Government Technology - May 2008 - (Page 18)

“We can use that benchmarking data to determine what makes sense economically and which green things we should be doing. We know how much energy the state uses now.” Will Semmes, chief deputy director, California Department of General Services It may seem lofty to implement green projects for environmental concerns alone. However, the trick of a successful green IT project may be pursuing something the government needs to accomplish anyway. For example, agencies typically consolidate data centers to reduce costs, simplify IT management and improve business continuity. But these initiatives also lower electricity bills, which automatically reduces carbon emissions. An inventory management system cuts costs by eliminating unnecessary purchases; it obviously reduces consumption, which ultimately lowers emissions. GIS and mobile applications eliminate unnecessary The United States is one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas producers. According to a survey by the Center for Global Development, the U.S. is responsible for one-quarter of the globe’s carbon dioxide pollution. driving, which improves productivity and reduces fuel costs — once again, a carbon emissions reduction comes built in to that investment. Green Fleet California law requires state government agencies to cut energy consumption by 20 percent by 2015. The California Department of General Services (DGS) intends to meet the mandate by collecting information that gives the department new insight into state operations. That insight will be used boost efficiency and conserve resources, said Will Semmes, chief deputy director of the DGS. For example, the department — which negotiates all statewide vehicle procurement contracts — is implementing fleet management changes that will provide better data about the use of state vehicles. The 119 California agencies that own at least one state vehicle will upload fleet information into a centralized DGS database. The solution will offer the DGS an unprecMAY_08 edented breadth of information for calculating carbon emissions and other factors, said Semmes. “If you multiply by 50,000 vehicles, we’re going to get information we’ve never had before about the use of our fleet in different aspects: the actual disposition of the vehicle, whether it was used appropriately and whether it was used enough to warrant having that vehicle,” Semmes said. “How are the emissions? How much fuel did we use? Are we buying the right fuel? Where did we buy it from, and therefore what kind of alternative fuel infrastructure can we get in those places where we seem to be buying the most?” Semmes said the database will give the DGS a comprehensive view of all state vehicles, making it easier to see if unused vehicles could be shared among agencies. The project could potentially reduce the number of cars the state owns and maintains, thereby cutting costs and reducing consumption. The DGS also aims to reduce carbon emissions by purchasing more alternative fuel. The agency has many vehicles that can operate on traditional or alternative fuel, but state workers often don’t fill them with alternative fuel because it’s usually unavailable on their routes. “I think it’s unconscionable for us to demand of a child support worker, who just happened to get the E85 car [that is fueled by a mixture of ethanol and gasoline] that day, to drive 20 miles out of her way to fill it up with E85 when her job, and the only thing she’s being judged by, is whether she picked up this foster kid and took him to the right place on time,” Semmes said. State employees who work out of the office pay for fuel with government credit cards. The DGS is considering using government purchase card data to determine where employees buy fuel for state vehicles. The agency could then work with the California Air Resources Board (ARB) — which recently received legislative funding to estab- lish alternative energy infrastructure in the state — to suggest appropriate locations for alternative fuel sites. “You’re going to see the adoption of these alternative fuels at a much greater rate than you would if you were to force employees to do all this other stuff. It would cost you money. It would slow things down. It would interrupt that child support services worker, and if you multiply that by 215,000 employees, you’ve got yourself a productivity problem,” Semmes said. The state also could track vehicle usage efficiency by installing GPS systems in them. However, state leaders have resisted GPS vehicle trackers. “It’s not part of this project, but it’s something we’d like to try. A lot of folks have wanted to go down this road over the years, but when they found out that either the modules cost $800 a car or whatever the issue was, everybody got cold feet,” Semmes said. He said collaboration between the California Department of Transportation and the EPA to secure funding for GPS trackers is a possibility. If the DGS can’t find enough money to install them in every car, it could install them in some, but in a way drivers couldn’t detect which vehicles had them, said Semmes. Even with that compromise, GPS systems would be a tough sell with many state employees. He said the best way to implement GPS systems would be with the intent to use the data for overall analysis of all vehicle activity — not individual vehicle travel. “You can look at the driving habits over a period of time and say, ‘Look at that. This department is driving with a sedan with one person in it from this location to that location. At the same time, another department 18 http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - May 2008

Government Technology - May 2008 Contents Point of View The Last Mile Big Picture On the Scene Four Questions for … Turning Over a New Leaf Crash Diet Budget Blues? Failing Grade? Running the Numbers The 311 Report High-Tech Corrections How It Works Spectrum Two Cents Products Personal Computing Signal: Noise

Government Technology - May 2008

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