Software Enabled Earth

EEA Selects Windows Azure as platform for Eye on Earth, AirWatch

2009-11-20T16:38:02Z

As Rob Bernard mentioned in his latest post, Microsoft and the European Environmental Agency (EEA) have made an upgrade to the Eye on Earth global observatory for climate change, and as part of that upgrade is a move to the Windows Azure platform, Microsoft’s new internet-scale cloud computing services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers. Azure enables the EEA to quickly and easily build, deploy, scale, and manage incremental updates and enhancements to Eye on Earth applications and web services.

Eye on Earth was designed to provide environmental information like air and water quality to EU citizens. Water Watch, launched in May 2008, tracks and monitors water quality across Europe’s beaches and the latest upgrade, Air Watch, does the same for air quality and air purity across Europe via 6,000 monitoring stations. Windows Azure has been combined with Bing Maps and Silverlight controls in the latest upgrade to provide a more intuitive navigation and understanding of the complex environmental data being collected. Additionally, an SMS feeds aggregator was incorporated into Eye on Earth to allow users to provide immediate feedback by way of text message about factors such as air and water quality and to receive regular updates from the system.

Eye on Earth is a great example of how Microsoft’s platform software technology is helping organizations build applications to address pressing environmental challenges. To take a look at the air or water quality of your favorite European cities and beaches, visit Eye on Earth.

Sacramento Municipal Utility District and Xcel Energy Customers Now Able to Manage Home Energy Consumption with Microsoft Hohm

2009-11-19T23:09:00Z

The Microsoft Hohm team continues rolling out its online energy management software with power utilities in North America. Today, Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) customers in the California area will be able to better understand and change their energy consumption habits and receive personalized energy conservation recommendations from Hohm. Last Friday, Xcel Energy’s announced they had begun to offer Hohm to its 3.4 million customers and this follow an announcement with Seattle City Light’s implementation last month.

We are delighted to partner with industry leaders like SMUD, Xcel Energy and Seattle City Light as they continue to demonstrate excellence in customer service by providing tools and information that allows their customers to get energy-saving recommendations and lower their energy bills through solutions like Microsoft Hohm.

Microsoft hits its “Stride” with Climate Counts

2009-11-18T22:57:34Z

Climate Counts, a non-profit created to raise consumer and corporate awareness of climate impact and corporate responsibility, today announced that Microsoft has achieved their highest category of rating. Climate Counts scores the world's largest companies on their climate impact to spur corporate climate responsibility with a goal of empowering consumers to support companies that take climate change seriously and avoid those that don't. This year, Microsoft jumped from Starting to Striding, and moved up 23 points to earn a score of 61. In their review Climate Counts notes “Microsoft has established goals and made efforts towards energy efficiency, reducing the company’s impact on global warming (i.e., its greenhouse gas emissions or climate footprint). The company has also worked to foster climate awareness among consumers, employees, and other businesses.”

Climate Counts is one the key external benchmarks we consider in evaluating our progress to address climate change and we appreciate the work they do to provide the marketplace with a framework for assessing companies’ actions to address the pressing issue of climate change.

To see the Climate Counts review of Microsoft, click here.

Microsoft joins Seattle Climate Partnership

2009-11-18T17:54:40Z

Seattle mayor Greg Nickels announced today that Microsoft has become the 150th business to join the Seattle Climate Partnership, a voluntary program for the region’s businesses working to reduce their carbon footprint and partner with others in the effort. Nickels will recognize Microsoft and other local companies at a recognition gathering tonight at the Seattle Aquarium from 6 to 8 p.m.

“The members of the Seattle Climate Partnership prove that going green can save you green,” said Nickels. “As both a business and community leader, Microsoft is poised to play a significant role in the partnership and in meeting Seattle’s climate protection goals.”

“Microsoft is committed to reducing the impact of our operations and products, and driving responsible environmental practices,” said Rob Bernard, chief environmental strategist at Microsoft. “With a significant presence here in the Puget Sound, we are excited to join the Seattle Climate Partnership. We are looking forward to working together to pursue environmental goals for the region and sharing our best practices with the community.”

A recent survey of the businesses participating in the partnership showed that, since 2005, 88 percent of the participants have completed or begun a carbon emissions inventory. Almost all report that they have taken actions to reduce their footprint. To date, the partnership has developed a Web site, an online carbon calculator, and sector-specific resource guides. The city’s Office of Sustainability & Environment works directly with businesses to provide technical assistance, and networking opportunities to share best practices.

For more information about the Seattle Climate Partnership, please visit the Web site at: www.seattleclimatepartnership.org

Windows 7 Energy Efficiency post on BT’s CSR Perspective blog

2009-11-18T17:35:13Z

Over a year and a half ago I had the pleasure to meet with BT’s CSR and Sustainability team to share ideas and best practices on environmental sustainability. BT is doing phenomenal work and have been thought leaders in this area. Since then I’ve been following Kevin Moss’s blog called CSR Perspective to stay up to speed on the latest happenings at BT and also follow Kevin’s thoughts on the industry. I highly encourage others to read his blog and provide comments and share your perspectives as well. Kevin graciously offered me the opportunity to provide a guest post on the blog as BT is making the move to Windows 7 and wanted to learn more about our approach to energy and power management in this latest release. You can read the full posting here - http://www.csrperspective.com/2009/11/guest-post-microsoft.html

Microsoft and EEA Partner to bring Air Quality information to Europeans

2009-11-17T23:08:46Z

In order to make the changes that are required to create a sustainable planet, people need to have a better understanding of the world around them. This requires us to imagine and create new ways to see and interact with information. Imagine if you could “see” pollution. What if you could see how polluted or clean your bathing water is? Through the ability to visualize this information, we hope that people and governments throughout the world will be able to make more appropriate changes in the way we use and manage our resources.

This is precisely why I am so excited about the work we’re doing with the European Environment Agency (EEA) on the Eye On Earth Global Observatory. In 2008, we helped the EEA launch Eye On Earth’s first application, Water Watch, and it has provided millions of Europeans not only valuable Water quality information but also a way for any citizen to report on the water quality and take action. Today, we are pleased to help the EEA upgrade Eye On Earth and launch a new application, AirWatch which represents the first time the EEA have been able to provide EU citizens with up-to-date monitoring information on air quality which includes both official and community reported observations as one easily understood measurement.

Microsoft and EEA share the belief that smart action on climate change is dependent on timely and relevant data. AirWatch, allows the EEA to provide over 500 million EU citizens with up to date monitoring information on air quality, going beyond Ozone to include particulate matter (PM₁₀) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂). Consider an asthma patient who might decide before booking a flight whether to travel to a city with poor air quality or the government official that is working to make a decision on potential air quality legislation. AirWatch provides both with useful information, allowing them to make more-informed decisions. One of the most unique qualities of the Eye On Earth application is the ability for citizens to take part in the feedback process which has allowed consumers to take action and report real-time environmental changes. This two-way communication is a both unique and critical as the world works together toward the sustainability of our planet.

We believe technology will play an important role as the world moves to a low carbon economy, but addressing Climate change requires a comprehensive and global response from all sectors of society. Our work with EEA is undertaken with this in mind. Our partnership with EEA is a powerful example of different organizations – public and private sector – combining their separate areas of expertise towards a shared challenge and we look forward to continuing our collaboration and providing useful tools for citizens and government decision-makers alike.

Try it at http://www.eyeonearth.eu

Water, Water, Everywhere: Using Information Technology to Address Water Industry Issues

2009-11-12T16:30:10Z

There have been quite a few discussions lately about Water being the next carbon in terms of major challenges that we need to address. As such, I wanted to share a new blog entry from our Power and Utilities team who have been looking at this issue and working with partners such as OSISoft on solutions to help our customers improve water management. And I encourage all of you to follow the utilities blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/mspowerutilities/default.aspx to stay up-to-date on the latest news/thoughts on the Power and Utilities industry.

There's no doubt this blog has focused recently on issues related to the smart grid. Between the launch of Hohm and the Smart Energy Reference Architecture, we've been busy, as energy issues seem to be where a lot of people are expending tremendous excitement and energy.

However, this focus in one area can't cause us to neglect significant issues in yet another. We need to acknowledge that, just as we need to address future demand electricity for now, we also need to address future need for water.

Worldwide, water issues are a front and center topic. Whether it is in Spain where water is the new battle ground, the water restrictions in Australia, or the issues in the United States, where California, Texas, and Georgia have all dealt with severe and lingering droughts in recent years. I'm sure there are dozens of other large and small scale water shortages elsewhere around the world. That gives us reason to begin dedicating more time to introducing our blog readers to these issues, and how information technology as well as Microsoft and partner solutions, can help address these issues.

First, however, we need to know what the issues are. The World Water Council says that within the next 50 years, the world population will increase 40-50%, resulting in increasing demand for water, with its concomitant industrialization and urbanization. Water is like electricity in that people in developed countries are very comfortable flipping a switch or turning a spigot to receive the low cost commodities of electricity and water. When water is not available, it does not flow.

Microsoft is hearing more these days from our water customers. They are asking us to help them optimize the effectiveness of their operations, to increase the value of their investments in technology so that more of their retained earnings can invest in the expanding infrastructure they -- we -- will need in the future.

Like their counterparts in electric and gas, water utilities have many of the same IT needs. They need data and information that are normalized, with high-integrity. They need to model their decision processes so that improvements and efficiencies can be created. They need forced collaboration and decision support tools to accelerate better decision making.

The overriding goal is to give people the information they need, whether they are engineers, plant operators, plant managers or VPs of operations.

We have an extensive body of case studies on how our technology solutions have helped utilities in this chore of delivering water to their customers. We hope to highlight more of these in the coming weeks and months. The Microsoft Worldwide Power & Utilities Group is dedicated to the Power and Utilities industry, including electricity, gas and water.

One good example that I will leave you with is the work being done by Metro Vancouver Water in Canada in conjunction with our partner OSIsoft. There they are optimizing their operations through aggregation of information and visualization. In the words of Metro Vancouver, “OSIsoft technology and Microsoft technology allows us to empower our users to make better decisions.” We love that.

You can view the video on the Microsoft Utilities website under videos or click on the screen shot. More water solution blogs will be on the way. – Jon C. Arnold

TechSoup Webcast on Green Tech Tips

2009-11-03T00:02:58Z

This Wednesday, November 4th, TechSoup Talks and Microsoft will be conducting two free webinars which will help nonprofits and libraries learn how to reduce the environmental impact of their information technology and how to effectively use IT to improve their organizations’ efficiency. We’ll discuss ways that greening IT can help reduce energy, resource usage and costs.

One webinar is best suited for small organizations with fewer than 10 PCs and <2 servers and the other is for larger organizations with more complex IT infrastructures and dedicated IT staff.

Click below to register: Both will be held on Wednesday, November 4th for 45 minutes:

Green Tech Tips from Microsoft for Small Organizations https://cc.readytalk.com/r/5gww010jo94p (10:00 a.m. Pacific time)

Green Tech Tips from Microsoft for Large Organizations https://cc.readytalk.com/r/4wlca36vxzsh (11:00 a.m. Pacific time)

Intel: Windows 7 improvements gain laptop users an additional 1.4 hours of battery life

2009-11-02T20:48:00Z

Joakim Lialias, a Microsoft Alliance Manager for Intel recently wrote on the Windows Partner Blog about our work with Intel to “Make PCs Run Faster and Longer.” We’ve talked a lot about the work we did around power management in Windows 7, but Joakim goes into more technical detail about the partnership with Intel to drive reductions in power. He suggests that “by applying such power saving techniques throughout the system and reducing resource utilization, Microsoft and Intel engineers were able to reduce power usage of a Windows 7 laptop nearly 20 percent over an identical laptop running Windows Vista SP2. That gained an additional 1.4 hours of battery life.” Looking at this through the environmental lens, that additional battery life helps prevent you from having to plug in your laptop for an additional 1.4 hours. If you have hundreds or thousands of laptops running in your enterprise, those energy savings (and costs) will add up. This is great example of the industry working together to drive energy efficiency in computing!

7 Ways to Change the World Competition

2009-10-23T22:57:00Z

To celebrate the launch of Windows 7, we have launched a new online competition called 7 Ways to Change the World. It encourages people to create a two minute video explaining how they believe a Windows PC could help a nonprofit to make a greater impact in the community.

There will be 7 winners, and each person who submits a winning entry will receive a new PC with Windows 7 and a $7,000 grant for their chosen NGO. We also plan to keep all the entries online, providing NGOs with a great resource of ideas on how they can use technology.

Visit: http://www.7waystochangetheworld.com to find out more, encourage people to participate, the closing date is November 11^th 2009!

PS: You can get the latest news on the event via Twitter and Facebook

Please note this is a US based only competition.

Top 5 Environmental Considerations to make the move to Windows 7

2009-10-22T16:58:34Z

Windows 7 has officially arrived and is available in retail or for download online at the Microsoft Store. We’ve posted earlier about the power management improvements in Windows7, and as we stated energy efficiency was a core principle in the design of Windows 7 as designers considered scenarios both when the PC is in use and when it is turned off. All of these improvements will help you save energy and save money.

With many of the improvements considered to be “under the hood”, we wanted to highlight them again today on the big launch day. We thought we’d provide you with our top 5 environmental considerations for upgrading to Windows 7:

When a Windows 7 PC is idle (i.e. not in use) for more than a few minutes, Windows 7 begins to take action to save energy. First, thanks to a new feature called Adaptive Display Brightness, the display dims. A short while later the display turns off and finally because the Sleep feature is on by default, your PC will go into a low power state, saving you money on your energy bill and reducing your carbon footprint. All within a 15 minute time period, as defined by Energy Star 5.0.
Why should a PC draw power from the network adapter if a network cable is not plugged in? With new networking power improvements, Windows 7 will automatically place the network adapter into a low-power state when a user disconnects his or her network cable. This is just one example of many including savings with DVD and audio playback all resulting in lower power consumption and helping extend your battery life.
New diagnostics tools in Windows 7 will help improve IT administrators’ ability to diagnose and troubleshoot power problems across their enterprises. For example, the diagnostic tools can help determine which applications or devices are negatively impacting energy efficiency and how much normal degradation has occurred to the battery of a mobile PC. These tools are for more technical users and will enable more efficient power management of PCs across organizations.
If your PC is less than a few years old, you can simply upgrade to Windows 7 and do not need to purchase a new PC. According to Softchoice, 88 percent of corporate PCs it has under management meet the minimum system requirements of Windows 7. Of those not equipped to run Windows 7, the majority would simply need more RAM and hard drive upgrade. Only one percent of their PCs would require replacement.
If you are in the market for a new PC, there’s a wider selection of EPEAT and Energy Star rated PC’s on the market and you won’t have to pay a premium for a “greener” PC.

To learn more about upgrading or to purchase a copy, visit the Windows 7 page.

Study on Digital Distribution of Software Shows Significant Environmental Benefits

2009-10-15T16:57:59Z

Through a campaign called Digital by Choice, Microsoft has offered its Volume Licensing customers the option to download Microsoft software rather than receive DVD/CDs. To show the environmental benefits, Microsoft recently commissioned Accenture and WSP Environment & Energy to complete a carbon footprint Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study to compare the carbon footprint of traditional DVD/CD distribution with digital distribution of software to our business customers. The study, entitled “Demonstrating the Benefits of Electronic Software Distribution: A study of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction,” indicates that digital software distribution can reduce carbon emissions by 91% when Microsoft Volume Licensing customers switch to electronic software distribution. In addition to the environmental benefits, Digital by Choice customers also receive faster access to software updates and save time and effort by no longer having to manage physical media.

The NRDC’s senior scientist, Noah Horowitz, notes from the study, “Until now, we had assumed there would be benefits in moving away from all the plastic and paper found in physical media, but we were in the dark as to how this would pencil out from a carbon perspective. The good news here is that despite the incremental energy use at the data centers, the results heavily favor digital distribution on all fronts—global warming, raw material usage, waste reduction, and energy consumption.”

To learn more about Digital by Choice and to download the white paper, click here.

Microsoft Launches Software Architecture for Smart Grid Development

2009-10-14T22:30:00Z

Microsoft announced it has developed a software reference architecture to help the Utility industry take a significant step in smart grid development. Called Microsoft Smart Energy Reference Architecture (SERA), this reference architecture addresses technology integration throughout the full scope of the smart energy ecosystem. The Microsoft SERA for the smart energy ecosystem will help create a world where thousands of smart devices can seamlessly plug into the grid thanks to common standards and interoperability frameworks, just as the plug-and-play model allows thousands of devices to seamlessly plug into PCs today.

The Microsoft SERA provides a road map for utilities to help identify and solve the integration issues facing grid and energy ecosystem advancement. SERA helps utilities by providing a method of testing the alignment of information technology with their business processes to create an integrated utility. As a result households and businesses will have ready access to timely, user-friendly information that can help them make smarter choices about their energy use,

This is the second utility offering to be released from Microsoft in four months, following the announcement of Microsoft Hohm, an online application developed to enhance the experience of utilities’ customers and provide further insight into the supply and demand of residential energy use.

Visit here for more on Microsoft’s work with Utilities.

Environmental Sustainability at Tech·Ed Europe 2009

2009-10-09T01:33:00Z

This year’s Tech•Ed Europe 2009 in Berlin, Germany (November 9-13) will for the first time have a Green IT virtual track that covers a spectrum of Microsoft technologies that you can use to improve efficiency, save money and reduce your organization’s impact on the environment. Some of the sessions available include:

· Application Models for Utility Computing

· Windows 7: The Power Management Workout!

· Smart Metering As an Enabler for Home Automation and Customer Interaction

· Microsoft Data Centers: From Buildings to Building Blocks

· Microsoft's Mission for Efficient Data Centers

· Virtualization 360: Microsoft Virtualization Strategy, Products, and Solutions for the New Economy

· What's New in Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager: SP1, R2, and R3

· Microsoft System Center and the Green Client

· Microsoft Visio 2010: A New Generation of the Tool for Corporate Diagramming and Greening

· Planning for Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization and Server Consolidation with Windows Server Solution Accelerators

· Storage and Hyper-V: The Choices You Can Make and the Things You Need to Know

· Power Efficiency and Power Management with Windows Server 2008 R2

Additionally, as part of the company’s effort to reduce the impact of our events on the environment, the Tech·Ed Europe event team is implementing a number of more sustainable activities:

· To help reduce water, attendees will receive reusable water bottles to fill at water cooler stations throughout the conference area.

· Recycling bins are being stationed throughout the venue to help divert waste from landfills.

· Sponsors and exhibitors are encouraged to minimize disposable materials they bring to the event and to use recycled and recyclable materials where possible.

· Tech·Ed Europe 2009 will use plasma screens to help reduce waste created by disposable signs.

· Public transport passes will be provided for all people using hotel service for travel between the airport and hotel

For registration to Tech•Ed Europe 2009, please visit here.

Seattle City Light Begins Offering its Customers Consumption Data for use with Microsoft Hohm

2009-10-07T21:04:16Z

Today Seattle City Light became the first utility to announce that it is offering customers the ability to link their electricity consumption data with Microsoft Hohm, an online application that tracks energy use and provides personalized energy conservation recommendations.
Seattle City Light, the ninth largest public electric utility in the United States, was one of four launch partners when Microsoft Hohm debuted in Beta version in June and is the first utility to announce its customers can connect with a convenient, automatic data feed. Hohm users who do not have a data feed can enter their energy use information manually.

Hohm uses advanced analytics licensed from Lawrence Berkeley Labs and the Department of Energy to assess users’ energy data, home features and appliances and then identifies personalized energy saving recommendations. Those recommendations could range from placing new caulking on windows and removing air leaks to installing a programmable thermostat.

Troy Batterberry, principal product unit manager for the Microsoft Hohm team said -
“We are proud to work with organizations like Seattle City Light who share a belief that their customers can and want to be responsible consumers of energy. Providing this kind of data connection through Microsoft Hohm makes it easy for customers to gain insight into how their decisions and actions impact their energy usage and cost. It also demonstrates Seattle City Light’s commitment to improving energy efficiency throughout the community.”