e Regarding network requirement Computers with Ethernet capable of enabling and disabling WOL wake on LAN for Sleep mode There are User Information Requirements In order to ensure that purchasers users are properly informed on the benefits of power management the manufacturer will include with each computer one of the following e Information on ENERGY STAR and the benefits of power management in either a hard copy or electronic copy of the user manual This information should be near the front of the user guide or e A package or box insert on ENERGY STAR and the benefits of power man agement Either option must at least include the following information e Notice that the computer has been shipped enabled for power management and what the time settings are either the default settings for the system or a note stating that the default settings for he computer comply with the ENERGY STAR requirements of less than 15 min of user inactivity for the display and less than 30 min of inactivity for the computer recommended by the ENERGY STAR programme for optimal energy savings and e How to properly wake the computer from Sleep mode The ma
15. with the intention of explaining its approach A definition is given for various typologies of users and various types of com puters For example an entry level computer is suitable for e mail Internet office applications for image editing and archiving to video or DVD and look for simple computer games A multimedia computer is also suitable for video editing and 3D computer games without special effects A laptop uses about 70 percent less electricity than a comparable PC hardware it is space saving and also mobile However this convenience has its price Netbooks are again more efficient than laptops significantly smaller than traditional notebooks and particularly suitable for email and internet access and for basic office applications Desktop PCs are generally cheaper to purchase than comparable notebooks equipment Because of the larger housing they tend to be easier to repair etc Then advice for choosing is provided in order to reduce the environmental impact of the computer Adapt the equipment to the needs In general the larger the equipment with high performance components may be not useful for all applications the higher the energy consumption Choose as efficient as possible the components impacting the energy con sumption processor graphic card and monitor 16 from http www ecotopten de prod computer prod php 34 Product Criteria Paper Use the computer for many years as this reduc
16. 4 30 http Awww observatoire du numerique fr indicateurs cles usages professionnels usages internet Product Criteria Paper 6 2 Manufacturers and Distributors 6 2 1 List of Manufacturers according to the OECD 2004 IT equipment manufacturers Website IBM www iom com Hewlett Packard www amp hp com Toshiba www toshiba com NEC www nec com Fujitsu www fujitsu com Dell Computer www dell com Electronics and components manufacturers Siemens www siemens com Hitachi http hitachi com Sony www sony net Panasonic http panasonic net Samsung Electronics www samsung com global business semiconductor Mitsubishi Electric www mitsubishielectric com Philips Electronics www philips com Intel www intel com Canon www canon com 15 OECD Key ICT indicators Top 50 telecommunications firms and top 50 IT firms Revenue Employment Net income R amp D Market capitalisationm 2003 from http www oecd org document 23 0 3343 fr 2649 34449 34914871 1 1 1 1 00 html 31 Product Criteria Paper Sanyo Electric www sanyo service com LG Electronics www lg com 3M www 3m com Emerson Electric www emerson com Sharp www sharp eu Xerox www xerox com Ricoh www ricoh com Flextronics www flextronics com 32 Product Criteria Paper 7 Selection Criteria A
17. Analysis ccccesessesseeeeeeneeeesnssseeeeeeeeeseeseseeeneanenees 28 6 1 Sales and Stock data 28 6 2 Manufacturers and Distributors 31 6 2 1 List of Manufacturers according to the OECD 2004 31 7 Selection Criter lassi etree hace eee eee eee ees 33 7 1 Topten Computer Advice cccccccceccceccceceeeceeeeeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeneess 34 8 BiDNMOGKAPN Year inner nn nana einen indie 39 Product Criteria Paper 1 Introduction Criteria papers provide a central tool for the Euro Topten Plus partners to collect and analyse product data and to establish a national Topten selection Appropriate selection criteria and technical specifications are a crucial precondition for meaningful and well accepted Topten websites The purpose of this criteria paper is to provide a common basis for the definition of technical specifications Obviously the range of products differs significantly in European member States in terms of price level configuration energy classes and energy consumption corresponding to levels of purchasing power and behavioural aspects mentality customs etc Within the European wide Topten project an aligned approach for technical specifica tions for all national Topten websites is aimed at A high level of uniformity and congruency of the different national websites will enhance the awareness amongst
18. R if possible early adoption of its next version End of life management Corporate performance e g environmental policy consistent with ISO 14001 Packaging In order to receive the label and appear on the EPEAT registry manufacturers pay an annual fee according to their annual turnover and self declare the requested informa tion EPEAT may ask for evidence of this declaration at any time and has a specific programme to qualify verifiers Due to the fact that the EPEAT scheme is based on both Energy Star label and EU directives it is possible to compare the European Eco label to this label the Eco label corresponds to the EPEAT Silver label on most criteria 4 1 5 The Blue Angel Computer S pu hy The Blue Angel is the oldest environment related label for products and services It was created in 1978 on the initiative A Y of the German Federal Minister of the Interior It considers QLAUE VA C4 IN itself as a market conform instrument of environmental policy designed to distinguish the positive environmental features of f http www blauer engel de en 21 Product Criteria Paper products and services on a voluntary basis Its specifications are often used for in the public procurers call for tenders Regarding computers the specifications RAL UZ 78 and RAL UZ 135 regarding energy follow the ENERGY STAR methodology but require tougher levels Blue Angel claims that its labelled PCs consume
19. STAR and therefore there are many models selected AEA used to present a selection of products They are currently revising their selection criteria and have replaced the product table by a general advice page on computers EcoTopten in Germany has the same approach see below Therefore it is suggested to wait until the ENERGY STAR new specifications v 6 0 is published presumably in 2012 then study the market at the European level in order to set a target for Topten models which could be expressed as the models exceeding the ENERGY STAR requirements by a certain percentage It is also possible that by 33 Product Criteria Paper then the Eco Design discussion will have started again on the computer product group However even this selection criterion based on ENERGY STAR does not seem fully satisfying because of the usage pattern being so influential on the energy consumption and the number of products being so important and fluctuant This does not mean that Topten has no role for the computer product group a lot of information can be passed on to visitors and potential computer buyers Taking example on the EcoTopten website in Germany a lot of advice can be provided for example through a generic information page see for example EcoTopTen Kaufempfehlungen fur Desktop PCs Kompakt PCs Notebooks und Netbooks 7 1 Topten Computer Advice The following is a summary of the EcoTopten document
20. TEC Requirement Desktops and Notebooks Desktops and Integrated Computers kWh Notebook Computers kWh TEC kWh Category A lt 148 0 Category A lt 40 0 Category B lt 175 0 Category B lt 53 0 Category C lt 209 0 Category C lt 88 5 Category D lt 234 0 Capability Adjustments Memory 1 kWh per GB over base Base Memory 0 4 kWh per GB over 4 Categories A B and C 2 GB Category D 4GB Premium Graphics for Cat A B 35 kWh FB Width lt 128 bit Discrete GPUs with 50 kWh FB Width gt 128 bit Cat B 3 kWh FB Width gt 64 bit specified Frame Buffer Widths Cat C D 50 kWh FB Width gt 128 bit Additional Internal Storage 25 kWh 3 kWh Table 2 Operational Mode Weighting Desktops and Notebooks Desktop Notebook _ Conventional Proxying Conventional __ Proxying Toff 55 i 40 60 45 Tsleep 5 30 10 30 Tidle 40 30 30 25 Note Proxying refers to a computer that maintains Full Network Connectivity as defined in Section 1 of this specification For a system to qualify under the proxying weightings above it must meet a non proprietary proxying standard that has been approved by the EPA and the European Union as meeting the goals of ENERGY STAR The labelled products are also required to be shipped to the consumers with some default features Products should be shipped with e A Sleep mode which is set
21. acturer s instructions Sleep Mode A low power state that the computer is capable of entering automatically after a period of inactivity or by manual selection A computer with sleep capability can quickly wake in response to network connections or user interface devices with a latency of lt 5 seconds from initiation of wake event to system becoming fully usable including rendering of display Idle State The power state in which the operating system and other software have completed loading a user profile has been created the machine is not asleep and activity is limited to those basic applications that the system starts by default Active State The state in which the computer is carrying out useful work in response to a prior or concurrent user input or b prior or concurrent instruction over the network This state includes active processing seeking data from storage memory or cache including idle state time while awaiting further user input and before entering low power modes Product Criteria Paper 3 Computer features influencing energy consumption and their possible improvements Generally speaking energy consumption is hardly ever a selection criterion for a computer at the consumer level though the savings are impressive if the millions of computers in service in a country are taken together According to a study for the EC DG INFSO Impact of Information and Communica tion Technologies
22. al processing unit PSU power supply unit RAM random access memory Product Criteria Paper HDD hard drive disk LCD liquid crystal display Desktop 2005 power using parts Laptop power using parts HpDMisc RAM Graphics N O PSU Misc PSU 4 gt as 3 2 Power management The idea is simple 50 of the energy used in the idle mode could be saved if a PC would use energy only when actually needed Many PCs are shipped with the power management feature enabled but some users switch the feature off for various reasons Very few people use it in a proper manner Although power management is mainly a user attitude issue there are also hardware related problems Some peripherals lose contact with the network when the computer falls asleep the speed of wakening up from sleep mode could be shortened by technology like flash memory etc 3 3 Using notebooks instead of desktop The choice of the type a computer is one of the most promising features in order to reduce energy consumption the market is actually more and more turning to portable devices Orders of magnitudes for power demand are for 2011 e 35 to 50 watts for a desktop computer without accounting for the display 60 to 100 extra watts for a poor CRT display 10 to 30 extra watts for a LCD display e 5 to 20 watts for a notebook or a tablet PC e 3 to 8 watts for a slate device 10 Product Criteria Paper
23. aper 5 4 Electromagnetic Compatibility EMC standards The EMC standards most commonly in use for computers are EN 55022 Radiated emissions EN 55024 Immunity and IEC 61000 2 2 and IEC 61000 3 3 Disturbances on the low voltage main power supply Inthe US the FCC Part 15B class B standard is in use The EMC standards also influence what is possible to do or not when designing a computer 5 5 EN 62018 Power consumption for information technology equipment ITE Measurement methods 2004 This standard is adapted from IEC 62018 2003 standard of the same name The standard specifies methods of measurement of electrical power consumption in different modes of the use phase of ITE It specifies the following conditions configuration of the tested equipment environment power supply supply voltage waveform power measurement accuracy testing instrumentation time of measurement test procedure Scope Information Technology Equipment identified in more details in the standard IEC 60950 1 named Information technology equipment Safety 5 6 Noise standards Test standards for noise used in this study will be ISO 7779 in operator position 27 Product Criteria Paper 6 Economic and Market Analysis 6 1 Sales and Stock data Because the preparatory study on computers was published back in 2007 sales and stock data are too old to have a sense for
24. core processors require less cooling 3 5 Adaptive intensity of processor use One method of reducing the power consumption of a PC is to reduce the intensity of the processor when the needed capacity is reduced It can for example be achieved by reduced clock frequency or reduced voltage sometimes called throttling For instance the processor speed can be reduced when the graphics card is working hard As much as 40 of the power consumption of the processor can be saved if adaptive clock frequency is used Of course the savings depend to a large extent on the user pattern and what applications the PC runs In the future this technology of adaptive clock frequency could also be adapted for the GPU processor 3 6 Energy savings of the motherboard When data is transferred between the hard drive the optical media CD or DVD the RAM etc and the processor the communication runs by the internal data bus on the computer s motherboard The data rate is controlled by the data bus clock 1 Reminder data from a Lot 3 feasibility study published in 2007 whereas this criteria paper covers fast changing technologies Product Criteria Paper Over the years there has been a similar evolution of the data bus speed as for the processor speed An indication of this can be found in the range of accepted bus speeds that the internal memory RAM can handle The data bus clock frequency today can range from 266 MHz to 1033 MHz Th
25. e steps are 266 333 400 550 667 800 and 1033 MHz today Depending on the application the bus speed can be more important than the proces sor speed for the experienced performance of the PC However the bus speed is often neglected in the marketing of the PC A user can experience that a PC with a low clock frequency of the processor but a high bus speed is faster than a PC with a high clock frequency and a low bus speed Thus a consumer could purchase a PC with a relatively slow processor and save energy if the overall performance of the PC meets her his needs 3 7 Energy savings by the design of the power supply The efficiency of the main power supply can be designed to a high standard With technology of switched power supplies the efficiency can be as high as 90 One drawback of an efficient power supply can be the emission of unwanted signals in the power line which can be solved by the use of filters This however increase the cost of the power supply The requirements of the power supply are recognized for instance by ENERGY STAR and manufacturers are compliant with these standards 3 7 1 Internal Power Supplies IPS There is an initiative from the industry to build more efficient internal power supplies called 80 plus These requirements state that the power supplies shall have an energy efficiency of greater than 80 at 20 50 and 100 of rated load with a true power factor of 0 9 or greater http www plugl
26. ead mercury cadmium hexavalent chromium polybrominated biphenyls PBB or polybrominated diphenyl ethers PBDE National measures restricting or prohibiting the use of these substances in electrical and electronic equipment which were adopted in line with Community legislation before the adoption of this Directive may be main tained until 1 July 2006 4 2 3 EMC Electromagnetic compatibility The Electromagnetic compatibility EMC directive 89 336 EEC replaced by 2004 108 EC set restrictions on the emission of electromagnetic radiation and on the immunity against electromagnetic radiation for electronic products Countries outside 24 Product Criteria Paper the EU have similar regulations although the detailed requirements differ In some countries there are for instance no restrictions on immunity 25 Product Criteria Paper 5 Test Standards For this section the main sources of information are ECMA and the Preparatory study Lot 3 Personal Computers desktops and laptops and Computer Monitors Final Report Task 1 8 IVF Industrial Research and Development Corporation 2007 5 1 ENERGY STAR See section 4 1 1 ENERGY STAR is both a measurement standard and an en dorsement label programme 5 2 Standard ECMA 383 ECMA is an industry association founded in 1961 and dedicated to the standardization of Information and Communication Technology ICT and Consumer Electronics CE It ha
27. es the environmental impact caused by the production of a new computer Look for environmental labels Eco label TCO Blue Angel etc the various labels are then detailed Then the energy consumption of a computer is explained so that consumers understand the impact of their own habits and general advice on how to choose the different component of a computer so that the Topten visitor feels well introduced to the topic Which are the most consuming modes light processor load if the software is not demanding or waiting for input from the user full load if the computer is delivering its maximum possible performance What does the off mode mean the need for disconnecting The weight of the different types of application The choice of memory The type of graphic card For example for a high end graphics card for com puter gamers the power consumption of 200 watts is twice as high as that of the processor it is better to use a separate graphic card for 3D use beware of commercial mentions such as Gamer Quality as it means a higher power consumption that may not be needed Some older hard drives in desktop computers use more than 10 watts of power Today 3 5 inch hard drives use 4 to 6 watts Flash memory or Solid State Drives have the advantage of being lighter and much less sensitive to shock than conventional hard drives they also consume significantly less power but they are more expensive Regarding e
28. et l volution de l impact des TIC en France 37 Product Criteria Paper ee GHG Emission Application Kind of transaction pp g CO eq 1 E mail 4 Mail 1 E mail with file attachement 35 1 SPAM 0 03 Web surf accessing a page 1 01 on a web site 1 query on a search engine 6 65 Web e Shopping 1 purchase 7 55 Twitter 1 message 0 02 Watching a 10 sec video 0 2 1 Salesforce online 0 03 transaction Data management 1 Oracle online transaction 1 3 1 transaction on a classical 135 on premice software i Other 1 SMS 0 00215 Some of these figures correspond to assessments in a French context of use of the services with a low carbon emission rate of electricity production means and probably the GHG emissions would be higher for most of other European countries 38 Product Criteria Paper 8 Bibliography 80PLUS http www plugloadsolutions com 80PlusPowerSupplies aspx Bio Intelligence Service Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Energy Efficiency EC DG INFSO 2008 Blue Angel Label http www blauer engel de en European Eco Label http ec europa eu environment ecolabel ECMA European association for standardizing information and communication systems also known as European Computer Manufacturers Association The ECMA standard 341 383 and 370 http Awww ecma international org ENERGY STAR
29. hour standby 19 hours off mode European electricity price 0 15 per kilowatt hour Beginners or occasional users Multimedia Gamer Compact PC Notebook Netbook PC Notebook Notebook Product with the 30 kWh 18 kWh 16 kWh 18 kWh 40 kWh recommended EcoTopten equipement 7 65 9 9 12 15 6 169 KWh 177 KWh 323 kWh 102 kWh Comparison with a very inefficient device Information can also be provided on the good use of the stand by and deep standby functions from dena s Topten website e Stand by suspend to RAM The stand by mode is one way to reduce power consumption during short breaks In this configuration the computer system is loaded into memory but most of the system components are shut down With a standard PC only the RAM is on the stand by but 17 http www energieeffizienz im service de 36 Product Criteria Paper the ATX power supply continues to supply power to prevent the loss of stored data This typically requires between 2 and 25 of the normal consumption Upon a user input the computer can be brought back into operating mode and the user can continue working after a few seconds e Hibernation suspend to disk When switching the PC into sleep mode the content of the main memory is written on the disk before all system components are turned off completely When the computer is awoken the data stored on the hard disk is brought back into
30. in criticisms regarding the ENERGY STAR label are that it is not very demand ing in terms of performances nearly all the products on the market can claim the label some months after a revision of the specifications have been published and compli ance was self declared by manufacturers On the US market after some tests showing cases of wrong declarations EPA made mandatory the registered products in the US to be third party certified since early 2011 In the renewal of the agreement between EPA and the EC in 2012 a double registration scheme would be setup one for the countries adopting the third party certification e g USA Canada Japan and one for countries keeping the former self declaration EU with the obligation for a European manufacturer wanting to get the Energy Star logo on its equipment for say the North American market to apply to the third party certification process There are also difficulties with keeping the database of ENERGY STAR products up to date at least in Europe at the end of 2011 2 357 desktop computer 456 integrated desktop computers and 4 712 notebooks are ENERGY STAR version 5 0 qualified products within the European database However thanks to this very high penetration rate between 27 and 54 of the PCs of the European depending on the version of the specifications in 2009 the savings due 18 Product Criteria Paper to ENERGY STAR are potentially very high though the authors unde
31. is independent of manufacturers and retailers Consortium The project is co ordinated by the Agence de l Environnement et de la Maitrise de l Energie ADEME The other 19 project partners are Project Partner Country Austria Austrian Energy Agency AT Belgium World Wide Fund for Nature vzw asbl BE Belgium WWF European Policy Office BE Czech Republic SEVEn o p s CZ Finland Motiva Oy Fl France WWF Fonds Mondial pour la Nature FR Germany dena Deutsche Energie Agentur DE Germany Oeko Institut e V DE Germany Wuppertal Institute DE Germany ICLEI European Secretariat DE Greece WWF Greece GR Italy WWE Italia Onlus IT Lithuania LNCF consumer federation LT Luxemburg Oeko Zenter asbl LU Norway Norges Naturvernforbund NO Poland FEWE Polish Foundation for Energy Efficiency PL Portugal Quercus PT Romania ICEMENERG RO Spain ADENA WWF Asociacion para la defensa de la natureza ES Product Criteria Paper Contact Therese Kreitz project leader 500 routes des Lucioles F 06560 Valbonne France 33 0 493957984 therese kreitz2 ademe fr Sophie Attali Eric Bush Alain Anglade 20 place de la Chapelle Rebweg 4 Ademe 75018 7012 Felsberg 500 Route des Lucioles Paris Switzerland F 06560 Valbonne 331 8394 8209 41 81 252 63 64 France sophie attali topten info info topten info alain anglade ademe fr Product Criteria Paper Topten Product Criteria Paper on Computers Contents AERO
32. manufacturers Good quality product data at national level furthermore allows to analyse the situation at European level and to make policy recommendations which are shown on www topten eu Currently this product category is present on Topten Germany and Topten Lithuania but not on www topten eu reflecting the complexity of this product category and the fact that this product is not well covered by a regulation allowing a fully relevant selection criterion Product Criteria Paper 2 Product Definition There is a wide range of objects that can be called computers not to mention the various applications that can be made out of them This criteria paper has therefore narrowed the definition of a computer to the 2 main computer types that will be covered by this paper desktop computers and notebooks for the general public and profes sional sector but for a generic use The following definitions come from the ENERGY STAR specification in the version 5 0 the new version 6 0 is in the last stage of its approval and should be published in 2012 ECMA European association for standardizing information and communication systems also known as European Computer Manufacturers Association has also established a definition but until there is a certain consistency between the ECMA and the energy Star definition Topten teams should refer to the most institutional definition i e from ENERGY STAR The full definition specifications i
33. memory With this function the PC does not work and does not use energy but the user can continue working later in the same place The setting of the hibernation as well as the reactiva tion of this condition usually requires considerably less time than a complete shutdown In contrast to the stand by mode the computer shuts down completely and may even tolerate a complete separation from the mains e The off mode power off The PC power button is connected to the ATX standard from standard PCs to the motherboard The motherboard continues to be supplied with voltage if necessary also to expansion cards with a power of 2 to 10 watts A typical office PC spends almost four fifths of the year in this state Assuming it from a power consumption of 10 W about 70 kWh year are consumed without any benefit This can be avoided by using a switched power strip Information can also be provided on the relative cost of certain activities in kWh or g of CO equivalent Network services Generic data Sources Plain Old Telephone IDATE 2010 Impact 19 kWh subscriber year Service POTS y environnemental _ de la TIC en Cellular Network 23 kWh subscriber year France Internet Access 31 KWh subscriber year Th se de doctorat Institut VolP 12 KWh subscriber year National des T l communica tions 2008 Techniques d estimation de consommation TV over xDSL 168 KWh subscriber year sur la hauteur la structure
34. mputer displays The applicant shall also provide a brief description of the lighting system used Hazardous substances and mixtures covered by the RoHs Directive should not be present in the product nor in one of its parts see below 4 1 3 TCO label The TCO label was born in Sweden in the 1980s as a project of the Swedish Confed eration of Professional Employees to fight against health problems of employees The label is well known from manufacturers and also from public and private large buyers 3 IDC and AEA study EU ENERGY STAR Penetration of Efficient of Office Equipment June 2010 7 http ec europa eu environment ecolabel ecolabelled_products categories personal_computers_en htm http ec europa eu environment ecolabel ecolabelled products categories portable computers en htm 3 http www tcodevelopment com Product Criteria Paper the TCO specifications are used in public call for tenders for example The label is obtained after a test in a third party laboratory TCO accredits several laboratories Manufacturers pay for the certification In the specifications TCO 3 0 March 2010 for Desktops and TCO 3 1 January 2011 for notebooks regarding energy con Tt sumption the ENERGY STAR levels are targeted But TCO is more known for its additional specifications which cover CERATIF ED e Visual ergonomics e Work load ergonomics e g easy accessible connection e Emissions electrical a
35. n order to qualify for ENERGY STAR and test methods can be found in ENERGY STAR Program Requirements for Computers Version 5 0 at www eu energystar org en 254 shtml 2 1 Computer A Computer is a device which performs logical operations and processes data Computers are composed of at a minimum 1 a central processing unit CPU to perform operations 2 user input devices such as a keyboard mouse digitizer or game controller and 3 a computer display screen to output information Com puters include both stationary and portable units including desktop computers gaming consoles integrated desktop computers notebook computers small scale servers thin clients and workstations 2 2 Desktop and integrated desktop computers A Desktop Computer is a computer where the main unit is intended to be located in a permanent location often on a desk or on the floor Desktops are not designed for portability and utilize an external computer display keyboard and mouse Desktops are designed for a broad range of home and office applications If the Topten teams are advising for desktop computers they should match their advice with a selection of Topten monitors for the display function An Integrated Desktop Computer is a desktop system in which the computer and computer display function as a single unit which receives its AC power through a single Product Criteria Paper cable Integrated desktop compute
36. nd magnetic fields e Electrical safety e Company social responsibility policy e Environmentally hazardous substances e Product life time e Preparation for recycling e Product packaging 4 1 4 EPEAT label EPEAT is a private American endorsement label specialising in green computers and electronic equipment which seems to be more and more popular at least on the manufacturing side and which is establishing branches in several European countries about 40 countries are covered The EPEAT labels in three levels Bronze Silver Gold are based on standards published by a professional association called IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers With what regards energy the level is set at the ENERGY STAR level 6 http www epeat net 20 Product Criteria Paper The specifications cover the following issues some being required and others being optional see their website for more details Reduction elimination of environmentally sensitive materials e g compliance with provisions of the RoHS Directive Reporting on amount of mercury used in light sources mg elimination of certain intentionally added substances Materials selection e g use of plastic and recycled and bio plastic material Design for end of life Product longevity life cycle extension e g availability of an additional 3 year warranty or service agreement Energy conservation e g at least compliance with ENERGY STA
37. oadsolutions com 80PlusPowerSupplies aspx 80 PLUS Certification scheme is declined in various levels from a minimum 80 PLUS to more stringent ones 80 PLUS Bronze 80 PLUS Silver 80 PLUS Gold 80 PLUS Platinium 80 PLUS Titanium the latter being the most stringent The power supply requirements for IPS in ENERGY STAR product specifications for computers version 5 correspond to the 80 PLUS Bronze certification level Therefore it is possible to choose an Energy Star PC with a more efficient IPS referring to the 80 PLUS certification scheme 3 7 2 External Power Supplies EPS In the EU since the adoption of Eco Design regulation EC 278 09 for EPS new equipment on the EU market must now comply with average active energy efficiency and no load power consumption which correspond to the power supply requirements for EPS in ENERGY STAR product specification for computers version 5 Both specifications rely upon the International Efficiency Marking Protocol for EPS in terms 12 Product Criteria Paper of energy efficiency and no load power consumption due to the fact that the US EPA decided the ENERGY STAR version 2 0 EPS specification sunset by the end of 2010 For both internal and external power supplies the stakeholders are now assessing the cost vs benefits of increasing the stringency for future system designs 3 8 Design and selection of energy efficient data storage drives There are now commercially available alterna
38. on Energy Efficiency prepared by Bio Intelligence Service 2008 the annual electricity consumed in 2005 by all the end user computers and monitors servers and infrastructure equipment excluded at EU 25 level amounts to approximately 42 TWh of which about 18 TWh is related to office equipment and about 24 TWh to household devices 30 office 70 home The study also assessed the annual electricity consumption of end user computers and monitors in 2020 following a BAU and an ECO scenarios the BAU scenario taking into account the already existing or planned measures such as ENERGY STAR EuP ErP regulations EU Codes of Conduct from DG JRC Ispra etc and the ECO scenario applying stricter requirements than the BAU scenario The main results are presented in the following table Difference Reference BAU A ere BAU ECO 2005 2020 2020 2020 Total Electricity Use TWh a Most of the features presented below are cited according to the Preparatory study for Eco design Requirements of EuPs Lot 3 Personal Computers desktops and laptops and Computer Monitors Final Report prepared by IVF Industrial Research and Development Corporation 2007 For hardware of PC the main focus area for improvement is energy use during the use phase but also the production of the motherboard including the processor the power supply and the steel casing and the batteries are of importance 3 1 Distribution of power use 2005 CPU centr
39. ordic countries Manufacturers pay a fee and their declarations are checked through samples from independent laboratories certificates and audit visits H Nordic Ecolabelling II For computers the specifications Version 6 2 2099 2013 cover energy consumption at the ENERGY STAR level but also the amount of waste produced Since the service life of a computer is often very short discarded computers represent a consid erable waste problem They also contain hazardous substances such as flame retardants and lead The specifications therefore cover e Design upgradeability and disassembling 3 http Awww nordic ecolabel org criteria product groups 22 Product Criteria Paper e Plastics and their additives e g flame retardants e Heavy metals e Recycling of discarded products 4 1 7 ECMA TED certification The ECMA standard 370 4 Edition 2009 concerns the TED The Eco Declaration certification ECMA s strategy is rather to publish reference documents than to promote a label Therefore the TED declaration may be known to manufacturers rather than to the general public p THE ECO 2 DECLARATION TED meets the basic principles of ISO 14021 environmental labels and declarations self declared environmental claims and eco design standards such as ECMA 341 Regarding energy consumption TED is aligned with ENERGY STAR The other specifications concern e The company environment profile
40. rline difficulties with the data quality check Desktops Commercial use 797 4 GWh year Domestic use 470 GWh year Notebooks Commercial use 151 6 GWh year Domestic use 216 GWh year 4 1 2 The European Eco label The European Eco label current specifications valid until June 2014 for desktop and notebooks can be downloaded from the Eco label website which also shows that there are a number of qualifying products not many but this is may be more due to the fact that the Eco label is not fully recognised for this type of products than because the specifications would be technically too difficult to reach k k EC Regarding energy consumption the Eco labels are based on the FE ENERGY STAR requirements and test methods but selecting only Eu NE the best in class i e exceeding the ENERGY STAR level by 25 Feo abe to 40 for desktop computers depending on the categories and www ecolabel eu by 15 to 25 for notebooks In addition the power management requirements indicate that the products should be shipped with the following settings 10 minutes to screen off display sleep and 30 minutes to computer sleep In the case of Ethernet capability ability to enable and disable wake on LAN for sleep mode There are specific requirements for computers shipped through enterprise channels Mercury or its compounds should not exceed 0 1 mg per lamp and should not be intentionally added to the backlights of the LCD co
41. rs come in one of two possible forms 1 a system where the computer display and computer are physically combined into a single unit or 2 a system packaged as a single system where the computer display is separate but is connected to the main chassis by a DC power cord and both the computer and computer display are powered from a single power supply As a subset of desktop computers integrated desktop computers are typically designed to provide similar functionality as desktop systems 2 3 Notebook computers A Notebook Computer is a computer designed specifically for portability and to be operated for extended periods of time either with or without a direct connection to an AC power source Notebook computers include an integrated display and are capable of being powered by an integrated battery or other portable power source In addition most notebooks use an external power supply and have an integrated keyboard and pointing device Notebook computers are typically designed to provide similar functionality to desktops including operation of software similar in functionality as that used in desktops 2 4 Computer components Generally speaking a computer is made of the following components their relative energy consumption is discussed in section 3 a display screen and its associated electronics encased in a single housing for monitors see the criteria paper on Computer Monitors and the corresponding Topten pages or within
42. rvice life Of importance is a good instruction to the user in order to optimise the charging methods used e Aging Most rechargeable batteries loose their charging capacity over time often the capacity possible use time of the equipment can decrease by 50 during the first year depending on battery quality ambient temperatures etc Notebooks are changed due to insufficiently working batteries because new batteries are often very expensive to buy The aging starts directly after manu facturing and it is therefore of importance not to store batteries before they are used The aging is also very much depending on the ambient temperature The 14 Product Criteria Paper lower the ambient temperature but not frozen the longer battery life Lower temperature can be achieved by good cooling of the product but also by giving the user instructions and possibility to disconnect the batteries and put them in a cooler place than in a hot computer when the notebook is connected to the mains Toxic substances Li ion and Li polymer batteries contain some toxic sub stances for example lithium itself and organic solvents and needs to be taken care of in the end of life treatment Risk for explosions or fire Li ion and Li polymer batteries self ignite and can cause an explosion at temperatures of 180 200 degrees Celsius This can happen when overcharging the batteries or if a short circuit occurs There is a development of new chemicals
43. s 14 3 13 Choice of application and their frequency of use 15 4 Legislations and Labels sas san nee ne rsser nest nan rares fs der tanvaceutassoteces 16 4 1 Labels covering energy consumption 444 16 4 1 1 ENERGY STAR ae trace moan tae ohare An ee Mn tes ne dun 16 4 1 2 The European Eco label ss 19 4 1 3 POO TAG ii osetia reacted NS E a anti eS 19 4 1 4 EPEAT Abel er RE A heen ner TAE 20 Product Criteria Paper 4 1 5 The BUS Angel sea na us late Cane ee Des re dre abaisse tnt 21 4 1 6 The Nordic Swan sise 22 4 1 7 ECMA TED certification ass nergies 23 4 2 Other regulations Covering computers ee ceeeeeeteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeees 23 4 2 1 WEEE Directive for Waste of Electric and Electronic Equipment 2002 96 EEC February 2008 nimes hr ann a ne nn Een nn 23 4 2 2 RoHs Restriction of Hazardous substances 24 4 2 3 EMC Electromagnetic compatibility 24 D Test Stan Oar Sn acs etn tae ene i en nr ers 26 5 1 ENERGY STAR E E EEA ET 26 5 2 Standard EGMA 383 e ein An le Ru 26 5 3 Electrical safety standards 35a ve ccc cee SEE Nes aaa nent dd 26 5 4 Electromagnetic Compatibility EMC standards 27 5 5 EN 62018 Power consumption for information technology equipment ITE Measurement methods 2004 27 5 6 Noise standards ist emmener en ein eae na 27 6 Economic and Market
44. s developed the so called ECMA 341 aimed at the designer and providing pragmatic advice on how to reduce the environmental footprint of a product by taking the right decisions at the design stage ECMA 341 has been adopted as IEC 62075 Whilst ECMA 341 includes the definitions of energy saving modes and generic energy saving guidance for designers of ICT amp CE products ECMA 383 is intended to complete that guidance by defining a methodology on how to measure the energy consumption of a product whilst providing categorisation criteria that enables energy consumption comparisons of similar products It covers desktop and notebook com puters It presents all the necessary definitions and measurement protocols for the various computer components and modes of operation It is expected in the near future that the ECMA and the ENERGY STAR measurement standards will be harmonized 5 3 Electrical safety standards The electrical safety standards most commonly in use are IEC 60950 Safety of information technology equipment EN 60950 and the American standard UL 60950 They are all very similar and can be considered harmonized The safety standards have requirements on electrical shock prevention and fire resistance that makes the choice of materials in the design of the computer somewhat restricted 1 Measuring the Energy Consumption of Personal Computing Products ECMA December 2010 26 Product Criteria P
45. shall ensure the availability and accessibility of the necessary collection facilities taking into account in particular the population density b when supplying a new product distributors shall be responsible for ensuring that such waste can be returned to the distributor at least free of charge on a one to one basis as long as the equipment is of equivalent type and has fulfilled the same functions as the supplied equipment Member States may depart from this provision provided they ensure that returning the WEEE is not thereby made more difficult for the final holder and provided that these systems remain free of charge for the final holder Member States making use of this provision shall inform the Commission thereof c without prejudice to the provisions of a and b producers are allowed to set up and operate individual and or collective take back systems for WEEE from private households provided that these are in line with the objectives of this Directive d having regard to national and Community health and safety standards WEEE that presents a health and safety risk to personnel because of contamination may be refused for return under a and b Member States shall make specific arrangements for such WEEE 4 2 2 RoHs Restriction of Hazardous substances The RoHs directive 2002 95 EC dictates that Member States shall ensure that from 1 July 2006 new electrical and electronic equipment put on the market does not contain l
46. t the end of 2011 it seems not advisable to determine Topten selection criteria given the current market situation Avery wide variety of products available A very fast pace of market developments new products on the market every three months often presenting new technical developments An energy consumption very dependent on the user s habits With this respect computers resemble more to a system which must be tailored to each user than to a product than Topten generally deals with No European regulation nor mandatory information label to rely on and which would oblige manufacturers at least to make public some information in a stan dardised format A lot of ENERGY STAR labelled products with a new version of the specifica tion expected in 2012 Whereas the other endorsement labels do not seem to be sufficiently popu lated Today Topten computers are selected on the German Dena Topten website and on the Lithuanian website In Lithuania 2 pages propose a very short list of notebooks the selection is a result of a collaboration project with a company advising on computers able to function with Linux and relies on the battery duration no less than 5 hours dena presents a selection of computers but dena does not advise that all the Topten teams do the same as it is extremely time consuming and never satis factory from a methodological point of view the specifications are based on ENERGY
47. tives to conventional hard drives with spinning disks or hard disk drive or HDD in the form of Solid State Drives SSD built with microchips retaining data in non volatile memory chips and containing no moving parts as Flash Drives already available but with smaller storage capacity Having lower access time and latency than HDD and no moving parts SSD are now an alternative in terms of quality and energy efficiency typically a flash based SSDs require 72 to 1 3 the power of HDDs Although SSD are available in units of smaller capacity than HDD units and SSD are still more expensive per GB of storage SSD are to be considered in the choice of an energy efficient PC SSDs are now often proposed for laptops to improve their autonomy 3 9 Hybrid Hard Disk An intermediate step between the ordinary HDD and a SSD is the hybrid disk that combines the two technologies into one unit The main storage capacity is constituted by the HDD while the SSD is much smaller and used as cache memory to improve performance of frequently accessed files allowing the HDD to be spun down when not in use The power consumption of the PC can be reduced since the HDD can be spun down more often with this alternative In terms of performance hybrid drive can offer near SSD performance in most applications at a lower price than SSD but it is not suitable for data intensive work 3 10 Cooling technologies The common cooling technology in a PC is by careful design and
48. uct Criteria Paper 4 Legislations and Labels At the European label as of the end of 2011 there is neither a mandatory energy label nor Eco Design measures The preparatory study for computers has been finalised in 2007 but since then no official measures were proposed by the European Commis sion and the preparatory studies is becoming obsolete This probably shows that it is extremely difficult to use traditional regulation means for so fast changing technologies specifications can only come after a technology is widely disseminated on the market 4 1 Labels covering energy consumption There is however a number of voluntary labels developed in Europe and outside with specifications highlighting energy efficient and environmental friendly products These labels are more or less used by manufacturers 4 1 1 ENERGY STAR The ENERGY STAR label for computers is with no doubt the most well known from the public professional buyers and manufacturers Its specification and measurement protocol are discussed at international level Thanks to an agreement between the US authorities EPA Environmental Protection Agency and the European Commission ENERGY STAR is officially recognised in Europe and the qualifying products can be seen from the website www eu energystar org In order to qualify as an ENERGY STAR products for Desktops and Notebooks the key criterion is the Typical Energy Consumption approach TEC i e a value for typical
49. xternal hard drives do not choose them too big as they will always need an external power supply AC adapter which is not very efficient When the external hard drive is not used it should be pull out of the socket or turned off The screen is next to the processor and video card the third major power con sumer in the computer Watch the screen size but also the brightness settings The general principle is that laptop built in screens are more energy efficient than similarly sized external display 35 Product Criteria Paper Regarding optical drives if needed choose a computer with a DVD burner so that both DVDs and CDs can be played as well as burned Advice on sound equipment for a good quality Advice on connectivity How to avoid over sizing of the components and therefore unnecessary power consumption Small compact and smart at least with what regards energy and material consumption Look for the longest guarantee and the possibility to repair components Set correctly the power management and turn completely off when not needed Thanks to this type of advice Eco Topten gives as an indication the following orders of magnitude for the annual electricity consumption and cost The following table is adapted from the one on http www ecotopten de prod computer _prod php with the hypothesis inefficient device of 2009 4 daily hours of operation at light processor load 1
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