I recently attended a green tech networking event. Almost all the discussion about what participants called "green IT" focused on data center and desktop energy savings. While energy savings are an important driver, a comprehensive sustainability program incorporating Green ICT should address much more:

Consumer Reports (10/08, p 26) compares a 14" 1938 B&W TV with a 50" 2008 plasma unit. Both consume 250 watts of power, which suggests that super-sizing television monitors is offsetting improvements in circuitry. The good news (p23) is that a similar size LCD unit consumes less than 60% of that power. Click here for more on television monitors.

Vertatique has assembled a guide to Green Media Production Practices for production and postproduction professionals and organizations. The practices are drawn from the author's industry experience and from material circulated by the media departments of American Family Insurance and Target. Click here to view the Vertatique Green Media Production Practices.

Leverage the digital world

Establish an online collaborative workspace for each production:

Use for all aspects of preproduction, production, and postproduction

Features can include online meetings, file sharing, streaming, interactive post sessions, etc.

Reduce travel, paper, courier services, and high-value time for activities like script, location planning, circulation of call sheets, viewing dailies, editing sessions, approvals, etc.

Use digital acquisition, communication, and archiving:

Capture images in digital media instead of film negative to reduce the use of chemicals, film base, and storage of film elements.

Recycle and reuse digital acquisition stock and postproduction drives after content is transferred to asset management.

Share assets digitally. Where not possible, minimize energy/carbon impact pf transportation, use recycled/recyclable packaging.

Use Vertatique's practices for green computing and e-devices.

Implement sustainable stage and set practices

Encourage/reward suppliers to adopt meaningful sustainability programs.

Use rental houses for props and wardrobe to eliminate unnecessary purchases and disposal. Donate purchased props and wardrobe to humanitarian non-profits.

Avoid using toxic materials and tropical woods (e.g. Lauan board) to build sets. Reuse salvageable materials and set pieces on other productions and/or donate materials to housing non-profits.

Implement sustainable location practices

Use as many local directors, production companies, and crew as possible.

Encourage/reward crew to use public transportation to travel to location/studio/post house. Provide car pools or bus transportation from a public transportation hub to location/facility.

Seek out local service providers with meaningful sustainability programs.

Work with caterers and craft services that use locally or organically grown produce and donate leftover food to local food banks or charity kitchens.

Reduce the use of paper, Styrofoam, and other disposables by encouraging/rewarding crew to bring their own mugs/cups/bottles. Replace plastic water bottles with a 5-gallon water dispenser and individual soda cans with 2-liter bottles.

Provide for recycling on each location.

Utilize as much energy efficient lighting equipment as possible.

Use as many hybrid and alternate fuel vehicles as possible.

Encourage/reward “take only pictures, leave only footprints” practices at outdoor locations.

Use energy from renewable sources where you can; consider carbon offsets where you cannot.

As many as 15 million analog television sets may be removed from American homes over the next two years as analog over-the-air (OTA) broadcasting is terminated in favor of digital-only signals (DTV). According to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) survey report "Trends in Consumer Electronics (CE) Afterlife", consumers intend to sell, donate, or recycle 95%. Will this really happen . . . ?

Media industry practitioners can access audio and slide presentations of the sessions at the 2008 Green Media Summit. The focus is on media replication, packaging, and distribution, but other topics are covered during the day-long program.

According to a Consumer Reports article, a 50" 1080p plasma display can consume 40% more energy than a comparable 720p unit and twice the energy of a 40" LCD. These differences are significant in the home; they can really add up in a large facility. Weigh the energy impact of screen size, resolution, and technology when specifying displays for purchase.

Vertatique usually focuses on creating a more sustainable e-world, so it is worth occasionally noting that the e-world itself can be more sustainable than physical alternatives.  A recent study by the American Consumer Institute finds that "wide adoption and use of broadband applications can achieve a net reduction of 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas over 10 years, which, if converted into energy saved, would constitute 11% of annual U.S. oil imports." The report cites these specific opportunities, among others:

The entertainment industry requires massive amounts of compute power for special effects, animation, game creation, and online rich media. Advances like "virtual backlots" reduce some environmental impacts, but also increase the demand for computational horsepower and communications bandwidth. IBM is now incorporating Hollywood into its Project Big Green, as announced last week at the Hollywood Goes Green conference. Here is IBM's Project Big Green video: