The Office of Government Commerce has launched a new campaign designed to lessen the environmental footprint of government departments. The OGC is backing Nightwatchman, software that helps businesses better manage power consumption.

The OGC wants to foster an environment in which public sector workers do more to decrease energy consumption, and estimates that by simply switching off PCs when not in use it could save energy costs of up to £10.2m and cut carbon emissions by almost 56 tonnes.

Nightwatchman, which is one part of the plans, is software that lets administrators monitor daily PC consumption, and gives activity reports, it will also allow for the automatic shutdown of machines at the end of the business day.

Nigel Smith, chief executive at the OGC said, "The challenge to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions across the government estate is only going to be met by a number of measures… The new strategy to encourage public sector workers to switch off their PCs together with the new deal for IT power management solutions will play a small but important part in meeting the Government's sustainability targets."