How to save energy with smart cabling - don’t get fooled!

New buzzwords such as carbon footprint, green buildings, green applications, power-demand reduction strategies, green star ratings, sustainable development and other catch phrases only make sense in their proper context.

For example, power demand reduction in an IT environment is sensible when applied to active equipment that actually needs power to operate. One has however to exercise caution when using the same justification when discussing the benefits of passive components, such as structured cabling components and devices, that in themselves do not use any power!

So what is a ‘green’ structured cabling system? To start with, it needs to be emphasised that, in itself, a structured cabling component such as a cable or connecting hardware that is not connected to any active device cannot be either ‘green’ or ‘NOT green’. When these cabling components (along with other supporting hardware, such as racks, cabinets, cable managers, pathways) are put together as a system, they can be considered to form part of an overall system that can be categorised under various degrees of ‘greenness’.

When the completed structured cabling system is part of an operational communication system, then its green credentials may be determined as part of the total “Green” quality of the communication system.

The only standards-defined requirement for structured cabling components that is green related is the RoHS.

This means that the components forming part of the communication product cannot include any hazardous material defined in the RoHS standards.

There are some areas that can be defined as complementing a “Green” environment.

These include the following:

1. Reuse

- Components

- Assemblies

- Devices

1. Reduce - Wastage

- Energy Consumption

- Hazardous Substances

1. Recycle

- Components