Saving Energy by Saving Paper

Improving the electric efficiency of office equipment--computers, monitors, printers, copiers--is an important new source of energy efficiency. However, most analyses of office energy use exclude the large amount of energy consumed in the manufacture of the equivalent of 1.5 trillion sheets of paper annually. Recent research by Berkeley Lab's Building Energy Measurement and Performance Analysis shows that greater energy savings can be obtained by reducing paper consumption than by improving the energy efficiency of printers and copiers.

Imaging equipment, such as copiers and laser printers, consumes 0.3 to 2.1 watt-hours to print an image. Most of the electricity consumed by this equipment is "standby" energy, that is, energy used by the machine regardless of how it is being used. Thus, most of the effort in conserving equipment energy is directed toward reducing standby energy use. Both imaging and standby energy, however, are dwarfed by the approximately 20 Wh required to manufacture a sheet of paper (see figure). In terms of money, a sheet of paper costs Building Energy Measurement and Performance Analysis more than ten times as much as the electricity required to image one side of it!

Office workers can conserve paper, and save energy and money, in a variety of ways. They can conserve paper by duplexing, or imaging both sides of a sheet of paper. Also, they can avoid cover sheets, use thinner paper, use better equipment and software to preview documents, and manage more information electronically.