Green Computing
Green Computing
can computation advance sustainability? an exploration
Launched 2009 Status Completed Participant Michael Halle, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and IIC
Green Computing
The IIC RepoRT • InITIaTIve In InnovaTIve CompuTIng aT haRvaRd, 2007–09
Selected accomplishments
• Identified a number of faculty interested in translational research on the interface between computation and sustainability • Initiated discussions of how research computing might be organized to be more sustainable and efficient, and identified disincentives and structural problems • Identified potential funding sources and educational benefits of future green computing projects using the Harvard campus as a testbed
11.1
T
IIC Projects
he Green Computing Project was launched in January 2009 as a development and networking effort intended to bring the IIC’s multidisciplinary approach to computational science and engineering to bear on the challenges of environmental sustainability. Over the longer term, the project aimed to catalyze faculty efforts around two main goals: solving computational problems in the fields of environmental sustainability and climate change, while at the same time working to mitigate the impact of computation itself on the environment. The project was designed to forge useful links between leading researchers in different fields at Harvard—including computer science, environmental science and engineering, other domain sciences, business, design, public policy, public health and information technologies—to translate research ideas into practical developments to help both the university and the world address a broad range of complex and pressing environmental issues. Background and motivation The Harvard community currently lacks any other such translational research effort at the intersection of computation and the environment. Two main Harvard entities have environmental sustainability as their primary focus: the Harvard Office of Sustainability (HOS) and
can computation advance sustainability? an exploration
Launched 2009 Status Completed Participant Michael Halle, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and IIC
Green Computing
The IIC RepoRT • InITIaTIve In InnovaTIve CompuTIng aT haRvaRd, 2007–09
Selected accomplishments
• Identified a number of faculty interested in translational research on the interface between computation and sustainability • Initiated discussions of how research computing might be organized to be more sustainable and efficient, and identified disincentives and structural problems • Identified potential funding sources and educational benefits of future green computing projects using the Harvard campus as a testbed
11.1
T
IIC Projects
he Green Computing Project was launched in January 2009 as a development and networking effort intended to bring the IIC’s multidisciplinary approach to computational science and engineering to bear on the challenges of environmental sustainability. Over the longer term, the project aimed to catalyze faculty efforts around two main goals: solving computational problems in the fields of environmental sustainability and climate change, while at the same time working to mitigate the impact of computation itself on the environment. The project was designed to forge useful links between leading researchers in different fields at Harvard—including computer science, environmental science and engineering, other domain sciences, business, design, public policy, public health and information technologies—to translate research ideas into practical developments to help both the university and the world address a broad range of complex and pressing environmental issues. Background and motivation The Harvard community currently lacks any other such translational research effort at the intersection of computation and the environment. Two main Harvard entities have environmental sustainability as their primary focus: the Harvard Office of Sustainability (HOS) and