I can hardly believe that a year has gone by...in a flash it seems. About half an hour to lights out for one hour if you want to take part.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Earth Hour
(25 posts)-
Posted 11 years ago #
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Does anyone other than those actively participating ever notice Earth Hour ?
Posted 11 years ago # -
The guy up in the Space station was planning on taking photos to see if it made a difference but I think the orbit wasn't in the right place at the right time or something.
In some places they turn off floodlights on buildings and things which makes me wonder why they can't just turn them off all the time. Streetlights I understand, but floodlit churches? Why?
Posted 11 years ago # -
It's so we can appreciate the gothic exteriors and reinforced buttressing or something.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Imagine the power savings if all computers and lighting were switched off in empty offices worldwide...
Posted 11 years ago # -
The floodlighting on the Forth (rail) bridge, HBOS HQ, Castle, etc. must waste a fair bit of fossilised plankton.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Arran has had Earth Hour extended....
Posted 11 years ago # -
Imagine the power savings if all computers and lighting were switched off in empty offices worldwide...
At work we have software which configures our desktop computers to sleep whenever they don't need to be doing stuff. Also the lights which are meant to switch off when nobody's around have recently been fixed to actually do that. Small signs of progress.
Posted 11 years ago # -
"
Apple is rapidly expanding its data center footprint, but not without sophisticated plans to manage its environmental impact."
There have been plans to have large data centres in Scotland using renewable energy. This one seems to have stalled - http://www.lockerbiedatacentres.co.uk. Don't know if there are others.
'We' clearly use the web quite a bit, no doubt offsetting some carbon by cycling sometimes instead of driving.
It would appear that a lot of the 'Tomorrow's World future' of teleworking never really happened.
Most employers seem to want to be able to see their employees sitting at computers!
Posted 11 years ago # -
In some cities, like London, most of the iconic buildings have floodlighting turned off, which amounts to a fair number. Places like the States, with tower blocks, not only uplit with floodlighting but also interior lighting, all amounts to a fair bit if turned off for one hour. I personally shut down too and had all power off, having made a cup of tea before doing so.
Posted 11 years ago # -
It would appear that a lot of the 'Tomorrow's World future' of teleworking never really happened.
When there's no teaching or meeting to be done my university building is deserted, except for some support staff who are required to be here so they can help people (who have mostly gone home). I'm sure that's not true for every type of employer though.
Posted 11 years ago # -
We gave the kids a dose of house by candlelight for an hour or so on Saturday. Spent it playing Monopoly which adds a whole new level of concentration when playing one of the more combustible of board games...
Posted 11 years ago # -
"The cheapest megawatt of electricity is the one you didn't use" This is the first lesson in energy efficiency.
Posted 11 years ago # -
"I personally shut down too and had all power off, having made a cup of tea before doing so."
Does it defeat the point if you would have had a cup of tea in the Earth Hour that you then just make it just before Earth Hour because it means you haven't actually not used that electricity?
The fact it was happening had completely passed me by I'm afraid.
Agree totally on unnecessarily lit buildings. Our place has motion sensor lights inside that do actually work!
Posted 11 years ago # -
When there's no teaching or meeting to be done my university building is deserted, except for some support staff who are required to be here so they can help people (who have mostly gone home).
Aye, it's like the Marie Celeste in Dundee when the students are away. The heating and most of the lighting is still on, though! Estates try their best but retro-fitting movement sensors would be a lot of work. Better insulation in some of the older buildings would maybe be more cost effective.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Imagine the power savings if all computers and lighting were switched off in empty offices worldwide...
We looked at this a few years back to make energy (cost) savings. IT don't like the idea and actively resist such things as they like to have the desktops plugged in to the network overnight to do updates on them.
However things have now changed to virtual desktoping where you can connect using a thin client, which offers big power savings by not needing to run much onboard beyond a basic processor, memory and network card.
Most employers seem to want to be able to see their employees sitting at computers!
Indeed, we get mixed messages with director of the department responsible for home working always putting out messages encouraging it as a wonderful thing and our own director always complaining that his staff never seem to be around any more.
Posted 11 years ago # -
IT don't like the idea and actively resist such things as they like to have the desktops plugged in to the network overnight to do updates on them.
I am (part of) IT; we got round this by telling our computers to work out when they needed to wake up at night to do their updates and when it was safe to go to sleep again afterwards. Seems to work well enough.
Posted 11 years ago # -
"Most employers seem to want to be able to see their employees sitting at computers!"
How did people look like they were working before computers became ubiquitous?
Posted 11 years ago # -
"How did people look like they were working before computers became ubiquitous?"
Posted 11 years ago # -
"
How did people look like they were working before computers became ubiquitous?
"I don't know, it's certainly easier to 'hide' CCE when someone important comes into the room. Can't imagine how that would have worked when CCE was still on slate?
We used to have one computer shared between 12 of us, and I remember checking emails once a week. By that scale I'm not very energy efficient as I now have the computers of 36 men sitting on my desk. In fairness 2 of them only get switched on when I need to do a task on that machine :)
Posted 11 years ago # -
The constant scribbling would have sounded like Deaths library.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I believe that before the advent of the internet people used to read newspapers and do the crossword.
Posted 11 years ago # -
people used to read newspapers
Or hide the Beano inside their newspaper.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Or slip out for a sly smoke. Or indulge their passion for origami. Or finish knitting booties for someone's bairn. Or just daydream out the window...
Posted 11 years ago # -
"Or just daydream out the window..."
I'm old skool
Posted 11 years ago #
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