Video Conferencing at the 2011 EAUC Annual Conference’s Green ICT Workshop.

The EAUC’s 2011 annual conference ran a Green ICT workshop entitled Sustainability at your Institution through the Use of Green ICT and was attended by approx 30 people.

Starting off the workshop was Geoff Constable who “video-conferenced”(VC’d) in to the room from his office at the Aberystwyth University. No technical difficulties arose and linking up was quite simple. Everyone in attendance could see and hear Geoff clearly and eventhough Geoff was speaking to darkened room (lights in the workshop room were dimmed to aid the visual display of Geoff) he could hear everyone clearly. 

VC-ing allowed Geoff to present at the workshop without having to miss a full day of work that he may otherwise have. He also saved himself a 370 mile train journey = 101 Kg CO₂ (31.8 Kg by train). As no event is ever truly “carbon-zero”, the energy use of the video conference equipment was included in calculations. The kit consumed 50 watts of energy and had a 200 watt monitor attached. This equated to 0.25Kwh = approx 150 gms CO_2. *

In fact Geoff presented some time, energy and CO₂ saving calculations from a recent VC conference he organised with 4 other welsh institutions. Cardiff University, Pontypridd, Swansea, Bangor, and Lampeter participated in the event and delegates were saved  from travelling a total of 807 miles, £322 in petrol costs and from having to release 238kgs of CO₂.

VC-ing can also:

§       improve family, work/life balance as delegates travel less so can stick to a daily routine

• improve equality and attendance at meetings as people who should (and want to) attended meeting, can do so, adding to overall efficiency and success rates of projects.
• Reduce overall stress.

Video Conferencing has been around for some time but has recently experienced a surge in popularity. This may be in part as a result of improvements in technology allowing us to work from home and remote locations where travelling long distances is not always practical, too expensive or will have a negative impact on our ecological footprint.

For more information on Video Conferencing log onto the JISC greening of ICT website by clicking on the following link : http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/greeningict/technical/greenvideoconference.aspx 

To find out what other innovative project JISC are currently funding and how they may help your institution be greener click on the following link: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/greeningict.aspx

For one hour’s videoconference : (*DEFRA conversion rate 540g / Kwh – can vary according to supplier) Excludes Lifetime Carbon Footprint of equipment.