This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-11-638 
entitled 'Green Information Technology: Agencies Have Taken Steps to 
Implement Requirements, but Additional Guidance on Measuring 
Performance Needed' which was released on August 5, 2011. 

This text file was formatted by the U.S. Government Accountability 
Office (GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as 
part of a longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. 
Every attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data 
integrity of the original printed product. Accessibility features, 
such as text descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes 
placed at the end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, 
are provided but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format 
of the printed version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an 
exact electronic replica of the printed version. We welcome your 
feedback. Please E-mail your comments regarding the contents or 
accessibility features of this document to Webmaster@gao.gov. 

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright 
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed 
in its entirety without further permission from GAO. Because this work 
may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the 
copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this 
material separately. 

United States Government Accountability Office: 
GAO: 

Report to Congressional Requesters: 

July 2011: 

Green Information Technology: 

Agencies Have Taken Steps to Implement Requirements, but Additional 
Guidance on Measuring Performance Needed: 

GAO-11-638: 

GAO Highlights: 

Highlights of GAO-11-638, a report to congressional requesters. 

Why GAO Did This Study: 

The federal government’s substantial use of information technology 
(IT) contributes significantly to federal agencies’ energy use and 
environmental impact. To help mitigate this impact, organizations have 
adopted practices for using computing resources in a sustainable and 
more environmentally friendly manner—sometimes referred to as “green 
IT.” These practices include equipment acquisition, use, disposal, and 
related processes. GAO was asked to (1) determine the extent to which 
the government has defined policy and guidance on green IT and how 
selected federal agencies are implementing this policy and guidance, 
and (2) identify leading green IT practices used by federal agencies, 
state and local governments, and private-sector organizations. To do 
this, GAO evaluated federal guidance and policy, as well as guidance 
and initiatives at selected agencies; identified and characterized 
efforts in the public and private sectors; and interviewed officials. 

What GAO Found: 

Two executive orders, from 2007 and 2009 respectively, assign 
responsibility to federal agencies for increasing their environmental 
sustainability and contain green IT-related requirements. These 
requirements include acquiring electronic products that meet certain 
environmental standards, extending the useful life of electronic 
equipment, implementing power management on computers, and managing 
federal data centers in a more energy efficient manner. In meeting 
these and other sustainability requirements, agencies are required to 
designate senior sustainability officers and develop performance plans 
that prioritize actions for meeting the requirements in the executive 
orders. The six agencies in GAO’s review (the Departments of 
Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, and Health and Human Services; the 
Environmental Protection Agency; and the General Services 
Administration) have developed sustainability performance plans and 
taken additional steps to implement the executive orders’ 
requirements. For example, they have increased their acquisition of 
certified energy-efficient IT equipment, established and implemented 
policies to extend the useful life of agency equipment, and developed 
environmental policies for disposing of electronic equipment. However, 
the overall effectiveness of the agencies’ efforts cannot be measured 
because key performance information is not available. Specifically, 
the agencies have not identified the information needed to measure the 
progress or results of their efforts. For example, the agencies have 
generally not established baselines (starting points) or developed 
performance targets that are consistently defined in terms of 
quantifiable benefits, such as a reduction in energy. This is in part 
because the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and a key White 
House council--the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)--have not 
developed specific guidance on establishing performance measures for 
green IT efforts. Without such guidance, the effectiveness of these 
efforts and their contribution to overall federal sustainability goals 
will remain unclear. 

GAO identified a number of leading practices used by federal, state, 
and local government and private-sector organizations that are 
relevant to green IT. These practices include enhanced leadership, 
dedicated funding, prioritization of efforts, and improved employee 
training, as well as acquiring IT equipment with the highest energy 
efficiency ratings; consolidating equipment and services; reducing use 
of paper; and using new, more efficient computers. For example, 
according to a 2009 survey of federal employees, agencies spend about 
$440.4 million per year on unnecessary printing. By contrast, in the 
non-federal sector, a major IT equipment company implemented managed 
print services that reportedly reduced the number of printers by 47 
percent globally, cut per-page print costs by up to 90 percent, and 
saved more than $3 million in 2 years in the United States alone. 

What GAO Recommends: 

GAO recommends OMB and CEQ develop green IT guidance to help agencies 
more effectively measure performance and encourage the use of leading 
practices. In comments on this report, OMB and CEQ partially concurred 
with the recommendations. They agreed to encourage the use of leading 
green IT practices but did not agree that additional guidance was 
needed for measuring performance. GAO continues to believe that 
additional guidance is needed to help determine the effectiveness of 
agencies’ efforts. 

View [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-638] or key 
components. For more information, contact David A. Powner at (202) 512-
9286 or pownerd@gao.gov or Frank Rusco at (202) 512-3841 or 
ruscof@gao.gov. 

[End of section] 

Contents: 

Letter: 

Background: 

High-Level Green IT Policy and Guidance Exist, but Effectiveness of 
Selected Agencies' Efforts Cannot Be Measured: 

Leading Green IT Practices Range from Increased Leadership to Improved 
Print Management: 

Conclusions: 

Recommendations for Executive Action: 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: 

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology: 

Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Commerce: 

Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Energy: 

Appendix IV: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments: 

Tables: 

Table 1: Progress in Implementing 2007 Executive Order Requirements: 

Table 2: Progress in Implementing 2009 Executive Order Requirements: 

Abbreviations: 

CEQ: Council on Environmental Quality: 

DOC: Department of Commerce: 

DOE: Department of Energy: 

EPA: Environmental Protection Agency: 

EPEAT: Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool: 

FEC: Federal Electronics Challenge: 

GSA: General Services Administration: 

HHS: Department of Health and Human Services: 

IT: information technology: 

NASCIO: National Association of State Chief Information Officers: 

OMB: Office of Management and Budget: 

USDA: U.S. Department of Agriculture: 

[End of section] 

United States Government Accountability Office: 
Washington, DC 20548: 

July 28, 2011: 

The Honorable Susan M. Collins: 
Ranking Member: 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: 
United States Senate: 

The Honorable Thomas R. Carper: 
Chairman: 
The Honorable Scott P. Brown: 
Ranking Member: 
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, 
Federal Services, and International Security: 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: 
United States Senate: 

The federal government anticipates spending $79 billion on information 
technology (IT) in fiscal year 2011. This substantial use of IT makes 
a significant contribution to federal agencies' energy use and 
environmental impact. For example, computer equipment contains lead 
and mercury that can have an adverse impact on human health and the 
environment. This equipment also requires significant energy to 
operate. To help mitigate these impacts, organizations have adopted 
practices to use computing resources in a sustainable and more 
environmentally friendly manner--sometimes referred to as "green IT." 
Green IT can include a wide range of practices covering the lifecycle 
of products and systems, such as purchasing more energy-efficient 
technology, managing IT operations to conserve energy and resources, 
and disposing of equipment that has reached the end of its useful life 
in an environmentally sound way. 

This report responds to your request that we review green IT issues. 
Our objectives were to (1) determine the extent to which the federal 
government has defined policy and guidance on green IT and how 
selected federal agencies are implementing this policy and guidance, 
and (2) identify leading green IT practices used by federal agencies, 
state and local governments, and private-sector organizations. 

To accomplish our objectives, we conducted our work at the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB), the White House Council on Environmental 
Quality (CEQ), and at a nonprobability sample of six selected agencies 
to provide examples of agency green IT efforts--the Departments of 
Agriculture (USDA), Commerce (DOC), Energy (DOE), and Health and Human 
Services (HHS); the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and the 
General Services Administration (GSA). DOE and EPA were selected based 
on their missions to protect the environment. DOC and HHS were 
selected because they were two of the four top agencies for fiscal 
year 2009 IT spending.[Footnote 1] GSA and USDA were selected for 
their ongoing green IT efforts. To determine the extent to which the 
federal government has defined policy and guidance on green IT, we 
reviewed executive orders and other guidance from OMB and CEQ and 
interviewed officials from these offices. To determine how agencies 
are implementing this policy and guidance, we analyzed internal 
guidance developed at each agency in response to federal green IT-
related requirements and interviewed selected agency officials. 

In addition, we identified leading green IT practices that have been 
used by federal agencies, state and local governments, and private- 
sector organizations; we identified these practices through multiple 
sources, including our attendance at national IT symposia (e.g., the 
GreenGov Symposium held in Washington, D.C., in October 2010); a 
review of industry publications, such as ComputerWorld and InfoWorld; 
an examination of leading green IT practice information contained on 
the federal electronics stewardship Web site, known as FedCenter.gov; 
and interviews with various federal and state officials and industry 
representatives. Detailed information on the scope and methodology for 
our review is provided in appendix I. 

We conducted this performance audit from August 2010 through July 2011 
in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 
Those standards required that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 
sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe 
that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our 
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 

Background: 

In recognition of the cost, energy usage, and environmental impact of 
IT, the federal government has undertaken various initiatives to 
promote the acquisition and use of more efficient and environmentally 
friendly IT products, commonly referred to as electronic stewardship 
or "green IT." According to OMB Circular A-11, green IT refers to the 
application of sustainable and environmentally efficient practices so 
that computing resources are used in a sustainable and environmentally 
efficient manner.[Footnote 2] 

Green IT Encompasses the Environmentally Sound Practices of 
Purchasing, Managing, and Disposing of IT Equipment: 

Green IT applies to a broad range of activities that span the entire 
lifecycle of IT capital assets, including but not limited to the 
acquisition, operations and use, and disposition of equipment. These 
activities include developing programs for purchasing equipment that 
meets certain environmental standards, operating and managing IT 
equipment in ways that reduce energy usage and conserve resources, and 
disposing of equipment in ways that lessen the environmental impact of 
potentially hazardous waste. 

Purchasing equipment. Tools exist to help organizations purchase more 
environmentally friendly IT equipment. One such industry tool is the 
Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT®), which was 
developed along the lines of EPA and DOE's Energy Star program 
[Footnote 3] to assist consumers in comparing and selecting laptop 
computers, desktop computers, and monitors with environmentally 
preferable attributes. Through EPEAT, manufacturers are rewarded for 
meeting increasing levels of energy efficiency and environmental 
standards by providing them with a certification label of bronze, 
silver, or gold. Using this tool, consumers can also evaluate the 
design of an electronic product for energy conservation, reduced 
toxicity, extended lifespan, and end-of-life recycling, among other 
things. 

Operating and managing IT resources. Effective management of IT 
equipment in use can help reduce energy usage and conserve resources. 
For example, monitoring and efficiently managing IT equipment's power 
use can help organizations track and reduce specific energy costs. 
Software can be used to turn off or power down personal computers when 
they are not being used and to track network power usage. New 
techniques, such as computer virtualization, are also being used to 
save energy. Computer virtualization allows multiple, software-based 
virtual machines with different operating systems to run in isolation, 
side-by-side, on the same physical machine. Virtual machines can be 
stored as files, making it possible to save a virtual machine and move 
it from one physical server to another. Virtualization is often used 
as part of cloud computing.[Footnote 4] 

Disposing of equipment. Finally, IT equipment may be donated, sold, 
recycled, or returned to the manufacturer in lieu of disposal in a 
landfill. Organizations donate usable electronics to qualified 
organizations, such as public schools, and sell usable or 
refurbishable equipment to the general public. Another option is to 
recycle unusable and unsold equipment using environmental practices 
that help keep components out of landfills and recover materials for 
use in the manufacture of new products. 

Environmental Impact and Roles of Key Organizations: 

The federal government purchases or leases approximately 1 million 
computers and monitors each year and estimates it will spend about $79 
billion on IT in fiscal year 2011. This investment in IT has 
environmental impacts that can be described in terms of cost, energy 
usage, and waste. Examples of these impacts include the following: 

* According to the Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC)[Footnote 5] 
Program Manager, the federal government disposes of approximately 
750,000 computers and monitors that have reached the end of their 
useful lives each year--50 percent are reused; 40 percent are 
recycled; and 10 percent are discarded. 

* Office electronics can contain materials such as lead, mercury, and 
other constituents that are harmful to human health and the 
environment. 

* The global greenhouse gas[Footnote 6] emissions attributable to 
information and communication technologies, including data centers and 
computers, are nearly 2 percent of all emissions.[Footnote 7] 

According to FEC data, there are potential environmental benefits of 
implementing green IT in federal agencies. While we did not validate 
the data reported by various federal agencies, FEC estimated that 
energy savings of over 500,000 megawatts were achieved in fiscal year 
2009 as a result of related efforts by federal agencies, as well as 
cost savings of over $48 million. 

Two federal organizations play key roles related to green IT: 

* OMB reviews and approves agency plans and prepares scorecards to 
track agencies' progress toward achieving various federal goals and 
requirements, including those for electronic stewardship. 

* CEQ, in conjunction with OMB, coordinates federal environmental 
efforts and works with agencies in the development of policies and 
initiatives. 

High-Level Green IT Policy and Guidance Exist, but Effectiveness of 
Selected Agencies' Efforts Cannot Be Measured: 

Federal policy and guidance direct agencies to take a variety of green 
IT-related actions. Specifically, two executive orders outline broad 
requirements for green IT as part of a larger sustainability effort. 
The six agencies in our review have taken steps to implement these 
green IT-related requirements. However, the benefits of the agencies' 
efforts cannot be measured because key performance information is not 
available. 

Executive Orders Outline Broad Green IT-Related Requirements as Part 
of a Larger Sustainability Effort: 

Two executive orders--13423 and 13514--assign responsibility to 
federal agencies for meeting green IT-related requirements. These 
requirements, often referred to as electronic stewardship, are part of 
a much larger effort covered by the executive orders to move federal 
operations toward environmental sustainability.[Footnote 8] According 
to Executive Order 13423 implementing instructions, electronic 
stewardship seeks to reduce the environmental and energy impacts of 
electronic product acquisition, operation and maintenance, and 
disposition through continual improvement for each of these lifecycle 
phases. 

In 2007, Executive Order 13423, "Strengthening Federal Environmental, 
Energy, and Transportation Management," set goals for federal agencies 
to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, 
among others. In addition, Section 2(h) of the executive order 
contains four broad green IT-related requirements that federal 
agencies are to follow: 

* meet at least 95 percent of agencies' requirements for new 
electronic products with EPEAT-registered products, unless no 
applicable EPEAT standard exists; 

* enable the Energy Star feature on agency computers and monitors; 

* establish and implement policies to extend the useful life of agency 
electronic equipment; and: 

* use environmentally sound practices with respect to disposition of 
agency electronic equipment that has reached the end of its useful 
life. 

To assist the agencies in accomplishing Executive Order 13423 
requirements, CEQ provided implementing instructions and directed the 
agencies to develop Electronic Stewardship Plans. The implementing 
instructions elaborated on the goals in the executive order and 
included certain targets that agencies should set for implementing 
each requirement. Specifically, each agency should: 

* ensure that 95 percent of its product acquisitions are EPEAT 
registered; 

* enable the Energy Star feature on 100 percent of its computers and 
monitors; 

* use in-house agency computers for a minimum of 4 years before 
replacing them; and: 

* identify acceptable partners for electronic recycling. 

In 2009, Executive Order 13514, "Federal Leadership in Environmental, 
Energy, and Economic Performance," expanded on the agency requirements 
of Executive Order 13423. The executive order required federal 
agencies to submit to the Chair of CEQ and the Director of OMB a 2020 
greenhouse gas pollution reduction target within 90 days and to 
increase energy efficiency, reduce fleet petroleum consumption, 
conserve water, reduce waste, support sustainable communities, and 
leverage federal purchasing power to promote environmentally 
responsible products and technologies. The executive order requires 
agencies to meet broad sustainability goals, such as: 

* 30 percent reduction in vehicle fleet petroleum use by fiscal year 
2020; 

* 26 percent improvement in water efficiency by fiscal year 2020; and: 

* 50 percent non-hazardous waste diversion by fiscal year 2015. 

With regard to green IT, section 2(i) of the order contains five broad 
goals. Three of these are similar to those in Executive Order 13423, 
but the goals also include requirements related to power management 
and data center consolidation. Specifically, under this section, 
agencies are to: 

* ensure procurement preference for EPEAT-registered electronic 
products; 

* establish and implement policies to enable power management, duplex 
printing, and other energy-efficient or environmentally preferable 
features on all eligible agency electronic products; 

* employ environmentally sound practices with respect to the agency's 
disposition of all agency excess or surplus equipment; 

* ensure the procurement of Energy Star and Federal Energy Management 
Program-designated[Footnote 9] electronic equipment; and: 

* implement best management practices for energy-efficient management 
of servers and federal data centers. 

To meet these requirements, Executive Order 13514 assigns the agencies 
several duties. The order requires agencies to designate a Senior 
Sustainability Officer, who is accountable for agency conformance to 
the requirements of the order. The sustainability officer is to 
develop and implement an annual Strategic Sustainability Performance 
Plan[Footnote 10] and monitor the agency's performance and progress in 
implementation. The plan is to be updated and submitted annually to 
the CEQ Chair and the OMB Director. Each sustainability plan is to 
identify agency goals, a schedule for meeting those goals, milestones, 
approaches for achieving results, quantifiable metrics for agency 
implementation, and prioritized actions based on lifecycle return on 
investment. 

In addition, both OMB and CEQ have responsibilities and have taken 
actions related to agencies' progress in meeting the executive order 
requirements. Specifically, CEQ reviews and OMB approves each agency's 
sustainability plan. CEQ's duties include preparing, in coordination 
with OMB, reporting metrics to determine each agency's progress on the 
goals of the executive order and establishing interagency working 
groups that provide recommendations to CEQ for areas of improvement. 
To assist the agencies in implementing the requirements, OMB and CEQ 
provided guidance through a template for developing the sustainability 
plans. According to CEQ officials, this template was not mandatory, 
but agencies were instructed to justify using a different approach. 

Agencies Have Taken Steps to Implement Green IT-Related Requirements: 

The six agencies in our review are taking steps toward implementing 
the green IT-related requirements of the two executive orders. Each 
agency has designated a senior sustainability officer and submitted 
its sustainability plan to OMB and CEQ for review. Further, the 
agencies reported on various initiatives aimed at meeting the 
requirements. For example, according to officials, EPA donates the 
majority of its excess electronics to schools, state and local 
governments, eligible nonprofit organizations, and other federal 
agencies. 

Table 1 shows the agencies' progress in implementing the green IT- 
related requirements of Executive Order 13423 (issued in 2007). 

Table 1: Progress in Implementing 2007 Executive Order Requirements: 

Requirement: When acquiring an electronic product to meet agency 
requirements, meet at least 95 percent of those requirements with an 
EPEAT-registered electronic product, unless there is no EPEAT standard 
for such product; 
DOC: Implemented; 
DOE: Implemented; 
EPA: Implemented; 
GSA: Implemented; 
HHS: Implemented; 
USDA: Implemented. 

Requirement: Enable Energy Star features on agency computers and 
monitors; 
DOC: Not implemented; 
DOE: Implemented; 
EPA: Implemented; 
GSA: Implemented; 
HHS: Not implemented; 
USDA: Implemented. 

Requirement: Establish and implement policies to extend the useful 
life of agency electronic equipment; 
DOC: Implemented; 
DOE: Implemented; 
EPA: Implemented; 
GSA: Implemented; 
HHS: Implemented; 
USDA: Implemented. 

Requirement: Use environmentally sound practices with respect to 
disposition of agency electronic equipment that has reached the end of 
its useful life[A]; 
DOC: Implemented; 
DOE: Implemented; 
EPA: Implemented; 
GSA: Implemented; 
HHS: Not implemented; 
USDA: Implemented. 

Source: GAO analysis of agency data. 

[A] Because we have an ongoing review of federal electronic 
stewardship initiatives, this evaluation did not include an in-depth 
assessment of the extent to which agencies have engaged in 
environmentally sound disposition practices with respect to electronic 
equipment. We limited our work to determining whether agencies have 
developed policies and procedures for the disposition of agency 
electronic equipment. 

[End of table] 

As the table shows, the selected agencies have implemented most of the 
requirements associated with this executive order. They also all have 
plans to address the unmet ones. For example, DOC described an action 
planned to meet the Energy Star requirement and plans to report its 
progress in its updated sustainability plan. 

Table 2 shows the agencies' progress in implementing the green IT- 
related requirements of Executive Order 13514 (issued in 2009). 

Table 2: Progress in Implementing 2009 Executive Order Requirements: 

Requirement: Ensure procurement preference for EPEAT-registered 
electronic products; 
DOC: Implemented; 
DOE: Implemented; 
EPA: Implemented; 
GSA: Implemented; 
HHS: Implemented; 
USDA: Implemented. 

Requirement: Establish and implement policies to enable power 
management, duplex printing, and other energy-efficient or 
environmentally preferable features on all eligible agency electronic 
equipment; 
DOC: Not implemented; 
DOE: Not implemented; 
EPA: Implemented; 
GSA: Implemented; 
HHS: Implemented; 
USDA: Not implemented. 

Requirement: Employ environmentally sound practices with respect to 
the agency's disposition of all agency excess or surplus equipment[A]; 
DOC: Implemented; 
DOE: Implemented; 
EPA: Implemented; 
GSA: Implemented; 
HHS: Not implemented; 
USDA: Implemented. 

Requirement: Ensure the procurement of Energy Star and Federal Energy 
Management Program-designated electronic equipment; 
DOC: Implemented; 
DOE: Implemented; 
EPA: Implemented; 
GSA: Implemented; 
HHS: Implemented; 
USDA: Implemented. 

Requirement: Implement best management practices for energy-efficient 
management of servers and federal data centers[A]; 
DOC: Not implemented; 
DOE: Not implemented; 
EPA: Not implemented; 
GSA: Not implemented; 
HHS: Not implemented; 
USDA: Not implemented. 

Source: GAO analysis of agency data. 

[A] Because we have an ongoing review of federal electronic 
stewardship initiatives, this evaluation did not include an in-depth 
assessment of the extent to which agencies have engaged in 
environmentally sound disposition practices of excess or surplus 
electronic equipment. For this review, we limited our work to 
determining whether agencies have developed policies and procedures 
for the disposition of agency electronic equipment. We also have an 
ongoing evaluation of federal data centers. 

[End of table] 

As table 2 shows, implementation to date of the requirements of this 
more recent executive order is not as far along. For requirements that 
have not yet been implemented, all six agencies described plans and 
efforts to meet them. For example, although none of the agencies have 
completed the requirement to implement best management practices for 
energy-efficient management of servers and data centers, they all 
described plans to do so. 

Additional Data Needed to Measure Benefits of Agencies' Efforts: 

While agencies have taken a variety of steps to implement green IT 
practices, the effectiveness of these efforts cannot be measured 
because of a lack of performance data. As previously mentioned, 
Executive Order 13514 requires the agencies to develop, implement, and 
annually update their sustainability plans to allow them to prioritize 
agency actions based on the lifecycle return on investment. Among 
other things, these plans are to (1) identify agency goals, 
milestones, and quantifiable metrics and (2) identify opportunities 
for improvement and evaluate performance to determine benefits. 

Each of the agencies' 2010 sustainability plans includes planned 
actions for meeting the requirements of the executive order. These are 
related to increasing the number of devices covered by Energy Star, 
improving data center efficiencies, and increasing the use of 
virtualization and cloud computing. In addition, most of the agencies' 
plans contained actions with associated percentage-based targets and 
milestones for meeting them over several fiscal years.[Footnote 11] 
However, the plans do not identify baseline information for the 
planned actions. A baseline is a starting point for measurement (e.g., 
an agency's current energy usage) that provides a basis for measuring 
progress. Our research has shown that measuring progress toward 
performance targets requires establishing such baseline information. 
[Footnote 12] Without baselines, it will be unclear what progress 
agencies have made in meeting their targets. 

In addition, the agency plans do not identify benefits linked to their 
specific green IT efforts. Specifically, the targets identified in the 
agencies' plans are not defined in terms of benefits (such as dollar 
or energy savings), and as a result the agencies are not positioned to 
identify benefits from their activities and to use that information to 
evaluate and prioritize their efforts. For example, USDA had a goal to 
reduce the number of its data centers by 5 percent during fiscal year 
2010. However, it is unclear whether or by how much meeting this 5 
percent reduction goal was expected to result in energy or dollar 
savings or other benefits. 

The limitations in the data on the effectiveness of agencies' efforts 
are due, in part, to challenges related to developing performance 
information, as well as to the guidance provided to the agencies by 
OMB and CEQ, which did not include instructions related to collecting 
this information. 

* Officials from all six agencies stated that it was challenging to 
estimate baseline costs and energy use and to quantify the cost 
savings and reduction of energy consumption resulting from 
implementation of the executive order requirements. EPA officials 
stated that one reason for this is that not all of their buildings are 
sub-metered at the level necessary to capture this information. While 
we acknowledge that establishing baselines and identifying 
quantifiable benefits for some agency green IT activities can be 
challenging, developing such information, where possible, could help 
agencies better determine their progress toward meeting targets. 

* In addition, the guidance that OMB and CEQ provided to the agencies 
did not include instructions for developing baselines. CEQ officials 
told us that, other than the sustainability plan template, they have 
not issued any further guidance for the plans and do not plan to 
develop implementing instructions for Executive Order 13514. 

While CEQ does not plan to issue additional guidance, the agency has 
been working to develop a national strategy, or road map, for green IT-
related initiatives. According to a November 2010 letter, CEQ 
requested that EPA and GSA join with the council in co-chairing an 
interagency task force to develop such a strategy. This strategy is to 
include an action plan to direct federal agencies in achieving 
requirements related to green IT. As of June 2011, this strategy, 
which was due on May 6, 2011--180 days after the memorandum was 
issued--had not been released. If appropriately developed and 
implemented, such a strategy could provide additional guidance for 
agencies to measure the effectiveness of green IT efforts. 

Without specific guidance related to establishing targets and 
identifying baselines that measure benefits, agencies, OMB, and CEQ 
will continue to be challenged in determining the actual benefits of 
green IT efforts. Further, it will continue to be unclear to what 
extent these efforts are supporting the federal government's broader 
sustainability initiatives. 

Leading Green IT Practices Range from Increased Leadership to Improved 
Print Management: 

In addition to the activities agencies have underway to meet the 
requirements of the executive orders, we identified a number of 
leading practices used by government entities and private sector 
organizations that are relevant to green IT. Among others, these 
practices include leadership, funding, prioritization, and employee 
training and involvement: 

Obtain senior management commitment. Senior management commitment can 
remove potential obstacles when implementing green IT initiatives and 
establishing goals. For example, according to a 2009 study of the key 
drivers of green IT, research showed that identifying an executive 
sponsor who will champion the green IT initiative will help to remove 
the road blocks to implementation.[Footnote 13] 

Align green IT with the organization's budget. According to a 2007 
industry report on creating a green IT action plan, green IT must fit 
within an organization's anticipated budget.[Footnote 14] In 
recognition of the importance of adequate funding to program success, 
the 2009 executive order states that, starting in fiscal year 2011, 
strategic sustainability efforts, which include electronics 
stewardship (green IT), should be integrated into the agency's 
strategic planning and budgeting process, including the agency's 
strategic plan. 

Evaluate and prioritize green IT options. With various green IT 
options available, lifecycle return on investment can be a useful tool 
for determining which options provide the greatest return on 
investment in an environment of reduced agency budgets. According to a 
2009 survey of IT professionals by a national IT services and 
solutions provider, IT departments may be foregoing large, long-term 
savings by ranking factors such as cost over energy efficiency in 
their purchasing decisions.[Footnote 15] One recommendation from the 
survey is that organizations need to prioritize their actions based on 
costs and benefits. 

Provide appropriate agency personnel with sufficient green IT 
training. As part of a 2010 private-sector survey of federal chief 
information officers, industry officials also offered some 
observations, including that agencies should work with the Office of 
Personnel Management to improve the IT workforce.[Footnote 16] The 
survey noted that, in doing so, government organizations should use 
existing best practices, such as those found at the Department of 
Defense, to train employees and develop new leaders. In recognition of 
the importance of training, the 2007 executive order states that 
agencies are to establish programs for environmental management 
training. Implementing instructions associated with that order require 
that each agency shall ensure that all personnel whose actions are 
affected by the executive order receive initial awareness training as 
well as necessary refresher training on the goals of the executive 
order. Overseas, one British report indicated that increasing the 
capability of staff will not only improve the performance of overall 
IT operations, it could also reduce the amount that the public sector 
spends on IT consultants and contractors by some 50 percent.[Footnote 
17] 

Procure IT equipment that meets the most stringent EPEAT standard 
available, if economically practical. As discussed previously, EPEAT 
is a tool to help purchasers in the public and private sectors 
evaluate, compare, and select electronic products based on their 
environmental attributes. EPEAT-registered products must meet 23 
required environmental performance criteria. The products are then 
rated gold, silver, or bronze based on whether the products met 75 
percent or greater, 50 percent to 74 percent, or less than 50 percent, 
respectively, of 28 optional criteria. The three EPEAT level ratings 
differ to a small, but measurable, extent in their environmental 
benefits. As we reported in 2009,[Footnote 18] if federal agencies 
replaced 500,000 non-EPEAT rated laptop computers and computer 
monitors with either EPEAT bronze-rated, silver-rated, or gold-rated 
units, the federal government would achieve energy savings equivalent 
to 182,796 U.S. households, 183,151 households, or 183,570 households, 
respectively. In the non-federal government sector, in March 2009 the 
city of San Francisco upgraded its environmental requirement for IT 
purchases to the EPEAT gold-level as its procurement baseline whenever 
possible. 

Consolidate and standardize IT equipment and services. In an earlier 
2011 report, we noted that, because procurement at federal departments 
and agencies is decentralized, the federal government is not fully 
leveraging its aggregate buying power to obtain the most advantageous 
terms and conditions for its procurements.[Footnote 19] The report 
also stated that applying strategic sourcing best practices throughout 
the federal procurement system could produce significant savings. 
[Footnote 20] Similarly, according to a 2010 report by a private-
sector IT council, the federal government's costs of operating IT 
systems are higher than they need to be, in some cases by more than a 
factor of two.[Footnote 21] The report estimated that at least 20 
percent to 30 percent of the more than $70 billion spent annually on 
IT assets could be eliminated by reducing overhead, consolidating data 
centers, eliminating redundant networks, and standardizing 
applications. Therefore, the report recommended that the federal 
government consolidate IT infrastructure. In the non-federal sector, 
the IT council report indicated that IBM had cut its overall IT 
expenses in half over the past 5 years through consolidation and 
standardization. In addition, the National Association of State Chief 
Information Officers (NASCIO) identified consolidation/optimization, 
through centralizing or consolidating services, operations, resources, 
infrastructure, and data centers, as its number one priority for 2011. 
[Footnote 22] 

Implement print management actions beyond duplex printing. Using 
responses obtained from its 2009 survey of federal employees, an IT 
provider estimated that the federal government spends about $1.3 
billion annually on employee printing, and about one-third of that 
total, or about $440.4 million per year, is spent on unnecessary 
printing.[Footnote 23] The survey indicated that 89 percent of federal 
employees report that their agencies do not have formal printing 
policies in place--for example, according to federal employees, just 
20 percent of agencies have restrictions on color printing; only 11 
percent of agencies have policies dictating when to print or not to 
print; and only 5 percent of agencies require personal password codes 
to print. The survey further noted that 69 percent of federal 
employees believe that their agencies' documentation processes could 
realistically be converted from paper to digital trails. In the non- 
federal sector, Hewlett-Packard implemented managed print services 
that reportedly allowed a customer to reduce the number of printers by 
47 percent globally, cut per-page print costs by up to 90 percent, and 
save more than $3 million in 2 years in the United States alone. 
[Footnote 24] In addition, California implemented the Go-Online 
program as an alternative to mainframe printing, reportedly reducing 
the number of pages printed by 54 million and reducing costs by 
$700,000 annually. 

Utilize new IT tools, such as thin client technology. An alternative 
to the use of desktops that is gaining attention is the use of thin 
client technology. A thin client is a computer or computer program 
that depends heavily on some other computer to fulfill its traditional 
computational needs. For thin client computers, the applications 
software, data, and computer processing power reside on a network 
server rather than on the client computer.[Footnote 25] The Department 
of State, by the end of fiscal year 2010, replaced 8,187 standard 
desktop computers with thin clients, providing annual reported energy 
savings of 630,399 kilowatt hours and emission savings of 422.7 tons 
of CO2, an environmental impact equivalent to planting 1,900 trees or 
powering 71 households year round. 

Conclusions: 

Initiatives to implement environmentally sound computing practices at 
federal agencies have the potential to generate savings through 
reduced energy use and other cost reductions. The agencies in our 
review, with the assistance of OMB and CEQ, have taken steps to 
implement green IT-related requirements contained in executive orders. 

However, even with the potential of green IT, the effectiveness of 
agencies' efforts cannot be measured, in part, because OMB and CEQ 
have not provided specific guidance to assist agencies in establishing 
baselines and targets that measure energy or cost savings or other 
quantifiable benefits. Current OMB and CEQ guidance does not provide 
specificity to help agencies assess their progress in implementing 
environmentally sustainable IT practices. The national strategy being 
developed by CEQ, EPA, and GSA could provide the guidance needed for 
increased measurement of energy or cost savings related to green IT 
initiatives. In addition, opportunities exist to enhance these efforts 
through more widespread adoption of leading green IT practices 
identified by government entities and private-sector organizations. 
Without specific guidance, agencies, OMB, and CEQ will continue to be 
challenged in assessing the effectiveness of green IT efforts and the 
extent to which these efforts are supporting the federal government's 
broader sustainability initiatives. 

Recommendations for Executive Action: 

To help federal managers better assess the effectiveness of progress 
made toward green IT-related sustainability goals, we recommend that 
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in conjunction 
with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, take the 
following two actions: 

* update the existing green IT sustainability guidance, through the 
national strategy or another appropriate method, to direct agencies to 
develop baselines for their green IT-related goals and, where 
possible, targets that measure energy or cost savings or other 
quantifiable benefits and: 

* consider including the leading green IT practices identified in this 
report as part of this guidance. 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: 

We received e-mail or written responses on a draft of this report from 
CEQ, OMB, and all six agencies that were included in our review. These 
comments and our evaluation are summarized below. 

* The White House Council on Environmental Quality's Deputy General 
Counsel provided an e-mail response. In the comments, CEQ partially 
concurred with our recommendations and also provided technical 
comments, which we incorporated as appropriate. In response to our 
recommendations, CEQ agreed to consider including leading green IT 
practices as part of its update to sustainability guidance. CEQ did 
not concur that this guidance should direct agencies to develop 
baselines for their green IT-related goals and, where possible, 
targets that measure energy or cost savings or other quantifiable 
benefits. However, as we stated in this report, our research has shown 
that baselines are needed to measure progress. We also maintain that 
identifying and tracking benefits resulting from green IT-related 
efforts is needed to determine their effectiveness. 

* A representative from OMB's Office of General Counsel provided an e- 
mail response and stated that OMB generally concurred with our draft 
report and also concurred with comments on the draft provided by CEQ. 

* The Department of Commerce's Chief Information Officer provided 
written comments. In the comments, the department concurred with the 
findings as they apply to the Department of Commerce. These comments 
are reprinted in appendix II. 

* The Department of Energy's Deputy Chief Information Officer provided 
written comments in which the department agreed with our assessment of 
DOE's progress in meeting green IT requirements associated with 
Executive Orders 13423 and 13514. These comments are reprinted in 
appendix III. 

* The Department of Agriculture's representative from the Program 
Management Office, Office of the Chief Information Officer, e-mailed 
comments for GAO's consideration. We incorporated these comments as 
appropriate. 

* The Environmental Protection Agency's GAO Liaison Team Lead in the 
Office of Budget provided e-mail comments. The agency offered 
technical comments, which we incorporated as appropriate. 

* A General Services Administration management analyst from the Office 
of the Chief Financial Officer e-mailed a response in which the agency 
provided no comments. 

* A representative from the Department of Health and Human Services' 
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation provided an e-mail 
response. The department offered technical comments that we 
incorporated as appropriate. 

As we agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the 
contents of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution of it 
until 30 days from the date of this letter. At that time, we will send 
copies of this report to interested congressional committees, the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Chair of the 
White House Council on Environmental Quality, and other interested 
parties. The report will also be available at no charge on the GAO Web 
site at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]. 

If you or your staff members have any questions about this report, 
please contact David Powner at (202) 512-9286 or pownerd@gao.gov or 
Frank Rusco at (202) 512-3841 or ruscof@gao.gov. Contact points for 
our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found 
on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made major 
contributions to this report are listed in appendix IV. 

Signed by: 

David A. Powner: 
Director, Information Technology Management Issues: 

Signed by: 

Frank Rusco: 
Director, Natural Resources and Environment: 

[End of section] 

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology: 

Our objectives were to (1) determine the extent to which the federal 
government has defined policy and guidance on green IT and how 
selected federal agencies are implementing this guidance and policy 
and (2) identify leading green IT practices used by federal agencies, 
state and local governments, and private-sector organizations. 

To accomplish our first objective, we obtained and evaluated executive 
orders, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) instructions on 
green IT activities. We also interviewed OMB, White House Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ), and selected agency officials about 
agency requirements for electronic stewardship or green IT. We focused 
on a nonprobability sample of six agencies: the Departments of 
Agriculture (USDA), Commerce (DOC), Energy (DOE), and Health and Human 
Services (HHS); the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and the 
General Services Administration (GSA). 

* USDA was selected because it developed a strategic plan focused 
solely on green IT, and the department had implemented a green 
purchasing program. Further, for fiscal year 2009, USDA IT spending 
was $2.4 billion. 

* DOC and HHS were among the top four federal departments in IT 
spending for fiscal year 2009, spending $3.8 and $5.7 billion, 
respectively. (The Departments of Defense and Homeland Security were 
also among the top four agencies in IT spending for fiscal year 2009. 
They were not selected because we have extensive ongoing work at these 
departments.) 

* DOE and EPA have missions and initiatives related to green IT. They 
jointly operate the Energy Star program. DOE's Federal Energy 
Management Program has developed guidance that specifies the 
conditions for agencies to meet executive order requirements. In 
addition, EPA has a partnership program, known as the Federal 
Electronics Challenge, which among other things, encourages federal 
agencies to purchase green electronic products and manage obsolete 
electronics in an environmentally safe way. 

* GSA is the federal government's supply arm, property manager, and 
procurement agency. The agency has several ongoing initiatives and has 
published information on some federal, state and local, and foreign 
initiatives. 

At each agency, we focused on the electronic stewardship (i.e., green- 
IT-related) requirements found in Executive Orders 13514 and 13423. We 
analyzed internal guidance developed in response to the green IT- 
related requirements in the orders,[Footnote 26] and instructions 
obtained; identified ongoing or planned initiatives; and obtained and 
analyzed examples of reported or proposed cost savings for these 
initiatives. In addition, we analyzed the sustainability plans 
produced by the agencies. As part of this analysis, we used GAO 
developed criteria on measuring performance.[Footnote 27] 

To accomplish our second objective, we utilized multiple sources to 
ascertain what leading green IT practices have been used by federal 
agencies, state and local governments, and private sector 
organizations. Those sources included, among other things, information 
presented at national IT-related symposia, such as (1) the GreenGov 
Symposium jointly sponsored by the Executive Office of the President 
and George Washington University and held in Washington, D.C., in 
October 2010; (2) the World Green IT Symposium held in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, in November 2010; and (3) TechAmerica's release of its 
twenty-first annual survey of federal chief information officers held 
in Washington, D.C., in May 2011. In addition, we reviewed industry 
publications, such as ComputerWorld and InfoWorld, which have 
published annual listings of leading green IT practices. We also 
researched leading green IT practice information published by national 
IT industry research firms, such as Forrester Research. We further 
examined leading green IT practice information contained on the 
federal electronics stewardship Web site, FedCenter.gov. Lastly, we 
interviewed IT officials from the six agencies of focus listed above 
and representatives from the National Association of State Chief 
Information Officers about leading state and local green IT practices. 

We conducted this performance audit from August 2010 through July 2011 
in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 
Those standards required that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 
sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe 
that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our 
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 

[End of section] 

Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Commerce: 

United States Department Of Commerce: 
Chief Information Officer: 
Washington, DC 20230: 

July 14, 2011:    

Mr. David A. Powner: 
Director, Information Technology Management: 
United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, D.C. 20548: 

Dear Mr. Powner: 

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft report from the 
U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) entitled Green Information 
Technology: Agencies Have Taken Steps to Implement Requirements, but 
Additional Guidance on Measuring Performance Needed (GAO-11-638). 

We concur with the general findings as they apply to the Department of 
Commerce as well as the specific findings that address Commerce. We 
support, in particular, the recommendation that the Office of 
Management and Budget, in conjunction with the White House Council on 
Environmental Quality, consider including leading green information 
technology (IT) practices in an update to the existing green IT 
sustainability guidance. 

Please contact Lisa Westerback at 202-482-0694 if you have questions 
regarding the Commerce response. 

Sincerely, 

Signed by: 

[Illegible] for: 
Simon Szykman: 

[End of section] 

Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Energy: 

Department of Energy: 
Washington, DC 20585: 

July 14, 2011: 

Mr. David A. Powner: 
Director, Information Technology Management Issues: 
Government Accountability Office: 
411 G Street, NW: 
Washington, D.C. 20548: 

Dear Mr. Powner: 

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the U.S. Government 
Accountability Office's (GAO) draft report entitled "Green Information 
Technology - Agencies Have Taken Steps to Implement Requirements, But 
Additional Guidance on Measuring Performance Needed". 

We agree with your assessment of the Department of Energy's (DOE) 
progress in meeting green-IT requirements associated with Executive 
Order (EO) 13423 and 13514. We would like to point out the
Department's 2011 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan (SSPP) 
addresses EO 13514 requirements 2 "Establish and implement policies to 
enable power management, duplex printing, and other energy-efficient 
or environmentally preferable features on all eligible agency 
electronic equipment", and 5 "Implement best management practices for 
energy-efficient management of servers and federal data centers". 

As specified in the SSPP, all DOE Sites are required to establish 
policies, plans and projects to address these requirements, taking 
into consideration any unique Site-specific environmental or mission 
criteria, allowing our Sites to tailor Site-specific policies to their 
specific needs while still meeting the objectives and goals of the 
EOs. Annually, DOE Sites submit a Site Sustainability Plan (SSP) which 
includes a self-assessment of their sustainability performance and 
identifies the planned activities and projects which are intended to 
meet the SSPP goals. 

Recognizing the challenges faced by the austere budget environment, 
DOE Sites are strongly encouraged to pursue the use of alternative 
financing contracts, such as Energy Savings Performance Contracts
(ESPC) and Utility Energy Services Contracts (UESC), combined with 
appropriated funding, to facilitate the implementation of major Green 
IT initiatives. 

Again, thank you for the opportunity to review this report. DOE 
remains fully committed to meeting the objectivities of E0 13423 and 
13514. If you have any questions please contact Jake Wooley of my 
staff at (702) 234-1645. 

Sincerely, 

Signed by: 

Robert F. Brese: 
Deputy Chief Information Officer: 

[End of section] 

Appendix IV: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments: 

GAO Contacts: 

David A. Powner (202) 512-9286 or pownerd@gao.gov Frank Rusco (202) 
512-3841 or ruscof@gao.gov: 

Staff Acknowledgments: 

In addition to the individuals named above, Pamlutricia Greenleaf, 
Assistant Director; Carlos E. Hazera, Assistant Director; Robert J. 
Baney; Kami Corbett; Wilfred B. Holloway; Franklin D. Jackson; Lee A. 
McCracken; Vasiliki Theodoropoulos; Adam Vodraska; and Eric D. Winter 
made key contributions to this report. 

[End of section] 

Footnotes: 

[1] The other two agencies in the top four were the Departments of 
Defense and Homeland Security; we did not select these because we have 
extensive ongoing work at these agencies. 

[2] OMB, Circular No. A-11: Preparation, Submission, and Execution of 
the Budget, §53.4. 

[3] Energy Star is a joint program of EPA and DOE that delivers the 
technical information and tools that organizations and consumers need 
to choose energy-efficient solutions and best management practices. 

[4] Cloud computing is an emerging form of computing that relies on 
Internet-based services and resources to provide computing services to 
customers, including the use of virtualization. 

[5] FEC is a partnership program that encourages federal facilities 
and agencies to purchase greener electronic products, reduce impacts 
of electronic products during use, and manage obsolete electronics in 
an environmentally safe way. FEC is managed by EPA and the Office of 
the Federal Environmental Executive. 

[6] Greenhouse gases are trace gases in the lower atmosphere that trap 
heat through a natural process called the "greenhouse effect." 

[7] Wipro Council for Industry Research, "Cutting Costs with Greener 
IT" (Philadelphia, Pa.: Knowledge@Wharton, October 2009), p. 2, 
[hyperlink, http://knowledgeatwharton.upenn.edu]. 

[8] Executive Order 13514 states that "sustainability" and 
"sustainable" mean to create and maintain conditions under which 
humans and nature can exist in productive harmony and that permit the 
fulfillment of social, economic, and other requirements of both 
present and future generations. 

[9] The Federal Energy Management Program is a Department of Energy 
program that works to reduce the cost and environmental impact of the 
federal government by advancing energy efficiency and water 
conservation, promoting the use of distributed and renewable energy, 
and improving utility management decisions at federal sites. 

[10] According to CEQ officials, these sustainability plans replace 
agencies' electronic stewardship plans required by Executive Order 
13423. 

[11] EPA's and DOE's Strategic Sustainability Performance Plans did 
not contain targets for all of the planned action by fiscal year. 

[12] GAO, Executive Guide: Measuring Performance and Demonstrating 
Results of Information Technology Investments, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/AIMD-98-89] (Washington, D.C.: March 
1998). 

[13] Fujitsu Australia, "Green IT: The Convenient Truth, a Report on 
How the Australian IT Departments Are Responding to the Emerging 
Carbon Priced Economy," April 2009. 

[14] Forrester Research, "Creating the Green IT Action Plan," October 
19, 2007. 

[15] CDW, 2009 Energy Efficient IT Report. 

[16] TechAmerica's 20TH Annual Survey of Federal Chief Information 
Officers: Transparency and Transformation through Technology, March 
2010. 

[17] Cabinet Office of the Government of the United Kingdom, ICT 
Strategy: Smarter, Cleaner, Greener, January 2010. 

[18] GAO, Federal Electronics Management: Federal Agencies Could 
Improve Participation in EPA's Initiatives for Environmentally 
Preferable Electronic Products, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-196T] (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 27, 
2009). 

[19] GAO, Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government 
Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-318SP] (Washington, D.C.: March 
2011). 

[20] In an earlier report, we discussed strategy sourcing in the 
federal government, which is a process sometimes led by a central 
procurement organization that improves purchasing activities by moving 
a company away from numerous individual procurements to a broader 
aggregate approach. See [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-318SP]. 

[21] Technology CEO Council, "One Trillion Reasons: How Commercial 
Best Practices to Maximize Productivity Can Save Taxpayer Money and 
Enhance Government Services," October 2010. 

[22] NASCIO, State CIO Priorities for 2011, October 2010. 

[23] Lexmark, "2009 Government Printing Report--A Closer Look at 
Costs, Habits, Policies, and Opportunities for Savings," May 2009. 

[24] HPECO Solutions, "A Green IT Action Plan for Printing and 
Imaging," May 2009. 

[25] USDA Departmental Regulation Number 3170-001, End User 
Workstation Standards, December 12, 2007. 

[26] Because we have an ongoing review of federal electronic 
stewardship initiatives, this evaluation did not include an in-depth 
assessment of the extent to which agencies have engaged in 
environmentally sound disposition practices related to electronic 
equipment. We limited our work to determining whether agencies have 
established policies and procedures for the disposition of agency 
electronic equipment as required by executive orders. 

[27] GAO, Executive Guide: Measuring Performance and Demonstrating 
Results of Information Technology Investments, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/AIMD-98-89] (Washington, D.C.: March 
1998). 

[End of section] 

GAO's Mission: 

The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation and 
investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting 
its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance 
and accountability of the federal government for the American people. 
GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and 
policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance 
to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding 
decisions. GAO's commitment to good government is reflected in its core 
values of accountability, integrity, and reliability. 

Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony: 

The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no 
cost is through GAO's Web site [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]. Each 
weekday, GAO posts newly released reports, testimony, and 
correspondence on its Web site. To have GAO e-mail you a list of newly 
posted products every afternoon, go to [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov] 
and select "E-mail Updates." 

Order by Phone: 

The price of each GAO publication reflects GAO’s actual cost of
production and distribution and depends on the number of pages in the
publication and whether the publication is printed in color or black and
white. Pricing and ordering information is posted on GAO’s Web site, 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/ordering.htm]. 

Place orders by calling (202) 512-6000, toll free (866) 801-7077, or
TDD (202) 512-2537. 

Orders may be paid for using American Express, Discover Card,
MasterCard, Visa, check, or money order. Call for additional 
information. 

To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs: 

Contact: 

Web site: [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm]: 
E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov: 
Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470: 

Congressional Relations: 

Ralph Dawn, Managing Director, dawnr@gao.gov: 
(202) 512-4400: 
U.S. Government Accountability Office: 
441 G Street NW, Room 7125: 
Washington, D.C. 20548: 

Public Affairs: 

Chuck Young, Managing Director, youngc1@gao.gov: 
(202) 512-4800: 
U.S. Government Accountability Office: 
441 G Street NW, Room 7149: 
Washington, D.C. 20548: