Near-term technology review of electronic office equipment

The authors examine the electrical power and energy requirements of electronic office equipment and explore options for improved energy efficiency. Comparisons are made of the electrical power and energy used by computers, displays, copiers, printers, and facsimile machines, both while operating and while idle. The embodied energy of paper is noted as strongly influencing the total energy required to print a page of information. Typically, office equipment is not in use for much of the time it is turned on. Duty cycles often range from about 5 to 15%. Use of power management in office equipment can considerably decrease overall energy consumption. Computers and displays are just beginning to utilize this technology with reported power reduction of up to 97%. Many copiers have an energy saver mode, but copiers are often shipped with this mode disabled and may never utilize it. While energy saver modes are more prevalent in copiers, those printers that have incorporated this feature achieve more dramatic power reductions. Fax machines do not seem to utilize this technology at all, even though many have high power consumption when they are idle.<>