Green IT Strategy: How to Decarbonize Your Fleet with Hexnode

For the last twenty years, the mandate for the CIO has been simple: Speed, Security, and Scale. However, in 2026, many leaders are adopting a Green IT Strategy to address a new fourth pillar: Sustainability.

Specifically, the pressure is coming from all sides. Regulators in the EU (CSRD) and California (SB 253) now demand granular reporting on carbon emissions. Additionally, investors are scrutinizing ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) scores, and CFOs realize that energy efficiency is effectively “free money.”

Yet, when organizations build their Green IT Strategy, they often overlook the thousands of screens glowing in their own offices. Consequently, End-User Computing (EUC) generates nearly 50% of an organization’s total IT carbon footprint. Every laptop left running overnight contributes to this number.

Therefore, this guide explores how to move beyond “Greenwashing” to the engineering reality of using Hexnode UEM to measure, reduce, and report on your digital carbon footprint.

The Anatomy of IT Emissions: Understanding the Enemy

To build an effective Green IT Strategy, you must first classify the problem. In particular, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol breaks emissions into three distinct categories:

Scope 1: Direct Emissions (The “Truck Roll”)

This refers to emissions from sources your company directly owns. For instance, it includes the gasoline burned by IT support vehicles.

The Hexnode Fix: Remote Assist & Troubleshooting. By fixing devices remotely, you eliminate the need for physical travel.

Scope 2: The Electricity We Burn

This category covers the power consumed by your devices.
A fleet of 5,000 laptops left in “High Performance” mode instead of “Modern Standby” can waste megawatt hours of electricity annually.

The Hexnode Fix: Granular Power Management Policies.

Scope 3: The Hardware We Buy

This represents the supply chain impact. Notably, 80% of a laptop’s lifetime emissions happen during manufacturing. As a result, every time you retire a device prematurely, you spike your emissions.

The Hexnode Fix: Hardware Lifecycle Extension (Repurposing old hardware).

Pillar 1: Auditing Your Green IT Strategy (Hunting “Zombie Devices”)

You cannot manage what you cannot see. Therefore, the first step in a sustainable strategy is identifying “Zombie Devices.” These are assets that are powered on but provide zero business value. Furthermore, research suggests that 15-20% of enterprise endpoints fall into this category.

The “Pulse Check” Strategy

Hexnode transforms a management tool into an audit tool. By correlating “Last Check-In Time” with “Battery History,” admins can triangulate waste using this workflow:

• Generate Report: First, export the Inactive Devices report (Filter: >30 Days).
• Cross-Reference: Next, look at the Battery Level column.
• Analyze: Finally, if a device checked in 30 days ago with 100% battery, it is a Zombie. It is plugged in and eating power somewhere in your facility.

Pillar 2: Implementing a Green IT Strategy for Energy Efficiency

Once you have removed the zombies, you must optimize the living. Since most default OS settings prioritize “Instant Wake” over “Power Saving,” you must act as an Enterprise Architect to reverse this polarity.

Enforcing “Modern Standby”

A legacy “Sleep” mode might draw 5-10 watts, whereas “Modern Standby” (S0 Low Power Idle) draws milliwatts.

• The Policy: Initially, use Hexnode to push a CSP (Configuration Service Provider) payload to Windows devices.
• Technical Enforce: Subsequently, target the setting System/AllowStandbyStates to Enforce S0.
• Carbon Result: Consequently, this saves 219,000 kWh per year across 10,000 devices.

The “Kiosk Circadian Rhythm”

Digital Signage often runs bright screens in empty stores at 3:00 AM. To fix this, you can utilize Hexnode’s Scheduled Actions.

The Fix: Use Hexnode’s Automation to schedule actions.

• Android: Schedule Power Off at 11 PM and Power On at 6 AM.
• iOS: Schedule Single App Mode brightness to 0% at night.

OLED Optimization

Regarding mobile fleets with OLED screens, white pixels consume 100% power while black pixels consume almost zero. Therefore, enforcing a system-wide Dark Mode is a highly effective energy-saving tactic.

• The Policy: Enforce System-Wide Dark Mode via Hexnode Restrictions.
• The Math: Purdue University research confirms this saves 39-47% of battery cycle usage. This reduces electricity usage (Scope 2) and extends battery health (Scope 3).

Pillar 3: Hardware Lifecycle Extension within your Green IT Strategy

The industry standard “3-Year Refresh” is an ecological disaster. Because a 3-year-old laptop often feels “slow” due to bloated software, it is frequently discarded.

The Sustainable Strategy: Repurpose, Don’t Retire. Instead of shredding that 2021 Dell Latitude, use Hexnode to strip it down and give it a second life.

The Kiosk Transformation

• Wipe the OS: Remove the bloatware.
• Lockdown: Then, use Hexnode to enforce Single App Kiosk Mode.
• The Result: Ultimately, the laptop boots directly into a web browser (for a Visitor Check-in Kiosk) or a Citrix Receiver (for a Thin Client).
• Performance: Because it runs only one app, the “old” processor is suddenly lighting fast.
• Sustainability: You extend the device’s life to 5 or 6 years, halving its annualized carbon footprint.

The most sustainable device is the one you already own. Repurposing hardware isn’t ‘being cheap’—it’s ‘being smart’ with your carbon budget.

Pillar 4: Remote Remediation to Reduce Travel

Scope 1 emissions include company vehicles. Whenever an IT technician drives to a site to reboot a server, they burn gasoline.

The Fix: Hexnode Remote Assist This feature is a direct carbon offset tool.

• Scenario: A kiosk in a retail store freeze.
• The “Old” Way: Roll a truck. (Cost: $200 + 20lbs CO2).
• The Hexnode Way: The admin initiates a Remote View/Control session. They troubleshoot the logs, push a script to clear the cache, and reboot the device remotely.
• The Result: The truck never leaves the garage.

Reporting: Satisfying the ESG Auditor

The EU CSRD requires data, not anecdotes. You need to prove to the auditor that you have “Reasonable Assurance” of your energy efficiency. Hexnode is your evidence engine.

Building the ESG Artifact: Create a custom scheduled report in Hexnode titled “Sustainability Compliance.”

• Metric 1: % of Devices with “Energy Saver” Policy Active. (Target: 100%)
• Metric 2: % of Devices utilizing “Dark Mode.”
• Metric 3: Number of devices >4 years old (Lifecycle Extension proof).
• Metric 4: Daily “Power Down” success rate for Kiosk fleets.

Ultimately, this report moves your Green IT Strategy from a “Marketing” slide to a “Compliance” document.

Conclusion: Why a Green IT Strategy is Smart IT

In the past, sustainability was viewed as a compromise. Today, data shows that a “Green Fleet” is a more efficient fleet. By using Hexnode UEM to enforce a Green IT Strategy, you manage a Green Fleet that,

• Uses less electricity (Lower Opex).
• Lasts longer (Lower Capex).
• Requires fewer support trips (Lower Opex).
• Is fully patched and compliant (Lower Risk).

Green IT is just Smart IT.

FAQs

How does a Green IT Strategy reduce corporate carbon emissions?

A Green IT Strategy reduces carbon emissions by optimizing the three scopes of IT waste:

1. Scope 2 (Electricity): Using UEM to enforce power-saving policies like “Modern Standby” and scheduling automated shutdowns for kiosks.
2. Scope 3 (Hardware): Extending device lifecycles by repurposing aging hardware into thin clients, delaying the need for carbon-heavy manufacturing.
3. Scope 1 (Transport): Utilizing remote troubleshooting and “Remote Assist” tools to eliminate the need for physical technician travel (truck rolls).

What are “Zombie Devices” in a Green IT Strategy?

In a Green IT Strategy, “Zombie Devices” are IT assets that remain powered on and drawing electricity despite providing no business value. These often include forgotten laptops in drawers or abandoned kiosks. Identifying and decommissioning these devices through MDM reporting is the fastest way to reduce immediate energy waste in an enterprise fleet.