From Green IT to Sustainable Cloud: Lessons from 2007

September 25, 2025 Peter Hughes 5 min read

Back in 2007 I was writing about the energy impact of office IT equipment. At the time, PCs, printers, fax machines and photocopiers were described as the fastest growing users of energy in the business world, accounting for around 15% of office electricity use and expected to double by 2020.

The message was straightforward. Switch equipment off when not in use, enable standby features, maintain devices properly, and buy efficient models. The numbers made a strong case:

  • A standard PC cost around £60 per year to run compared with £9 for an energy-saving version
  • Over a four-year lifespan that added up to more than £200 in savings per device
  • Nationally, around 60% of energy used by office equipment was wasted, equating to £180m per year in the UK alone

It was never just about money. Unnecessary energy use increased heat, noise and air quality issues in workplaces, while contributing to carbon emissions on a wider scale. The logic was clear: efficiency paid off for companies, staff and the planet.

The Through-Line to Today

Looking back, it is striking how many of those principles still apply. The context has shifted from office PCs to hyperscale cloud data centres, from fax machines to AI inference clusters, but the fundamentals remain:

  • Idle resources cost money and carbon. In 2007 it was idle photocopiers, today it is underutilised cloud instances
  • Small actions add up. Then it was staff switching off monitors, now it is developers choosing efficient regions, instance types and architectures
  • Engagement matters. Culture change was and is the real challenge. Posters in offices, dashboards in cloud consoles, same principle in a new medium

The figures are bigger now, but the opportunity is the same. Up to 70% savings are available, often at little or no extra cost, simply by managing IT facilities and services more effectively.

From Dissertation to Practice

In my current dissertation work I am exploring sustainability in cloud operations, particularly carbon-aware workload placement and the role of AI in optimisation. Reading that 2007 piece again, I can see the through-line. The kit looks different, but the mindset has not changed. Efficiency is good economics, good engineering and good stewardship.

Lesson from 2007, still true in 2025: The greenest kilowatt-hour is the one you do not use.

The Original Guidance

For historical interest, here's a summary of the original 2007 advice on reducing electricity used by IT equipment:

Office equipment and small power machines (PCs, monitors, fax machines, photocopiers, printers, vending machines and water coolers) were the fastest growing users of energy in the business world, accounting for 15% of all electrical energy used in UK offices — expected to double by 2020.

Managing these facilities effectively could reduce their energy consumption by up to 70%, often at little or no extra cost. The key recommendations were:

  • Use equipment only when required and provide adequate control
  • Position printers and copiers in naturally ventilated or cool areas
  • Keep equipment clean and maintained
  • When buying equipment, choose low energy versions with recognised energy labels like Energy Star
  • Raise awareness through posters, newsletters and staff suggestion schemes
  • Consider emissions beyond energy: ozone, noise, heat, and dust

The principles haven't changed. Only the scale has.