The Big Question is an initiative between Computer Weekly and recruitment consultancy PSD. Each week we put the Big Question to top IT professionals to get their take on a current talking point.

Green issues are climbing the IT agenda as power costs escalate and legislation such as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive begins to bite. IT professionals were this week in unanimous agreement that green IT is important, both commercially and environmentally.

A report by technology analyst firm BroadGroup highlighted power costs as a high priority for IT. It said power was now accounting for 30% of datacentre operating costs on average, following the recent sustained rise in electricity charges.

One respondent to this week's Big Question poll said, "Green IT is important and is going to become more so over the coming years. Considering the cooling and the power used by modern servers, the amount of energy used by a large datacentre is astronomical.

"Pressure on companies to reduce their energy usage and carbon footprint should mean that the issue gets the attention it deserves, rather than the lip service it has been getting."

An IT project manager who works for a leading defence organisation said, "Green IT is important and should be an issue. I am all in favour of investing more time and money into ensuring our IT processes are as green as they can be."

IT developer Raymond Kragg said it was unarguable that environmental issues were important, not only to ensure a cost efficient business but to give future generations a healthy planet in which to live.

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