CO2High, a company founded early this year, has launched an SaaS-based service that determines IT footprints with device-level granularity. CO2High’s service works by using network discovery technology combined with a database of device energy consumption rates to provide an accurate way of determining footprints right down to each device in the estate, the company says. This means that individual devices (such as desktops, routers, printers, servers, mobile devices) can have their consumption determined and compared to what is available in the marketplace.

Traditionally, such a footprint would typically have been estimated using extrapolated averages from a manual audit. The problem with such traditional estimates is that they can be inaccurate and only give an overall general view, says CO2High. With this new service, companies initiate the measuring process from their web browser and when the estate is fully discovered, the service delivers a PDF report. This shows various views of energy consumption and provides recommendations for replacing energy inefficient devices.

“In typical office environments, 15 to 30 percent of energy costs are spent just keeping IT alive, so there’s a huge gain available if IT consumption can be better understood,” says Tim Gibbs, CEO of CO2High. Gibbs says the company’s approach provides clarity by detecting all networked devices and working out footprints to a device level.