How Companies Can Invest in Sustainable Tech Without Hurting Productivity
Although much of the focus in the green tech industry has centered on consumers and how they can use products that are more eco-conscious, a broader push at the corporate level has created opportunities for companies to similarly invest in sustainable tech.
There’s been a stubborn fear among some IT decision-makers that investing in sustainable technology isn’t advisable in a corporate setting. Some of those people believe that green tech products are more expensive and come with features that hurt productivity instead of helping to sustain it. Worst of all, they fear that employees won’t want to use green products when they’ve long employed less environmentally friendly alternatives.
But further inspection of the green tech industry reveals that companies can benefit in a variety of ways from sustainable tech. They can buy green PCs that offer the same power as alternatives or utilize energy-efficient accessories that help them reduce expenses. Companies can even benefit from buying eco-friendly tech that helps them reach their broader environmental and sustainability goals.
Companies can and should invest in sustainable tech right now. But they need to know how to do it the right way, so they don’t get burned.
Putting green tech in context
The first thing to understand about green tech is that it’s not fundamentally different from traditional technology that isn’t as environmentally responsible.
There’s a belief among some people in the tech industry that green tech is in some way not as powerful or is more expensive than less environmentally friendly alternatives, but that’s simply not the case. Acer sells a host of products, including computers, accessories, and a monitor in its Vero line of green tech, and each of those devices is comparably equipped and priced to less environmentally friendly alternatives.
The same holds true for the many other green products on store shelves that help you reduce your energy consumption, cut budgets, and ultimately improve your environmental responsibility. While it takes time and effort to find the right green tech products, once you deploy them in your office, you’ll undoubtedly find that employees will be equally as productive (if not more so) as they are right now.
Educate the C-suite
Once the IT side of the business fully understands the benefits green tech offers, IT professionals will need to help their C-suite executives understand why a move to green tech could be a smart decision.
During that conversation, it’s critical to help CEOs and other C-level executives understand that green tech won’t negatively impact employee productivity. Executives may also want to understand why you may want to migrate to a green tech product and how that migration may look to ensure business continuity.
Perhaps the most important consideration for executives is the impact utilizing sustainable tech in the office may have on their broader corporate eco-consciousness goals. It’s no secret that companies are now heavily investing in green initiatives that help them reduce their carbon footprint. Providing a roadmap that gets your company off wasteful electronics and onto devices that reduce carbon footprint is especially beneficial as you talk through a green initiative with your executives.
Research the right products
Once you have the go-ahead to adopt green technology products in the office, you need to actually find solutions that will get the job done.
When researching green products, be sure to opt for devices that have important energy certifications, including Energy Star, EPEAT, and TCO, among others. Those certifications suggest that the product has been vetted and was responsibly produced according to the latest standards.
Once you know you’re dealing with properly certified green products, you should also evaluate whether the company manufacturing them is actually committed to green initiatives. Some companies may sell sustainable tech but don’t actually aim to reduce their supply chain’s carbon footprint or use recycled plastic. Look for a company that’s committed to a future of eco-consciousness to ensure you’re working with an organization that aligns to your own corporate culture.
Next up, it’s critical to perform the standard due diligence as you would when buying any other product. What is your budget? What features do you need in your eco-conscious tech? Are there certain software must-haves? How important is battery life? Can you buy accessories that connect to your devices to make them even more sustainable?
Depending on the products you’re buying, you may find surprisingly robust opportunities to not only adopt green technology, but also improve the power, functionality, and productivity of your office, all while saving money along the way.
Calculate the potential savings
The last and arguably most important step in bringing sustainable tech to the office is to calculate the true total cost of owning green devices.
As noted above, green tech is generally available for around the same price as comparably equipped technology that isn’t environmentally friendly. But because it’s designed to be more efficient, green tech usually helps to cut energy bills. Devices like Acer’s Aspire Vero computers also come with purposely built cases that are easy to upgrade, meaning you won’t need to invest in new computers so soon after you adopt those machines. Instead, you can simply open the laptop case, upgrade components, and keep the computer in service.
If you opt for accessories like smart power strips, LED light bulbs, or other energy-saving devices, you can also set schedules so they’re not running and consuming energy when no one is in the office. Best of all, you can use those power strips to power some of your most energy-intensive products, like servers and networking equipment, and see for yourself just how much energy they’re burning (and costing the company).
Now more than ever, there are real opportunities to improve your company’s eco-friendliness. But there are still some key considerations to make along the way. As long as you have the right plan, know which products to buy, and are firmly committed to investing in sustainable technologies that will reduce your total expenditure, you’ll find your move to eco-friendly technology was a wise and profitable decision.
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