Report: EPEAT-Approved Computers Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The report – titled “The Environmental Benefits of the Purchase or Sale of EPEAT-Registered Products in 2006” – highlights the environmental benefits of buying computer equipment registered with the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT). The tool – which was developed using an EPA grant and is coordinated by the Green Electronics Council – was designed to help institutional purchasers select and compare desktop and laptop computers and monitors based on their environmental attributes.

The report asserts that EPEAT-registered equipment has helped to:

• Save 13.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough to power 1.2 million U.S. homes for a year.
• Save 24.4 million metric tons of primary materials – which is equivalent to the weight of 189 million refrigerators.
• Prevent 56.5 million metric tons of air emissions (including greenhouse gas emissions).
• Prevent 1.07 million metric tons of carbon-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions – equivalent to removing 852,000 cars from the road for a year.
• Prevent 118,000 metric tons of water pollutant emissions.
• Reduce the amount of toxic materials used by 1,070 metric tons – equivalent to the weight of 534,000 bricks, including enough mercury to fill 157,000 household fever thermometers.
• Avoid the disposal of 41,100 metric tons of hazardous waste – equivalent to the weight of 20.5 million bricks.

The Green Electronics Council’s EPEAT Web site provides guidance for purchasers and manufacturers and hosts the database of EPEAT-registered products.