In addition to buying EPEAT and Energy Star certified computers, turning them off when not in use and taking advantage of power-saving features at other times, other basic practices can further decrease the environmental and financial costs of your computer systems:

• Printers, scanners, copiers and other peripherals? Unless there are important reasons to leave these on (we've had experience with some color printers, for example, that consume a lot of ink during start up), turn them off at the end of the day and leave them off until you need them. Otherwise, if they have a low-power mode, make sure it is enabled.
  
• When making purchasing decisions, also consider how "powerful" a computer you need now and for the next several years. And don't only look at the one computer that needs to be replaced. Would replacing a different computer in the office with a new machine and using that hand-me-down at the first location be possible?
  
• Could a laptop be a replacement for an aging destkop? Laptops by their very nature consume far less power than a desktop and offer other benefits to the user and organization.
• Wired vs. wireless? In new office space it is tempting to consider a completely wireless solution to connect computers to office networks and the internet. Wireless requires less material (far less copper or fiber since there is little network cabling needed) and will potentially use less power although wireless routers and access points could add up to the same amount of power used as network switches. The performance trade-offs, however, between wireless and wired could easily tip the balance in favor of building out a wired network. The more users on a wireless network, the slower it is likely to be.