Student PC and Open Access PC power saving policy

The time for Open Access and student computer sessions to lock, sleep and automatically log off has been revised.

IT equipment contributes to nearly a quarter of BU’s annual carbon emissions. The new procedure is part of BU’s on-going commitment to the Green ICT Policy – benefits will include reducing the university’s carbon emissions by at least 200 tonnes, in addition to saving over £50,000 in electricity costs.

From Tuesday 25 November, the PCs in the Open Access Centres – including the libraries – will lock after 10 minutes, and a forced logoff will be carried out after 30 minutes of inactivity. Any unsaved work will be lost, so please remember to save your documents regularly.

This new policy means that PCs can no longer be logged into and left unused for long periods of time, therefore freeing up more computers in the Libraries and Open Access Centres.

From Tuesday 9 December, PCs in student areas – such as the PC labs in the School buildings -will lock after 10 minutes and go to sleep after 30 minutes, but will not be logged off.

PCs will now remain in sleep mode until there is user interaction or an IT process – such as regular maintenance – is carried out. These policies will be in place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

There will be no disruption to any of the equipment whilst the changes are carried out. If you have any queries, please log a job via the IT Services website, or call the team on 01202 965515.

Green IT settings are now in effect in all Open Access & Library areas

From 15 January computers in the Open Access Centre and Library will run the PC smart power management technologies.

pc-power

What does this mean?

  • Any computer left idle for 10 minutes will turn its screen off
  • After 30 minutes of inactivity the machine will log off, then after a further 30 minutes of inactivity the computer will go to sleep – a low power mode.

Why is this happening?

BU is always striving to reduce in impact on the environment. Currently the largest impact BU has is through the carbon emissions generated by the energy use within its buildings.

Idle computers are a significant contributing factor to wasted energy at BU, and by implementing smart power management technologies we are able to reduce the impact we have on the environment.

Our Carbon Management Plan has set a target to achieve a 30% reduction in carbon emissions by 2015/16, from a 2005/6 baseline. The PC Power Management Programme is just one of the projects within the Carbon Management Plan.

What if I need to leave my computer?

To ensure fair access to all students, if you need to leave the computer you are using for longer than 20 minutes please save your work & log off.

My computer has gone to sleep!

No problem. Just wake it up by pressing a key on the keyboard or by clicking the mouse.

For more information about what BU is doing to reduce its impact on the environment please visit the Save Earth Webpages or e-mail gfrog@bournemouth.ac.uk . You can also follow the work of the Environment & Energy Team via Facebook or Twitter.