Chapter 7: Usage & procurement¶
In this chapter we propose the following definition for Digital Workplace, that will be frequently mentioned:
The Digital Workplace includes all the equipment and services necessary for the digital work of any employee of the organisation. Are included in the Digital Workplace:
- associated user equipment and network consumption;
- access and security services;
- communication and collaboration services;
- shared equipment;
- IT support.
Open questions¶
- What are your sustainability policy and action plan to reduce the number of pieces of IT equipment?
- What are the requested environmental and societal criteria, or the deployed best practices, to reduce the footprint of IT equipment?
- More specifically, what do you do to increase the lifespan of IT equipment?
- What do you do to fight the different types of obsolescence?
- What are the best and specific practices that you adopt for printing?
- How do you adapt IT equipment to people who are in disabled situation or who have specific adaptation needs?
7.1 What are your sustainability policy and action plan to reduce the number of pieces of IT equipment?¶
Rationale¶
End-user devices are responsible for a large part of the environmental footprint of an IT system. Minimizing the amount of equipment by sharing it and avoid duplication, is an efficient way to limit the impacts.
Evaluation criteria¶
| Evaluation criterion | Recommended priority | Proposed weighting (total = 22 points) |
|---|---|---|
| The average number of individual devices (including screens) is quantified per user (and/or per user profiles) and followed. Possibility to have different types of user profiles. | P1 | 5 |
| Actions are taken to reduce this number. For example: removal of fixed IP phones, limitation of double screens to specific user profiles like data scientist. Have only one computer (even for consultants) by promoting VDI. | P1 | 5 |
| The inventory of IT equipment is up to date and can be declared for each department of the organisation. | P2 | 4 |
| Promote BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) or COPE (Corporate Owned Personal Equipment). Knowing that NIS 2 will advocate COPE rather than BYOD. | P2 | 4 |
| The organisation has deployed or requested technical solutions enabling its subcontractors to avoid having one computer for work on their client’s site and one for work on their own company’s sites. It is part of the “Mastering” and cybersecurity policy. | P2 | 4 |
7.2 What are the requested environmental and societal criteria, or the deployed best practices, to reduce the footprint of IT equipment?¶
Rationale¶
Efficient action can be achieved to limit the impacts of IT equipment by selecting equipment that are eco-designed and respect eco-labels.
Evaluation criteria¶
| Evaluation criterion | Recommended priority | Proposed weighting (total = 23 points) |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental criteria are requested and contribute to the selection process during Calls for Tender (for both leasing and buying contracts). | P1 | 3 |
| A Sustainable IT Procurement guide is known and respected; for example, the GANR from the DINum. | P1 | 3 |
| Relevant eco-labels, covering the whole life cycle of equipment (raw material, manufacturing, repair index, protection index, capacity to dismantle and recycle) are known and requested taking into account specificities of the equipment. Globally EPEAT and TCO are the most relevant eco-labels. Energy star and 80+ eco-labels are not considered as sufficient (even if embedded in TCO and EPEAT) as they consider energy performance only during the usage phase. | P1 | 3 |
| The selection of IT equipment is made recognizing the initiatives that companies have taken to consider and reduce the environmental and societal footprint of their products in respect of the extraction of raw materials; for example, by contributing to the Responsible Minerals Institute. The concrete result of such an initiative shall be quantified and declared. For example, how many children no longer work in the mines and go now to school, how and by how much water consumption has been reduced, etc. | P1 | 3 |
| Having soldered batteries in portable equipment must be prohibited. | P2 | 2 |
| Both environmental and societal criteria are considered in the requested eco-labels. | P2 | 2 |
| Regulation is respected by requesting the Carbon footprint of the product. | P2 | 2 |
| Functional economy is promoted, through leasing or DaaS (Device as a Service) for example, unless ownership demonstrates a lower Total Cost of Ownership and a longer lifespan. | P2 | 2 |
| The integration of recycled components or raw material in any new equipment, must be requested, differenciating metals and plastics. | P2 | 2 |
| Default configuration of Operating Systems (for sleeping modes for example) are parameterized and cannot be modified by end users unless they have administration rights. | P3 | 1 |
7.3 More specifically, what do you do to increase the lifespan of IT equipment?¶
Rationale¶
Efficient action can be taken to limit the impacts of IT equipment; increasing its lifespan, is the first priority.
Evaluation criteria¶
| Evaluation criterion | Recommended priority | Proposed weighting (total = 17 points) |
|---|---|---|
| Lifespan of each type of equipment is requested of manufacturers, declared, and assessed. | P1 | 4 |
| Second hand “life” is clearly defined and monitored: declared lifespan of secondhand equipment is requested from, or provided by suppliers. A “deposit return scheme” for IT equipment could help give manufacturers or sellers access to this information. | P1 | 4 |
| Best practices are deployed to encourage end users to take care of their equipment: for example, proposing to employees that they buy for personal use their used professional equipment, or giving it away (if it is more than 4 years old, for example). Raise awareness of risky behavior (walking with open computers, for example). | P2 | 3 |
| Repair of equipment on site is enabled: the means to change screens, or batteries, for smartphone, for example. | P2 | 3 |
| Equipment is reused: for example, developers’ powerful computers are reused for office tasks. Their number is quantified. | P2 | 3 |
7.4 What do you do to fight the different types of obsolescence?¶
Rationale¶
Obsolescence leads to the renewal of IT equipment more often than would be necessary if we fought it. Different types of obsolescence must be considered:
- Hardware obsolescence in respect of maintenance and parts availability,
- Software obsolescence in respect of security support or compatibility issues (For example: Operating System update).
- But also, societal obsolescence through the effects of fashion and marketing.
Evaluation criteria¶
| Evaluation criterion | Recommended priority | Proposed weighting (total = 16 points) |
|---|---|---|
| OS or software suppliers are asked to separate security updates from functionality updates, with the ability to install only the security ones. | P1 | 5 |
| Open Source solutions, like open hardware, are also an opportunity to fight obsolescence. They should be promoted inside the organisation. | P1 | 5 |
| During the delivery of a new equipment, initiatives exist to make the end user aware of the environmental and societal footprint of this equipment. | P2 | 3 |
| Policy and actions are in place to fight the three types of obsolescence: • Psychological & societal obsolescence: by working on awareness and telling new stories. • Software obsolescence: by promoting Open Source and Operating Systems with long term support – a minimum of 7 years is line with the German regulation. • Hardware obsolescence: by promoting software ecodesign, capacity to upgrade the hardware (change CPU, add RAM capacities with free slots, for example). |
P2 | 3 |
7.5 What are the best and specific practices that you adopt for printing?¶
Rationale¶
It is not obvious whether reading a document on a screen has a lower footprint than reading a printed document (cf. ADEME study specifying the conditions under which one option or the other is the best), however best practices exist and are easily deployable to reduce the footprint of printing services.
Evaluation criteria¶
| Evaluation criterion | Recommended priority | Proposed weighting (total = 16 points) |
|---|---|---|
| Only Multi-Functional Printers (MFP) should be used and shared. | P1 | 2 |
| The number of printers must be surveyed with the objective of optimizing it. For example: a maximum of one MFP per floor or two per building. | P1 | 2 |
| Relevant eco-labels, with criteria specific to printing, such as Blue Angel, shall be requested for the printers during Calls for Tender. | P1 | 2 |
| Individual printers must be banned, for health reasons (to avoid fine particulates pollution in office air). | P2 | 1 |
| It is highly recommended to request MFPs with toner cartridges that can be refilled on site and by qualified external companies (not necessarily the manufacturer or its maintenance partner), while maintaining all Guarantees. | P2 | 1 |
| Printing figures should be communicated individually to users, with comparison to average volumes possible. | P2 | 1 |
| During for Calls for Tender, it is highly recommended to request from the suppliers technical characteristics for both virgin and recycled paper, required to maintain Guarantees, even if the paper used is not the one sold by the printer manufacturer. Indeed, some printers’ manufacturers try to impose the use of their own paper (virgin or recycled). | P2 | 1 |
| Recycled paper should be adopted, and printing parameters should be set “for printing on recycled paper by default. | P2 | 1 |
| Default printing parameters should be for black and white, and recto/verso, with ink saving mode activated. | P2 | 1 |
| Default fonts used for document templates should promote the ones that consume less ink. | P2 | 1 |
| Recycled paper should be grey or chlorine-free white, because whitening agents can be very polluting. | P2 | 1 |
| Relevant eco-labels such as FSC or Blue Angel, or European ecolabels, or NF environment, must be requested for virgin and recycled papers. | P2 | 1 |
| Challenge printing versus digital in terms of environmental footprint, knowing that some Life Cycle Assessments prove that there is no absolute answer to this question and that the conclusion depends on the environmental criteria considered (greenhouse gas vs water, for example) and on the frequency of reading or upload. | P2 | 1 |
7.6 How do you adapt IT equipment to people who are in disabled situation or who have specific adaptation needs?¶
Rationale¶
People who are in disabled situations may need specific equipment that enables them to work in a more efficient way or with a higher level of comfort. This is a part of “adaptation of the workplace”.
Evaluation criteria¶
| Evaluation criterion | Recommended priority | Proposed weighting (total = 6 points) |
|---|---|---|
| The organisation proposes specific IT equipment or accessories (keyboard, mice) for people who are in disabled situation or who have specific adaptation needs. | P1 | 4 |
| People in charge of disability inclusion programmes, ergonomic specialists and people who are in disabled situation or who themselves have specific adaptation needs, are involved in the selection of this equipment. | P2 | 2 |