Hibernating PCs and other Conserving Measures

In the interest of energy savings, I suggest the Library install screen saving or power down software for all of the computer monitors that are left on for hours at a time needlessly using energy. It would save the library money and help the environment at the same time. The same could go with installation of sensors in the bathrooms that automatically turn on and off, just as you have them for the stacks. Just a few things to help make the Reg a greener library -- a comprehensive energy audit could suggest much more, and in economically feasible ways.

Facilities tells us the bathroom lights are wired into the same circuit as the auto-flush mechanisms, thus turning one off turns the other off -- a situation they would like to avoid.

We've had some recent discussions about putting the computers (or at least the monitors) in standby when not in use. Although we're a little concerned that a black screen would cause users to think the PC is out of order, and the power savings would not be great, standby mode is definitely something we are considering.

The University is understandably very interested in all that we can do to conserve power, so an energy audit may be in our future. In the meantime, we're always happy to explore ways we can reduce our power consumption without compromising service.