Sponsored by Fujitsu, the “Green IT: The Global Benchmark” surveyed more than 600 CIOs and IT managers to determine the maturity of environmental-friendly IT practices and technologies used in organizations in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and India.

The best-performing country of the four surveyed is the U.K. thanks to its stringent carbon-reduction and carbon-reporting regimen and high awareness of green IT. The United States ranked second, a function of the relative sophistication of IT use in the nation, followed by Australia, and India where end-user green IT is not widely implemented.

“Tomorrow’s business leaders will be leaders in sustainability; they will understand the importance of an integrated sustainability strategy,” said Alison O’Flynn, global executive director sustainability of Fujitsu Group. “IT has a fundamental role to play in enabling change and must step up to face this significant global challenge.”

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The day of conservation comes as part of last February’s GreenGov Final Report, which encouraged ideas from more than 14,000 federal employees. The report, which resulted from President Barack Obama’s GreenGov Challenge, lists “powering down all desktop computers, locally connected printers, and other non-networked peripherals” as one of the top three ways to conserve energy. Those partaking in “Power IT Down Day” are encouraged to turn off their electronic devices before leaving for the weekend.

“Participation doubled during last year’s Power IT Down Day, and we hope to reach even more individuals in 2010,” said Citrix U.S. Public Sector VP Tom Simmons. “Because Power IT Down Day falls on a Friday this year, government and industry have the chance to save even more energy – not only on one night, but for the entire weekend. That’s a potential savings of 55 kilowatt hours per person, which can quickly add up to a significant impact on responsible energy consumption.”

Last month, the Government Accountability Office issued a report that named the federal government is the nation’s largest energy consumer.

“HP encourages our employees to exercise healthy energy savings habits, and Power IT Down Day is one way we can help our customers do the same,” said Tom Hempfield, U.S. Federal vice president at HP. “Every individual makes a difference.”

Citrix Systems, Inc., HP, Intel and the newly added GTSI are all sponsors of the event.

“Each year, Intel helps drive federal energy efficiency awareness through Power IT Down Day, and each year the response from people wanting to get involved becomes more enthusiastic,” said Nigel Ballard, director of federal marketing for Intel. “Individuals clearly want to do their bit to be part of the solution as opposed to part of the problem. We’re clearly onto something good here!”

The day is not limited to federal agencies, however. The organization’s website, poweritdown.org, encourages anyone to partake in the cause.

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The MOU demonstrated a collaboration between the two departments to commit to fostering a clean-energy economy and improved efficiencies through on-site renewable power generation.

“The Department of Energy and the Department of Defense’s shared vision of a safe, secure energy future has provided us with a strong foundation to work together on energy issues,” said DOE Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman. “Working together, we can speed the transition to a clean-energy economy, while helping protect our troops. Building a new energy future is the right thing to do to strengthen our national security, to promote economic prosperity, and to improve our environment. It is also the right thing to do for our men and women in uniform.”

The MOU addresses areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, water efficiency, fossil fuels, alternative fuels, efficient transportation technologies and fueling infrastructure, grid security, smart grid, storage, waste-to-energy, basic science research, mobile/deployable power, small modular reactor nuclear energy and related areas.

During the forum, two panels composed of key officials from both departments and leaders from energy-security think tanks provided a summary of the military’s current initiatives on clean energy and energy-policy priorities for the future.

“Changing the way energy is used and produced in our country is the right thing to do,” said Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in his opening remarks. “It’s the right thing to do for our security, it’s the right thing to do for our economy, and it’s the right thing to do for our environment.”

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Under the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, $30 million will be made available to develop clean-energy technologies for U.S. small businesses.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the funding will be used from the Recovery Act budget appropriations to support the building of a clean-energy economy. This marks the first time the Department of Energy has offered Phase III awards under these small-business programs.

“Small businesses are engines of job creation and innovation, and we need their ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit to drive a clean energy economy,” Chu said. “By helping America’s small businesses bring these innovative technologies to market, we will spur economic growth and help reduce the country’s energy use.”

According to a statement, small companies previously awarded Phase II grants through DOE’s Small Business Innovation Research program or the Small Business Technology Transfer program are eligible. Projects that include developed technologies with a strong potential for commercialization and impact on U.S. manufacturing and job creation are encouraged to apply. Successful applicants may receive up to $3 million over 3 years to research, develop and deploy new technologies.

The department is accepting applications in the areas of biomass, buildings, fuel cell, geothermal, industrial, solar, vehicle, wind, fossil, electricity and nuclear technologies.

Small business can apply for the funding through an online platform called Grants.gov.

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Following the executive order signed by President Barack Obama in October 2009, GSA submitted a document to White House Council on Environmental Quality that outlined recommendations on reducing emissions in the federal government supply chain. Executive Order 13514 called on federal agencies to “establish an integrated strategy towards sustainability in the federal government and to make reduction of greenhouse gas emissions a priority for federal agencies,” according to a statement.

The report released yesterday recommends contractors disclose their emissions through fiscal 2012 to help agencies develop a plan to achieve reduction goals. GSA was recently given the green light to begin developing programs.

“Over the next two years, GSA will be surveying its suppliers and their greenhouse gas emissions, and then where practical, begin to give a preference in contract awards to companies that conduct greenhouse gas inventories,” said Steve Leeds, senior sustainability officer and senior counselor to the administrator of GSA. “We’re starting with a phased approach and an incentive-based program, by asking the vendors to voluntarily measure and report the emissions developing from their operation at a corporate level, with an eye toward eventually measuring emissions at an individual product level.”

The goal of the program, as explained by Leeds, is to get a grasp on the capacity for compliance in private businesses. Contractors will be able to submit their emission rates via online tools to further support of the government’s sustainability initiative. Leeds believes the standards for measuring the greenhouse gas emissions, once they are developed, will be incorporated into all federal contracts in the future.

“I’m reminded that in the 1970s, when the federal government determined that it would first only purchase automobiles with seatbelts, it really provided the impetus for all automobiles to have seatbelts,” Leeds said.

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The president used the oil spill as a platform to address the importance of energy independence. He explained that moving toward a cleaner future is a costly transition, but one that would save hardships in the economy and environment for years to come. He also touched upon some new initiatives and called legislation to action to create new approaches.

He related the current situation to challenges the nation faced in history.

“I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is somehow too big and too difficult to meet,” Obama said. “The same thing was said about our ability to produce enough planes and tanks in World War II. The same thing was said about our ability to harness the science and technology to land a man safely on the surface of the moon.”

The address was short but to the point and ended with a tribute to the Americans who are dealing with the oil spill, and offered hope for the future of energy independence as a nation.

“We pray that a hand may guide us through the storm towards a brighter day,” Obama said.

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The nine recipients that received awards were honored for their creation of key sustainability projects. These projects included decreasing the use of pesticides and finding alternative measures; identifying and mapping cultural resource sites; managing environmentally friendly construction projects and reducing water and energy usage and the disposal of hazardous waste.

Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III spoke at the ceremony. Regarding its contribution to environmental protection, Lynn said the federal government “is committed to curbing greenhouse gas emissions, using renewable energy resources and promoting sustainable environmental stewardship.”

Lynn explained the department uses 1 percent of the nation’s fuel, the largest single consumer of energy. Adding the Department of Defense “has a responsibility to demand better from ourselves and from those we do business with.”

The awards that were celebrated at the Pentagon were just one example of how the department is attempting to enhance its conservation methods. Another is the inclusion of the climate change and energy challenges Quadrennial Defense Review.

“We are putting sustainability into every aspect of the process,” Lynn said. “Today’s winners are central to that effort.”

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Johnson spoke about the agency’s goal of Zero Environmental Footprint, which she called both a “big hairy audacious goal” (BHAG) and this generation’s “moon shot.” Johnson, who was nominated by President Barack Obama this past February said, “Yes, we CAN” achieve this lofty goal.

The deadline for GSA’s new sustainability plan to be submitted to the White House was last night at 5 p.m. Johnson held the nearly 100-page plan in front of the audience during yesterday’s luncheon and she said, “GSA is not just talking about it; we’re doing it.”

Johnson called GSA the “storefront” and a catalyst for other agencies. Moreover, she spoke about the shared work ahead with the private sector and that GSA, which is now on the front lines of Obama’s agenda, cannot achieve the sustainability goals alone. There needs to be more collaboration, not just participation, Johnson said. She said she believes there needs to be a clear distinction between these two forms of open government.

Johnson also spoke about a recent trip to Georgia with some of GSA’s top leaders to build new sustainability ideas. Additionally, she also talked about GSA’s plans to hire a large amount of new talent in the coming months and become “the cool place to work.”

Check out video recap here: http://blog.executivebiz.com/martha-johnson-gsa-administrator-speaks-at-poc-luncheon/10097

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With activities, training and presentations, International Green IT Awareness Week aims to spotlight green IT and make way for organizations to initiate, promote and support green IT discussions, enabling employees with knowledge and innovative ideas to decrease the environmental footprint of the organization.

Discussions will focus on standards, best practices and technology, with topics that include the future of green IT, energy consumption of the Internet, and procuring green IT. A three-day virtual event will also allow the message of the initiative to reach across timezones and give the audience an opportunity to live chat with speakers.

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The Department of the Interior has decided to put Bernard J. Mazer in the department’s CIO spot. Mazer is currently the CIO of Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service and also recently served at the Department of Defense in information management and telecommunications.

Mazer comes into the role with several years of experience in project management and program development, and the department is certainly confident in his abilities.

According to Andrew Jackson, deputy assistant secretary for technology, information and business services, “Bernie brings to this position more than twenty-five years of invaluable government and private business experience in the field of information technology and communications.”

Mazer will take his new post at DOI starting June 7, 2010.

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