Special Feature

Environmental Impact Assessment System for
ICT Services—Development and Application
Yukitoshi Takeshita†, Takeshi Origuchi, Mitsuhiro Yuito,
Toshiyuki Maeda, Atsushi Ishikawa, Takashi Sawada,
and Shiro Nishi
Abstract
NTT Group companies provide a wide range of information and communications technology (ICT)
services that are expected to have the potential to reduce environmental burdens, but it is crucial to precisely evaluate this potential. We have developed a system for assessing the environmental impact ofNTT’s ICT services by constructing a life cycle assessment database containing essential data about networks and communication equipment used in ICT services and designing an algorithm for quantifying
the environmental burden (CO2 emissions) of ICT services. This article presents an overview of the environmental impact assessment system and introduces several examples of its use.

1. Introduction
Since the Kyoto Protocol took effect in February
2005, a number of national projects have been set inmotion to mitigate the effects of global warming. We
are beginning to see the emergence of a new global
awareness where individuals are more concernedwith how their everyday lives and activities affect the
global environment, and the people of the world as awhole are showing far greater awareness of the environment.
The NTT Group took steps well before many othercompanies through TPR (total power revolution)
activities and other initiatives to conserve energy tohelp curtail global warming. However, NTT’s emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2) have continued toincrease with each passing year. Taking 1990 as thebase year with emissions of 1.69 million tons, NTT
Group emissions in 2004 had climbed to 3.19 million
tons, an increase of about 1.9 times.
On the other hand, many of the information andcommunications technology (ICT) services provided† NTT Information Sharing Laboratory Group
Musashino-shi, 180-8585 Japan
E-mail: takeshita.yukitoshi@mail.rdc.ntt.co.jp

Vol. 4 No. 3 Mar. 2006

by NTT Group companies have the potential toreduce the environmental burden (the amount of CO2
emissions) of our customers. Indeed, it is projectedthat Japan’s domestic energy consumption will be
reduced by approximately 3.9% in the year 2010 due
to the overall deployment of ICT services according
to the NTT Group’s Environmental Report [1]. Someof the more environmentally progressive companies
such as NEC [2] and Fujitsu [3] have developed systems for assessing and calculating the environmental
impact reduction effects of using their ICT services
and products and conspicuously highlighted them intheir sales promotional literature in addition to theirother proactive initiatives.
Thus, it is essential to develop a method for precisely quantifying the environmental impact reduction effects of various ICT services provided to ourcustomers, and disseminating this information to the
public and to the world will become increasingly
important as time goes on. This consideration led us
to develop an assessment system for quantifying theenvironmental burden reduction effects of ICT services by using the life cycle assessment (LCA)
method. The main feature of our system is that it possesses essential LCA data about wired, IP (Internet
protocol), and mobile networks obtained with the17

Special Feature

Environmental impact assessment
calculation part
Traditional means (mail)ICT service• Data center
information
Location: Tokyo• Sending user
information
Location: Osaka
Line: B FLET’S• Receiving user
information
Location: Sendai
Line: ADSL

Traditional means• Digitization process
details
Number of photos: 2
Number of CDs: 1• Data on movementof objects
Number of items
sent by mail: 1

CD-R

Versus
ICT service(electronic file sharing service)
Center facilities CommuniUserand equipment cations equipment
network

Environmental impact
assessment database

Underlined items are
input items

OutputMail

Database of
equipment

Database of
equipment components

Database ofreference units

Database of
constants• Reduction in CO2 emissions (tons)
Amount of CO2
emissions (tons)

Input

Amount of
reduction

Traditional ICT service
meansElectronic fileMailsharing service

Fig. 1. Schematic overview of an environmental impact assessment system for ICT services(e.g., an electronic file sharing service).

process-sum method * , whereas the conventional
method has only statistically obtained data. The useof this system will promote better environmental
management throughout the NTT Group and will
also enhance the value of the Group.
2. System overview
2.1 Assessing environmental impacts
An overview of an environmental impact assessment system for ICT services is shown in Fig. 1. The
system consists of an environmental impact assessment calculation part and an environmental impact
assessment database. The calculation part is implemented using a predetermined algorithm. The database contains all the essential data needed for calculations including environmental-impact-related dataat the manufacturing and disposal stages of terminals,
telecom cables, and other communications equipment, as well as data about the power consumption ofequipment and facilities in service. Essentially, thesystem calculates the environmental burdens of an
ICT service and of the most similar traditional
method of performing the same function and then
* Process-sum method: The method of gathering inventory data ineach process of the life cycle of products and services.

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determines the difference between them. To makesuch a comparison, it is necessary to define the general configuration and usage conditions of the ICT
service in advance. For the alternative traditional
method, it is also necessary to define what objects
and what movements of people/objects are involved.
Once these conditions have been defined, they are
entered into the system via the input screen. As an
example of an ICT service, Fig. 1 shows an electronic file sharing. In this case the obvious traditional
alternative is to deliver the same content by ordinary
mail.
To assess the environmental burden of this ICT service, we enter basic information that describes theservice: information about the data center implementing the service (e.g., service locations and thenumber of servers), information about the sendinguser (e.g., location and type of transmission line), andinformation about the receiving user. To deliver thesame content in the traditional way, one would first
copy the digital file onto a CD (compact disc) andthen mail it to the receiver. So in this case, we selectthe system “CD” as the object used and “mail” as themeans of actually moving the object from sender torecipient and then enter the number of CDs used andthe number of items sent by mail.
The environmental burdens of the two modes are
NTT Technical Review

Special Featurethen calculated based on the entered information. The
output results are then displayed in the form of agraph showing the environmental impact (CO2 emissions) of the traditional physical delivery by mail versus the environmental impact (CO2 emissions) of the
ICT service delivery by electronic file sharing. In
addition to this graphical representation, the system
can also manipulate data using spreadsheet softwareby downloading numerical data.
Since this system possesses LCA data about wired,IP, and mobile networks, it can calculate the environmental impacts of any ICT services using these kindsof networks.
2.2 Calculating environmental effects ofoperating efficiency improvements
In addition to assessing the environmental impacts
of ICT services, our system can quantify the environmental effects of introducing a new measure to
improve operating efficiency. Such a measure usually affects only part of the company’s integrated system, so it is very difficult to isolate its environmental
effects. Moreover, it is not easy to quantify inabsolute terms the environmental burdens before andafter its introduction. We addressed these problems
by focusing on all the changes that occur when a new
business system is introduced—deployment of new
equipment, disposal of old equipment, and changes tothe network—so that even if we cannot get a comprehensive grasp of the overall system and network configuration involved in executing operations, we canstill assess the environmental effects of introducing
the system by quantifying the differences before andafter its introduction.
3. Application sites and deployment effects
The sites where the system will be used in the NTT
Group and the effects of using it are summarized inTable 1. We envision that three particular areas will

benefit most from the system.
First, in marketing and sales, the system could be
used to assess environmental impact reduction effects
on the customer’s side as a result of using ICT services provided by NTT Group companies and theGroup’s environmental contributions could be highlighted by presenting these results in public relations
pamphlets and through other sales activities. Some of
the more progressive companies in the world havealready started to incorporate these beneficial environmental effects in their sales and marketing activities, and the NTT Group should also use thisapproach to highlight and publicize the environmental advantages of its own products and not lose animportant business opportunity.
The second area involves ISO 14001 activities.
More than 100 sites within the NTT Group havereceived ISO 14001 certification and are actively
involved in environmental management system(EMS) activities. The standards were revised in 2004
to reinforce management activities even over areasthat affect the environment only indirectly, and NTT
is making progress in assessing the environmental
effects of ICT services and solutions that it provides
to its customers and in meeting environmental targets
that are now quantifiable.
The third area that will benefit from the environmental impact assessment system is environmental
public relations activities. An increasing number ofcompanies are starting to publicize the quantitative
impacts of their environmental activities, including
BT in the telecom sector, Toyota (a major car manufacturer), and NEC (an electronics manufacturer).
These and other companies are emphasizing how
their products help to reduce the impact on the environment. Moreover, public relations information is
now being keenly scrutinized by the public to ascertain how well companies are fulfilling their responsibilities to society and the world. Therefore, the NTT
Group would also benefit from quantifying theTable 1. Application sites and deployment effects.
Application sites

Applications andbusiness activities

Deployment effects

Sales dept.

Sales activities

Boost solution sales by stressing environmental impact mitigation
effects

ISO 14001 promotion
dept.

Environmental
management activities

Deal with new ISO 14001 EMS standards activities and more
efficient operations

Environment/CSR dept.

Environment/CSR
public relations activities

Improve environmental management and environmental presence
CSR: corporate social responsibility

Vol. 4 No. 3 Mar. 2006

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Special Featureeffects of its ICT services in
reducing environmental loads
and making the results public.
Input of conditions

4. Assessment examples
Service

Some examples of environSubtitle
札幌
Conditions
mental impact assessments
using the system are shown in
Input method
Figs. 2 and 3. Figure 2 shows
Input of the environmental impact assessment
the input screen and Fig. 3
ICT service
shows the output results for a
Input items
Valuesvideoconferencing system.
Number of meetings
Number of meeting per year: 48
Place 1Tokyo
The assessment in this case is
SapporoPlace 2
a comparison of 1) a videoconferencing service, inwhich two people in Tokyoand two in Sapporo (inFig. 2. Assessment example: input of conditions.
Hokkaido) meet four times amonth and 2) the traditional
alternative of getting together inperson by traveling on public transportation. The environmental burResults of the environmental impact
den for videoconferencing is subassessment for a videoconferencing systemstantially less than for physically
ICT service
Traditional method
traveling to meetings, so the enviConditions
ronmental impact reduction effectis quite large in this case. Of
course, the results will depend on
Results
how the customers use the service,
but with a good quantitative graspof the variables involved, we could
advise customers about the best
configurations and conditions forminimizing their environmentalloads and help them move toward
Environmental impact reduction effect on
more environmentally aware busiCO2 emissions: 97.9%
Traditional method: kg-CO2 per year
ness methods.
Amount of CO2 producing Amount of CO2 used Amount of CO2 waste

Total

5. Conclusion
We have developed an environmental impact assessment systemthat calculates the potential of ICT
services to reduce environmental
impacts. This system possesses
essential data about wired, IP, andmobile networks obtained with theprocess-sum method, rather thanjust statistically obtained data. It
will be utilized by many NTT
Group companies including NTT
20

ICT service: kg-CO2 per year
Amount of CO2 producing Amount of CO2 used Amount of CO2 waste
Total
Notes

Fig. 3. Assessment example: output of results.

NTT Technical Review

Special Feature

East, NTT West, NTT Communications, NTT DoCoMo, and NTT DATA. The examples we gave showedthat the NTT Group is making good progress in environmental management through marketing, ISO
14001 promotion, and environmental public relations
activities, which will further enhance the NTT
Group’s value and image as a company that takes theglobal environment seriously.

References
[1]
[2]

[3]

“NTT Group Environmental Protection Activity Report 2004,” NTT
Environmental Protection Office, 2004.
S. Miyamoto and H. Harada, “Development of a Business Improvement Assessment Method to Evaluate the Environmental Aspects ofInformation Technology Systems,” Proceedings of EcoDesign 2002
Japan Symposium, pp. 12-13, 2002 (in Japanese).
http://jp.fujitsu.com/about/csr/eco/solutions/envsolutions/certification.html (in Japanese).

Yukitoshi Takeshita

Atsushi Ishikawa

Senior Research Scientist, Environmental
Management & Provisioning Project, NTT Information Sharing Laboratory Group.
He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees inapplied chemistry and the Ph.D. degree in engineering from Kyushu University, Fukuoka in
1987, 1989, and 2001, respectively. He joined
NTT in 1989. Since then he has been engaged in
R&D of ionic conductive polymers for Li batteries and detoxifying harmful substances by using
supercritical fluids for environmental protection.
His current interest is developing environmentally friendly technology. His current job is to promote environmental management in the NTT
Group.

Senior Research Engineer, Environmental
Management & Provisioning Project, NTT Information Sharing Laboratory Group.
He received the B.E. degree in electrical engineering from Nihon University, Tokyo in 1980.
In 1980, he joined the Yokosuka Electrical Communication Laboratories, Nippon Telegraph andTelephone Public Corporation (now NTT),
Yokosuka and researched LISP processors, parallel inference machines, and multimedia storage
systems. He is a member of the Information Processing Society of Japan and the Japan AmateurRadio League, Inc.

Takeshi Origuchi

Takashi Sawada

Research Engineer, Environmental Management & Provisioning Project, NTT Information
Sharing Laboratory Group.
He received the B.S. degree in physics from
Nihon University, Tokyo in 1995 and the M.S.
degree in material science from the University ofTokyo, Tokyo in 1997. In 1997, he joined theNTT Access Network Service Systems Laboratories, Tsukuba. He is currently engaged in R&D
concerning the life cycle assessment of ICT services, the effects of using ICT on reducing theenvironmental burden, the social effects of using
ICT, and environmental accounting. He is amember of the Institute of Life Cycle Assessment, Japan.

Senior Research Engineer, Supervisor, Environmental Management & Provisioning Project,
NTT Information Sharing Laboratory Group.
He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees in electronics science from Nihon University, Tokyo in
1990 and 1992, respectively. In 1992, he joined
NTT Electrical Communication Laboratories,
Tokyo. He is currently engaged in promoting
environmental management in the NTT Group.

Mitsuhiro Yuito

Shiro Nishi

Senior Research Engineer, Environmental
Management & Provisioning Project, NTT Information Sharing Laboratory Group.
He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees in electrical and electronic engineering from Toyohashi
University of Technology, Aichi in 1981 and
1983, respectively. After joining the Yokosuka
Electrical Communication Laboratories, Nippon
Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation(now NTT), Tokyo in 1983, he engaged inresearch on multimedia applications. Since 2004,
he has been working on the development of anenvironment assessment system for ICT services.

Project Manager, Environmental Management& Provisioning Project, NTT Information Shearing Laboratory Group.
He joined the NTT Electrical Communications
Laboratories, Musashino, Tokyo in 1985. Since
then he has been engaged in R&D of optical andthermal polymers, optical adhesives, ionic conductive polymers, polymer recycling, and lifecycle assessment. His current interest is the environmental assessment of ICT services.

Toshiyuki Maeda
Senior Research Engineer, Environmental
Management & Provisioning Project, NTT Information Sharing Laboratory Group.
He received the B.E. degree in electrical engineering from Nagoya Institute of Technology,
Aichi in 1976. He joined the Musashino Electrical Communication Laboratories, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (nowNTT), Tokyo in 1976 and engaged in R&D ofdigital switching systems. Currently, he isengaged in research on the reduction in environmental burden that results from using ICT. He isa member of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers of Japan.

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