The Impact of our Digital Infrastructure
The impact of our IT Infrastructure falls in to three main phases:
Manufacture and shipping of IT equipment
Around 85% of lifecycle carbon emissions can be attributed to manufacture and shipping of IT equipment. This is in addition to the other environmental impacts of mining raw materials, including rare earths and water extraction. So, this stage is considered as having the greatest impact, and is directly linked to how frequently equipment is replaced. Replacing equipment every two years has twice the environmental impact compared to replacing equipment every four years.
Daily use
Daily energy use accounts for around 15% of the lifecycle electricity consumption for laptops and PCs. This can be greatly increased by bad practice such as leaving equipment on when not in use, or using more screens than are actually required. There's also hidden energy use and emissions as every filed saved, email sent, or search engine enquiry requires energy use and resources at cloud data centres. AI enquiries have even greater impact, with the International Energy Agency estimating that a Chat GPT query uses ten times more energy than a Google search.
Disposal
IT equipment can contain harmful materials such as heavy metals. These can have severe environmental impacts if not disposed of correctly. IT waste should be recycled to enable the recovery of precious metals (gold, copper, aluminium) and rare earth minerals. This allows them to be re-used in new equipment and reduces some of the manufacturing impacts.
How we reduce our impact
Our equipment
We're conscious of the impact of our IT equipment and use quality brands and make every effort to prolong its lifespan.
Our staff laptop devices are purchased with an extra year's warranty, so that these have a minimum lifespan of four years. Beyond this warranty period, we replace when they are no longer fit for purpose. However, we look to extend their lifespan by adding into our laptop loan pool where they're still fit for use.
The audio visual (AV) equipment in our teaching and learning spaces are managed in the same way: replace only when they no longer meet expected quality standards.
For our infrastructure and network hardware, we have to balance security with sustainability, replacing equipment before it reaches end of support. To assure longevity of equipment, we closely monitor the market to ensure we adopt newer models soon after release, to maximise equipment lifespans.
Our printers are leased, with usage regularly monitored so that printer locations can be rotated to even out usage and prevent any devices needing to be replaced prematurely. These printers are part of a closed loop recycling programme. When they reach the end of their serviceable life, they are returned to the manufacturer who then strips them down so the component parts can be recycled. The printer consumables, such as toner and ink cartridges, are also recycled. We endeavour to reduce the volume of printing, through delayed print release.
All University-owned IT equipment is collected by Technical Services colleagues, sent for refurbishment and re-use where possible. Or, it is recycled as a last resort, using specialist, responsible services offered by our IT equipment waste partner.
Our most heavily used laboratories in the John Dawson Sciences Complex have also been certified bronze through the UCL Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF), meaning these meet baseline sustainability and efficiency criteria.
Powering our infrastructure
Our onsite data centre uses electricity from our 280kWp Solar PV array. Our electricity supply to the University is a Zero Carbon contract.
Our cloud infrastructure services are provided by Microsoft, which is committed to 100% renewable energy(opens in new tab).
All our PCs and laptop devices have energy saving modes enabled, to minimize their energy utilisation during periods of inactivity. We have also scheduled our cloud test infrastructure services to power down outside of business hours. This means they're wasting energy when not needed.
We're constantly seeking to further reduce energy usage from our digital technologies. We have agreed updated AV standards, so occupancy is monitored and devices shut down when there's no activity. We're also investigating how our Wi-Fi access points can hibernate when no one is around.
We've also been piloting a more sustainability-focused search engine on our student devices. This is while investigating making this the default on all University computers.
The impact of AI
To help mitigate the impact of AI, the University has produced guidance on how to use it appropriately and in the most efficient manner.
What you can do to reduce your impact
- Shut down your computer and screens when not in use
- Only use the screens you need
- Ensure energy saving settings are active, to reduce energy when not in use
- Return unused equipment to Technical Services so it can be redeployed, or sent for refurbishment or recycling
- Look after your equipment and don't request a replacement because it's old
- Think before you print.
Governance
This policy is approved and monitored by the University’s Strategic Environmental Sustainability Group, as part of the Environmental Sustainability Action Plan 2025-2030.
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