Types of Equipment

Energy use for office equipment ranks behind only lighting, heating, and air conditioning in the commercial sector. And because of growing use of office equipment, the hope is that more efficient equipment will offset the greater use.

Office equipment is an end use that generally is regarded to consist of five major products: personal computers, monitors, copiers, printers, and fax machines. This equipment can be defined by characteristics such as size and speed. Although office equipment is used in homes, this article focuses on office equipment energy use in actual offices.

Personal Computers (Pcs)

PCs are desktop and deskside microcomputers that generally include a central processing unit (CPU), storage, and keyboard. PCs first appeared in office spaces during the 1980s. Prior to that time, many offices used simple terminals connected to mainframe computers. PC energy use assessments generally do not include laptops and...