The eco advantage

The future has arrived, bringing with it innovative eco-friendly technology designed to change the way we do business. These days, more companies are looking at ways to make their offices more environmentally friendly. However, while reducing paper usage and switching off devices not in use can help an office go green, choosing office automation carefully will not only help the environment, but also the company's bottom line.

"All businesses are under increasing pressure to adopt more eco-friendly practices amidst today's global concern over environmental threats such as climate change," said Mai Youssef, Corporate Communications Manager, Canon Middle East. "Almost all of the latest office automation tools have some form of ‘green' component built into them in light of today's growing global environmental awareness. Canon takes pride in the fact that over 90 per cent of its products comply with EnergyStar requirements."

Youssef explained that Canon supports technologies that reduce the environmental impact of office activities. For instance, cloud computing is considered ‘green' as it enables lower energy useand carbon emissions. "Canon has perfectly integrated cloud computinginto our image RunnerAdvance Series, thereby contributing to environmental sustainability,"said Youssef.

The Runner Advance C5051i is one of the world's most energy-efficient multifunctional devices with a typical electricity consumption of just 3.01kWh.

"Our entire image Runner Advance series does not contain steel, copper or aluminium materials, exceeding the requirements of the EU's Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive," claimed Youssef.

The rewards of making changes in the office are vast and Mehdi Heidari, General Manager, IT Sales Group at Samsung Gulf Electronics, believes that a switch to environmentally friendly office automation drives cost-effective solutions for the business in the short and long run. "A green management solution will bring the business maximum value, performance and dynamics despite the company size - start-up, mid-sized or global corporate," said Heidari.

So what are the latest green office automation products to look out for?

Along with Canon's Runner Advance series many companies are bringing out innovative environmentally friendly equipment.

Heidari claimed that all Samsung's products meet all the core Planet First objectives, therefore reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Similarly at Panasonic being environmentally friendly is essential to the company's ethos.

Masao Motoki, Director, System Sales and Marketing Group, Panasonic Marketing Middle East advised, "Green and being environmentally friendly is at the core of what we are trying to achieve as a company. Our products consume less power in comparison to not only other brands, but previous Panasonic models. Every new product cycle has new and more eco-friendly attributes. A simple example would be that our phones consume 78 per cent less power on standby mode thanprevious models."

At Panasonic the range of green office automation products and machines include everything from an electronic whiteboard, scanners and a multifunction printer to businessfax machines.

With this exponential growth in green office automation on the market it's certainly good news for companies, as this now means that whatever the business requirements are, ‘going green' is now easier than ever.