Taking Action

The aim of the baseline audit is to provide council with a comprehensive understanding of their environmental impact from an IT perspective. Download the Baseline Audit Workbook for detailed guidance and step-by-step instructions on how to investigate councils performance is the following key areas:

1. Procurement policies, procedures and practice: Identify relevant policies and procedures that influence the procurement and replacement of your target product or product group
2. Asset audit: Undertake an asset audit to identify the energy consumption baseline for your target product or product group
3. User survey: Administer an end-user survey on the staff that use your target product or product group to identify the needs from equipment, user behaviour and attitudes towards power management
4. End-of-life disposal practice: Identify the usual practice for end-of-life disposal and verify sustainability of chosen method.

Understanding the current state of affairs will assist council to plan actions to improve their environmental performance. Establishing a baseline will also assist in guiding any discussions about trade-offs such as when a sustainability objective should take priority over a cost or performance objective. Furthermore, the asset audit information will assist in building a business case for action, and a baseline from which to calculate energy and cost savings from the successful implementation of energy saving actions.

Step One Resources:

• Baseline Audit Workbook
• Local Government Energy Audit Guide
• Local Government Energy Audit Spreadsheet

The aim of the Switch IT Over Action Plan is to provide a clear plan for implementing energy saving actions related to councils procurement, use and end-of-life disposal of IT and office equipment.  It should be a document that has clearly allocated responsibilities, budget and timelines for implementation and support from senior management.

Step Two Resources:

Download the Switch IT Over Action Plan Template to begin planning energy saving actions.

To assist you identify actions, view the following product fact sheets:

• Energy Saving Fact Sheet: Computers, Laptops and Monitors
• Energy Saving Fact Sheet: Servers and Network Hardware
• Energy Saving Fact Sheet: Printers and Imaging Equipment

Now the planning is finished, the next step is to take action. When implementing your Action Plan remember to:

• Build tasks/actions into relevant staff/unit work schedules
• Incorporate actions into council budgets as relevant
• Progressively build the business case for action within council
• Regularly identify opportunities for new actions through the monitoring and review process
• Work with other councils and stakeholders to implement actions
• Build political support by keeping councillors up to date
• Keep abreast of innovative product developments and broader developments in your state or territory

Once council has implemented a range of actions, they need to measure the changes against their baseline audit data, established at Step 1. This will involve reviewing their Switch IT Over Action Plan and conducting a re-audit to capture the savings made. Council will then report the energy, carbon and cost savings achieved as a result of the switch over. There are several benefits of doing this:

• Demonstrate the energy, cost and greenhouse gas savings that can be achieved through Green IT initiatives
• Present the business case for continued energy saving actions
• Enable council to report the project results both internally and externally
• Report the data through the CCP Measures process and contribute to councils CCP reduction goals

Step Four Resources:

• Review, Re-Audit and Report Workbook