Introduction

The ICT industry has grown into one of the most energy-intensive sectors in the Netherlands and it is expected to grow in size and energy consumption in the years to come. Together with the ICT-sector, the Climate Agency of the City of Amsterdam has initiated the Green-IT Initiative to reduce energy use in the ICT-sector.

Objectives and target audience

The objective of the Green-IT Initiative is to structurally reduce energy use in the IT-sector through knowledge exchange (a podium for pioneers and energy-experts) and by taking real measures which are supported by the sector itself.
The City of Amsterdam itself has set the target of achieving 40% CO2 reduction from the levels of 1990 by 2025. This task can only be achieved if all concerned are willing to take far-reaching measures. The ICT industry has become a major energy user in the City of Amsterdam; therefore, setting energy efficiency in this growing sector is a priority for the Municipality.

Financial Resources and Partners involved

The city of Amsterdam is structurally supporting the Green-IT initiative (which is a cooperation between city and the IT partners) with a budget that covers the costs of a project leader, hiring expert knowledge where needed and the organisation of meetings.

This initiative is being developed by the Climate Agency of the City of Amsterdam. The main research study was conducted by the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (can be found at: http://www.ecn.nl/docs/library/report/2008/e08035.pdf). The whole process also involves the IT Companies in Amsterdam and the main experts in the sector.

Process

The Municipality and ICT businesses from Greater Amsterdam are jointly discussing the theme of ICT and energy use. A first meeting on the subject Green Datacenters was attended by representatives of 35 organisations, including data centres, ICT multinationals, universities and research institutes, the national government and the sector association. In a series of follow up meetings various programme lines were worked out in greater detail. Within the private sector there are “early adapters” who are already doing a lot more than what the law requires on their own initiatives.  Therefore, the Green IT Project aims to build on those good examples in order to exchange knowledge and experience among early adapters and the rest of the industry and experts.
The Climate office facilitates this process by paying organisational costs, commissioning external advisors and providing a project manager who’s responsible for personal contact with the sector. More meetings will be organised in the near future.

Results

The Climate office has created a network for the ICT sector to joint forces in the challenge to reduce CO2 emissions. With some companies specific agreements on CO2 emission reduction have been made.
In addition, the IT business will gain knowledge on best practice technologies which can lead to significant energy conservation, CO2-reduction, and lower energy costs while at the same time fulfil their social responsibility. Furthermore, the climate goals of the Municipality of Amsterdam, which are part of the national and global initiatives, will benefit from lower CO2-emissions in this economic sub-sector.
Finally, together with Cisco, Seoul and San Francisco, Amsterdam has co-founded the Connected Urban Development (CUD). CUD is a global initiative where innovative ICT applications are used as a tool for fighting climate change and reduce energy usage. The key result will be that the energy use of the ICT-sector will be significantly reduced.

Critical Success Factors / Challenges

The programme has just started. However, one of the strengths so far is the formation of a strong network of ICT companies that are aware of their duty to contribute to the reduction of their energy usage and CO2 emission. The programme works on the basis of voluntary participation. Commitment of the most important IT companies is the most critical asset when starting a co-operation programme. Therefore a lot of time has been invested in selection of companies and high level representatives, building an agenda that is supported by the participants, and investing time on the emergence of a Amsterdam Green-IT community.
Sharing knowledge on specific topics helps create awareness of the great potentials to realize energy savings and reduce CO2 emissions.