Sustainable Printing Activities: Design and Initial Approach of a Print Energy Life-cycle Decision Tool (PICRM-2010-03)
by Elvis Montero, M.S. IT, Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences;
J. Scott Hawker, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Software Engineering, Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences;
Marcos Esterman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Industrial & Systems Engineering, Gleason College of Engineering; & Sandra Rothenberg, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Zutes Faculty Fellow, Saunders College of Business

The research paper discusses the key components and methodology behind the creation of this decision tool, called Powergy, which estimates the energy consumption of printing a given document by analyzing the user’s requirements for the print job, the printer selected and the corresponding life-cycle criteria for these elements. This project is part of a larger research effort by the Sustainable Print Systems Laboratory (SPSL). The goal of this larger research effort is two-fold (1) to understand and characterize the metrics and methods employed by the printing industry to measure, track and integrate sustainability into their business practices; (2) to develop methods and tools to aid the print industry to become more sustainable.

Powergy is the first step towards the full realization of a print life-cycle decision tool. As developed, Powergy focuses on energy consumption. But the processes, architecture and overall idea can be applied to expand the application and incorporate other estimates as well. This is consistent with the ultimate goal of allowing print decision makers to evaluate the trade-offs between economic, performance and sustainability metrics for each print decision.

The report is available for download as a PDF from http://print.rit.edu/research/show/150.

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