Coeur D’Alene District Strengthens Their PC Power Management Policy With Faronics Power Save
by Braden Cave – 04/25/11
Coeur D’Alene District’s Director of Technology, Jean Bengfort, agreed that a PC power management policy that relied on user action was not practical or effective.
“It became evident that we had computers that were being left on during the night when we would go past a school in the evening and see the glow of monitors in a computer lab or classroom,” says Jean. “Not only was this a waste of energy, it was a waste of the district’s money.”
Looking to implement a PC power management solution Ethan Haberman, Coeur D’Alene District’s Network Supervisor, turned to the ENERGY STAR website, where in addition to energy efficient hardware listings and best practices, he discovered a software-based PC power management solution that supports both the Windows and Mac platforms—Faronics Power Save.
Power Save’s ability to accurately determine when computers were truly inactive so they could be powered down, and its ability to generate energy and dollar savings reports were a hit with the district’s network supervisor. “We did review a number of competing solutions,” says Ethan. “When we did an RFP for the software, Faronics Power Save came in on top of all the competitors with a great set of features, within our budget, and the best bang for the buck.”
Coeur D’Alene School District expects to save as much as $300,000 over the course of three years as a result of deploying PC power management software. Having centralized control over workstation power states has also proven to be a huge time saver for Coeur D’Alene District, making IT staff more efficient at their roles.
In addition to using Power Save, Coeur D’Alene School District has also committed to ensuring all future computer and monitor purchases meet ENERGY STAR requirements. According to ENERGY STAR Program Manager Steve Ryan, the district will save approximately 2,193,581 kilowatt hours annually—equivalent to more than $100,000 in annual electricity costs.
