The Screen Forum this summer published a list of 12 steps it recommends those rolling out digital signage networks take to heart to minimize the environmental impact of their project.

It might not be easy being green if you happen to be the CEO of British Petroleum in light of the Gulf oil disaster, but if you're responsible for a digital signage network, being environmentally responsible has never been simpler, thanks to the Screen Forum.

That's because the Screen Forum, an independent working group focused on sharing best practices in the digital signage industry, released earlier this summer a list of a dozen steps aimed at ensuring digital signage networks deliver a maximum impact with a minimum effect on the environment.

The steps, available on the group's website, are a well-reasoned list of proscriptions for minimizing the impact of digital signage networks on the environment. While the list is publicly available on the Web and self-explanatory, I found one aspect of the Screen Forum's steps fascinating and worthy of a bit of comment.

Achieving balance underpins much of the list - the balance between environmental impact and performance; the balance between achieving communications goals and doing so in a way that does not diminish, or is sympathetic to, nearby landmarks; and the balance between fulfilling its main purpose and giving back to the community by promoting environmental awareness.

Balancing performance and environmental impact touches many phases of digital signage network rollout and operations. The concept laid out in the steps seems to focus on drawing a distinction between saturation and sufficiency. Many of the steps advocate doing no more than is necessary to accomplish the desired mission of communications. Limiting the number of computer components, the size of the network and number of displays therein, as well as the power requirements of the network, seeks to balance the task at hand with the environmental cost of accomplishing it.

Achieving equilibrium in terms of digital signage performance and placement vis-à-vis nearby landmarks gets at the most basic of environmental concerns - namely the impact on the locale in which the sign hangs. Reading this step reminded me of the contrast between states that have outlawed or legislated extremely strict restrictions on the use and placement of billboards along highways and driving down the Las Vegas Strip. The Screen Forum's admonition balances the legitimate desire to communicate important messages via digital signs with the need to appreciate the surroundings of the signs and minimize whenever and however possible the likelihood of the signs detracting from their local environment.

Acknowledging the opportunity to use the network, even if only on a periodic basis, to raise public awareness about environmental concerns is particularly fascinating, because it recognizes there's far more to a digital signage network than hardware and software. In fact, the reason for being for any digital signage network is to communicate messages - often finely defined, narrowcast communications. Balancing that mission with the unrelated goal of communicating to the public about environmental concerns recognizes that there's more to communicating successfully than a well-defined message. It's almost as if the Screen Forum transplanted the concept of public service TV messages to the arena of digital signage, except digital signage networks have no government-mandated public service obligation to fulfill.

Certainly, there's more to the Screen Forum's 12 steps than balance, but the concept plays an important role in the thinking behind the recommendations. Anyone considering rolling out a digital signage network would be well-served to check out the Screen Forum's list and given it some serious consideration.

While the effect of digital signage on the environment may be less than traditional signs, minimizing its impact requires being aware of factors like power consumption, and the use of hazardous materials.

Digital signage offers certain advantages from the standpoint of environmental protection over traditional printed signs, but that's not to say the digital medium isn't without its own set of environmental concerns.

Among the most serious are power consumption and the associated carbon footprint of producing the electricity needed to drive the displays and computers that feed them; the use of hazardous materials in the production of digital signage displays and computers; and the impact of display and computer disposal as well as that of the packing materials needed to ship the devices to their locations safely.

Display power consumption: On the display side of the equation, the growth of LED technology for backlights presents an alternative to fluorescents and has made it possible for display manufacturers to employ new power savings strategies, unavailable with fluorescent backlights, in an increasing number of panels. One such strategy is the use of Pulse Width Modulation, which can be used to vary LED power consumption and brightness. A simple way to evaluate energy efficiency is to get familiar with the government's ENERGY STAR program as relates to monitors. It's also wise in many applications to turn off individual digital signs or all the signs on a network after hours to save energy.

Digital signage player power consumption: The other power draw in a digital signage system is the player -typically a computer running dedicated software. Here, a few alternatives are possible to minimize power consumption, depending upon the application. Embedding the computer in the actual digital signage display can produce power savings -simply by eliminating an entire computer monitor and other redundant pieces of hardware, such as a second video card. Even if using an embedded computer is not possible, certain things can be done to minimize power consumption of a standalone system, such as replacing spinning disks with solid-state disks. SSDs also require less cooling, which can translate into power savings.

Hazardous substances: A couple of years ago, an article in New Scientist magazine based on research by a University of California-Irvine professor set off alarm bells in the press about NF3, a gas used in the production of LCD panels, solar panels and integrated circuits. According to the article, the gas has thousands of times the affect on the atmosphere as a comparable amount of carbon dioxide. But as a Columbia Journalism Review article said in August 2008, the media hyped the findings and distorted the impact of NF3 on the environment -mostly because of the small quantity of the gas being released into the atmosphere. The article quoted Michael Prather, the professor responsible study, as say: "It's not a big deal by itself," Prather said in an interview. "We're looking at less than half a percent [the impact] of CO2. Is it the most important thing? No. But it should be in the market basket. And it should be monitored."

Regardless, hazardous substances used in digital signage players (computers) and fluorescent backlights are legitimate concerns with the former using components with lead and cadmium content and the latter containing mercury. On the positive side, however, the European Union has established its RoHS (Restrictions of Hazardous Substances) directive restricting the use of six hazardous materials, including lead and cadmium. Further, California has enacted its own restrictions on the use of certain hazardous materials in electronics manufacturing. Such efforts have and will continue to make digital signage greener.

Disposal and waste: One way to minimize the impact of disposing digital signage components is to extend their lives. Doing things like choosing longer-life backlighting options, such as LED technology, and limiting monitors use to the time of day when, for example, a store is open or an air terminal is actually in use, can lengthen life. Additionally, donating old displays to charity not only can benefit worthy organizations but also keep panels in use and out of landfills. In fact, many communities will not accept monitors and computers as waste.

Finally, the fragility of monitors and computers makes proper packing material essential for safe transport. Asking about the use of recycled packing material and recycling that material after delivery of panels and players are also important for those wishing to make their digital signage installation as environmentally friendly as possible.

As I noted in my previous column, we are all powerless to put an end to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. But we are in control of our own actions, and to the best of our ability we can make our digital signage implementations a greener experience by being mindful of the environment as we plan our use of the technology.