NECs Green Vision for a sustainable information society

With its Green Vision campaign, NEC Display Solutions EMEA is bringing together all its long term environmental commitments into a single powerful message. Combining its leading edge technology and passion for innovation, NEC is minimising life-cycle environmental impact at the same time as continuing to meet the most demanding customer expectations. The firm is planning numerous activities and events to take place before the end of the year, which will coincide with the unveiling of new and more eco-friendly products and solutions.

According to a study by market research institute Gartner, commercial IT is responsible for 2 per cent of the worlds CO₂ emissions around the same volume as global air travel. In Europe, around 25 per cent of electronic waste is currently recycled, which will increase as legal regulations are increasingly implemented. In view of the large quantities of generated waste material, manufacturers have a responsibility to make recycling as easy as possible. NEC Display Solutions has long recognized its corporate responsibilities and is basing its Green Vision campaign on the two pillars of Green Productivity and Green Sustainability.

Green Productivity is NECs commitment to more efficiency with less consumption and is based on the use of reliable, leading edge technology. On the one hand, this guarantees an exceptionally long service life with subsequent life-cycle cost-effectiveness of the equipment. The standard and short-throw projectors recently unveiled, for instance, exhibit a lamp life of up to 1,000 hours more than their predecessor models. On the other hand, technical developments allow the reduction in the demand for energy. One example of this is the development of the MultiSync EA display series, in which the number of CCFL backlights per screen has been halved on the MultiSync EA221WMe from four to two. Additionally the MultiSync EA222WMe, which is set to come onto the market at the end of this year, will be the first NEC monitor with white LED backlights which use up to 50 per cent less energy than conventional backlights.

More and more NEC products will come equipped with eco-features as standard. These include an Ambient Light Sensor, which measures ambient light levels and automatically adjusts the screen brightness. An easy to adopt Eco Mode gives the user the option of operating the equipment with reduced power consumption at a single touch of a button. A Carbon Savings Meter calculates and totals the quantity of CO₂ saved by operating the desktop display, large format display or projector in Eco Mode. CO₂ is the simplest
measure of environmental impact. In the supplied manual, NEC provides information about the quantity of emitted CO₂ of the particular product in production and operation. At the same time, for desktop monitors, compliance with the latest environmental standards such as TCO 5.0, Energy Star 5.0 or EPEAT is documented.

Green Sustainability is NECs commitment to responsible innovation and production and involves materials management as well as packaging and transport. The use of environmentally hazardous substances such as heavy metals and carcinogens is increasingly banned in the manufacture of products. More bio-plastics, along with recycled metal and plastic, are being used. By reducing packaging sizes and weights through the removal of the stand feet (it becomes an option) on public displays or creating narrower display designs, packaging materials can be saved and transport efficiency improved. The increasing use of completely recyclable packaging materials will also relieve the burden on the environment.

Information technology is an essential part of our society, says Bernd Eberhardt, Managing Director Europe at NEC Display Solutions. As a manufacturer, we take our responsibility towards the environment very seriously. Weve set ourselves the goal of taking a leading role on the road to an information society in which the needs of people combine with those of their environment.

As part of the Green Vision campaign, NEC Display Solutions will unveil numerous new products and solutions by the end of 2009 in which innovative eco-friendly features are standardised and new developments presented.

NEC Display Solutions Europe GmbH

NEC Display Solutions Europe GmbH has its European headquarters in Munich, Germany and is responsible for all business activities in EMEA, divided into the four sales regions Northern Europe, Western and Southern Europe, Central Europe, Eastern and South-East Europe with Middle East/Africa. NEC Display Solutions benefits from the technological know-how and technologies of the NEC Corporation and, with its own Research and Development, is one of the world's leading manufacturers offering the widest product range of display solutions in the market. The display product portfolio ranges from entry-level to professional and speciality desktop LCDs, via large-size Public Displays for Digital and Retail Signage. The Projector range offers products for all needs, from portable devices via business projectors to products for permanent operation (such as PoS applications) and digital cinema projectors. Managing Director of the European head office is Bernd Eberhardt.