IT Energy@MIT Initiative

About the IT Energy@MIT Initiative

IS&T launched the IT Energy@MIT initiative in March 2007 to support the goals of the MIT Energy Initiative that focus on MIT Campus Energy.

--an excerpt from the Report of the MIT Energy Research Council, May 3, 2006:

"MIT's history of success as an institution in bringing science, technology, and policy to bear in addressing major societal challenges, our strength of human resources in these areas, our capacity to work across disciplinary boundaries, our long-standing focus on innovation and "technology transfer", and our demonstrated willingness to work with industry and government gives us a special responsibility and opportunity to focus our resources on this energy challenge. Above all, the enthusiasm and commitment of faculty, students and staff manifested during the Council's work augur well for substantial contributions in the coming years to resolution of the energy/environmental challenge. We advocate an approach that combines research, education, and MIT-campus energy programs."

Energy use at MIT supports a variety of functions including innovation, research, changing directions in teaching and learning and new international initiatives. The growth in the physical campus and enterprise-wide use of information technology has created an energy footprint that is also growing. The challenge in the 21st century is to find both obvious and innovative solutions aimed at reducing this footprint.

Laxmi Rao as MIT’s first IT Energy Co-ordinator, reporting to the Vice President for IS&T will direct this initiative.

Understanding the size of the IT energy footprint resulting from over 20,000 computers across the campus network, used by faculty, staff and students in support of MIT’s mission, will inform ways in which we can all collaborate to find effective ways to reduce IT energy use on campus.

Activities launched under this initiative, in collaboration with Departments, Labs and Centers will be in areas of focus aimed at reducing IT energy use by initially providing guidance on procurement, power management and disposal of equipment.

[Back to top]

Areas of Focus

[Back to top]

Opportunities for Collaboration

[Back to top]