Purchasing Sustainable Technology
Buying Sustainable Tech
At NYU, sustainable buying practices for technology incorporate a number of considerations, including environmental impact, costs, and long-term value for our community.
Currently, there are two resources available to evaluate the sustainability of products prior to acquisition:
- EPEAT Registry
- Sustainability Purchase Decision Tool
EPEAT Registry
One resource to assess tech sustainability is the Global Electronics Council (GEC) EPEAT ecolabel registry. This external resource combines several factors to assign sustainability scores to a range of technology solutions, such as:
- Product life expectancy
- Product environmental impact
- Product energy consumption
- Product ‘serviceability’
- Cost of component parts
- Sourcing of component parts
- Cost of component parts
Sustainability Purchase Decision Tool
NYU’s Sustainability Purchase Decision Tool compares energy consumption and operating costs between multiple solutions to help identify the more efficient (and less expensive) solution.
While upfront cost may be an important factor, a product with a greater life expectancy or that is more energy efficient, may have a lower cost of ownership and be a more sustainable option.
IT Support
NYU IT Service Desk is available 24x7. Please email if not urgent.
