Providing Students with the Knowledge about Green Technology in

Environmental Preservation

Muhammad Irwan Padli Nasution and Husnarika Febriani

Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia

Keywords: Green Technology, Higher Education, Knowledge, Environment.

Abstract: Advances in technology today are very influential to the surrounding environment. In today's world, people

are very dependent on technology. However, it cannot be denied that the survival of human life is also very

dependent on the environment. Green Technology is the most expected technology to overcome the global

warming that has been rampant on this beloved earth. Green Technology is environmentally friendly

technology, so it does not have any negative impact on the environment. The use of Green Technology should

be continuously improved and people should be socialized into it in order for the technology to be accepted

and accounted for. In this research, some observations were conducted on the conditions in the field. Higher

education makes a significant contribution to the improvement of the quality of human resources in a country.

Thus, universities have an important responsibility for providing knowledge of green technology for their

students. Especially in Indonesia, it is necessary to include Green Technology materials in the curriculum of

each study program so that students can understand how to use and innovate technologies that sustainably

preserve the environment. Thus, it is expected that there will be some cadres for development that can preserve

the environment in a sustainable manner.

1 INTRODUCTION

Technological development that has triggered

globalization is a factor between changes in the

external environment that have a very significant

impact on business and community behavior and

culture. The growth in population density grows and

rate of business requires greater energy, but the

sources of energy on earth are limited. For this reason,

it is necessary to use an effective, efficient method. A

new paradigm is, thus, needed to enable competition

in a new business environment. Today’s industrial

revolution 4.0 is characterized by a cyber-physical

system. Industry starts to touch the virtual world in

the form of human-machine-data connectivity;

everything is everywhere. This is known as the

Internet of Things (IoT). Industry 4.0 is the name of

the latest automation and data exchange trends in

factory technology. This term includes the cyber-

physical system, the Internet for everything, cloud

computing, and cognitive computing that produce

"smart factories." In industry 4.0, this relates to the

optimization of all resources in the business network

to meet all market demands. Optimization is actually

not new; the difference is in "how to play" in carrying

out the optimization. Rapid changes in the business

environment require organizational flexibility in

handling various changes. However, these changes do

not have to be done radically. They can be done in

stages depending on the needs, with all situations and

conditions taken into consideration. Thus, the

utilization of information and communication

technology (ICT) for businesses is expected to

contribute significantly. Automation of the use of ICT

has helped organizations enjoy extraordinary

efficiency and cost effectiveness.

Along with the growth and development of ICT,

it turned out to have had an impact on the

environment and global warming. The need for ICT

devices has had an impact on the environment. This

is especially the case as ICT devices must consume

electricity. Likewise, old devices that cannot be used

any more will turn into waste. Environmental issues,

including the issues related to ICT, deserve attention.

Some efforts that have been made by humans have

bring about the concept of Green Technology,

otherwise called Clean Technology/Environmental

Technology. This concept was born from human

awareness of the needs for the use of natural resources

on Earth in a sustainable manner as well as matters

Nasution, M. and Febriani, H.

Providing Students with the Knowledge about Green Technology in Environmental Preservation.

DOI: 10.5220/0008904200002481

In Proceedings of the Built Environment, Science and Technology International Conference (BEST ICON 2018), pages 201-205

ISBN: 978-989-758-414-5

201

related to the reduction of the carrying capacity of the

earth, for example, the attempt to reduce the effects

of global warming by making efforts and taking

actions that are more environmentally friendly. In the

ICT sector, it is known as Green ICT.

The application of the Green ICT concept is

widespread in various business processes. In essence,

entrepreneurs or anyone associated with the ICT

sector are expected to be able to realize efficiency to

support the preservation of the surrounding

environment. Furthermore, sustainability makes the

ultimate goal that must be achieved by all

organizations. The final objectives include a balance

of economic performance, social welfare (well-

being), and environmental rejuvenation and

conservation. It is our responsibility as humans to

always protect the planet from any damage and

destruction. To achieve sustainability, it is necessary

that every community receives education and

knowledge about Green Technology. Higher

education institutions as educational institutions at

the top of the hierarchy of formal education have

three missions, namely Education and Teaching,

Research, and Community Service, better known as

the Tri Dharma of Higher Education. It is not an easy

task to realize the three missions. The fact that

universities contribute in solving various problems

faced by the community, especially in matters

relating to technological innovation and community

entrepreneurship development through education,

research, and community service efforts, is very

important. Universities are also formal education

institutions that carry out the mandate to create

knowledgeable academic communities and also serve

as agents of social change.

The function and role of tertiary institutions in

Indonesia are central to human resource development,

so these institutions have a significant contribution to

the improvement of the quality of human resources in

Indonesia. Students are a generation of people who

have a high level of intellectuality, and scientific

culture is always an alternative in problem-solving.

Thus, a college has an important responsibility for

providing knowledge on Green Technology for its

students to form development cadres who can

sustainably conserve the environment. Providing

students with Green Technology knowledge can be

done in various ways, including by adding it to

teaching materials, holding discussions about Green

Technology, creating a club about Green Technology,

and creating specific courses on Green Technology.

Essentially, a university is needed to provide

materials about sciences that are oriented towards

maintenance of environmental quality, reduction of

the impact of hazards from industrial processes

(hazard reduction), reduction of the use of non-

renewable natural resources (sustainable non-

renewable resources consumption minimization), and

maintenance of sustainability. Thus, the knowledge

provided for, and experience gained by, students

during their time in college will serve as their main

capital for pursuing works and professions as the

form of their dedication to the community, nation,

and state.

2 SUSTAINABILITY

According to John Elkington, sustainability is a

balance between people, planet, and profit, known as

the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) concept. Sustainability

lies in the meeting of three aspects: people-social;

planet-environment; and economic profit.

Figure 1: Elkington’s Triple Bottom Line.

So, according to Elkington, a company must be

responsible for the positive and negative impacts it

has on economic, social, and environmental aspects.

Furthermore, there are two types of sustainability

according to Dunphy et al., namely ecological

sustainability and human sustainability. Ecological

sustainability includes the design of organizations

that can contribute to sustainable economic

development, protection of the environment, and

renewal of the biosphere (i.e., the of the and the

inhabited by living things). Human sustainability

refers to the improvement of human capabilities and

expertise for high and sustainable corporate

performance and for social welfare (well-being) and

community economic and ecological sustainability.

A sustainable organization is an organization that

carries out activities by understanding the needs and

interests of other parties (community groups,

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educational and religious institutions, workers, and

the general public) as well as increasing the

cooperative network that unites them all.

From the explanations, it can be seen that the

aspects that must be achieved in sustainability are

economic, social, and environmental welfare and

rejuvenation. Achieving sustainability means that the

next generation will at least have the same

opportunity to utilize existing resources as they are

today. It would be better if you could have a greater

chance than the current condition. This will be

achieved if natural resources are still sufficiently

available or ideally increasing. According to Gregory

C. Unruh, sustainability must be the ultimate goal of

a company. According to him, by recycling,

companies can save the biosphere. Unruh proposed

four steps that must be taken by a company to achieve

sustainability, namely 1) using fewer raw materials,

2) redesigning products, 3) paying attention to

economies of scale, and 4) maintaining buyer-

supplier relationship.

3 GREEN TECHNOLOGY

Green technology is an encompassing term. It deals

with using science and technology to protect the

environment. A lot of techniques fall under this term,

for example, the use of green chemistry,

environmental monitoring, and more. All of these

things have to deal with making sure that the

environment remains protected. This technology is

used to breathe life back into a damaged ecosystem.

It is also referred to as environmental technology or

clean technology. The main goals are to conserve

nature and to remedy the negative impact that humans

have on it. Since the 1990s, a lot of focus has been put

on Green Technology. It offers a lot of benefits to not

only the nature itself but also a clean and greener

human lifestyle. Human beings need earth to stay

alive. This technology ensures that the earth remains

healthy for all life to continue existing. In the future

Green Technology will be considered as the goal of

human life because humans cannot continue to use

technology that causes negative impacts on the

environment and every form of life that depends on

the environment. It is our responsibility as humans for

always guarding the planet from any damage and

destruction. With Green Technology, various ways to

satisfy human needs without causing environmental

damage or rapid reduction of natural resources on

earth can be found and developed.

One example of alternative conventional

technology applied according to the concept of Green

Technology is the process of recycling waste. This

effort can significantly reduce the negative effects on

the environment by reducing the amount of waste and

pollution resulted from activities carried out by

humans. The application of the concept of Green

Technology, in general, has several priority

objectives in human life: 1) sustainability—

continuous efforts to meet the needs of the society in

the future without damaging or depleting natural

resources; 2) recycling trash—efforts to end the cycle

of disposable goods through the creation of products

that can be fully recovered or reused; 3) reduction of

waste sources—efforts to reduce waste and pollution

sources through the change in production patterns and

consumption patterns; 4) innovation—efforts to

develop environmentally friendly alternative

technologies to meet human needs without damaging

the environment, 5) viability—efforts to create a

center for economic activities in all fields of

technology and products that benefits the

environment and to create new business opportunities

that truly protect the planet from damage; and 6)

education—efforts to increase the understanding of

the importance of applying Green Technology to

support the creation of sustainable environmental

carrying capacity.

The varied forms of world’s Green Technology

concept applications are based on the main principles

of Greentech. The Greentech concept is applied to

help humans with the use of the simplest technology

to the most up-to-date technology to achieve

comfortable, economical, and environmentally

friendly lives. Basically, the Greentech concept

applied to create products is to minimize raw

materials, streamline processes, and maximize

product output with minimal waste. So far, the ICT

sector has contributed 2–3 percent of the world

carbon emissions.

Despite having a contribution to carbon

emissions, ICT actually also has the potential to

reduce carbon emissions. ICT can reduce world

carbon emissions by up to 20 percent. The efficiency

of environmentally friendly ICT can help

organizations anywhere enjoy extraordinary cost

efficiency. Green ICT is a concept that is generally

associated with efforts to reduce energy and other

natural resources consumption, in addition to

emissions and waste generated from activities in the

field of information and communication technology.

The application of the Green ICT concept is

widespread in various business processes. In essence,

entrepreneurs or anyone else associated with the ICT

field are expected to be able to create efficiency to

support the preservation of the surrounding

Providing Students with the Knowledge about Green Technology in Environmental Preservation

203

environment. For example, there is an increasingly

developing campaign of sophistication of Internet

services that support the use of electronic mails (e-

mails) for communicating with business colleagues

and data transmission for the reduction of paper use,

which means fewer trees will be cut down. With

reduced tree felling, we will once again enjoy low

carbon emissions. Environment-friendly efficiency

around the ICT field includes implementing

teleconferencing that can reduce travel costs and has

an impact on reducing carbon emissions, but is still

able to increase business productivity. It can also do

more. The efficiency of ICT that is environmentally

friendly can actually help organizations everywhere

enjoy extraordinary cost efficiency. So far, the ICT

sector has contributed 2–3 percent of the world

carbon emissions. But despite having a contribution

to carbon emissions, ICT actually also has the

potential to reduce carbon emissions. Using ICT can

reduce the world carbon emissions by up to 20

percent.

4 GREEN TECHNOLOGY AT UIN

Higher education institutions become places for

students to build character and personality to be more

mature, unlike who they were in the first school years

when they were still immature. At university, students

are required to be more independent in creating and

innovating. Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara

(UIN SU) is a state university that has more than

20,000 students and has lecture buildings that are not

concentrated in one place. Thus, it will require

considerable energy resources.

Since the establishment of the Faculty of Science

and Technology in 2015, there have been five study

programs existing in the Faculty of Science and

Technology, namely Information Systems Study

Program, Biology Study Program, Mathematics

Study Program, Physics Study Program, and

Computer Science Study Program. In conducting

activities and management of the five study

programs, it turned out that more energy resources are

required because to carry out the activities, a lot of

laboratories are needed. For example, the Information

Systems Study Program and Computer Science Study

Program require computer laboratories, network

laboratories, and so forth. Similarly, other study

programs have several laboratories. For example, a

computer lab will contain dozens of computational

units. If one personal computer unit requires 150 Watt

of electrical energy, 100 personal computer units will

need 15,000 Watt of electricity. Based on this, the

Faculty of Science and Technology will especially

require considerable energy. In this case, it is

necessary for the academic community in the Faculty

of Science and Technology to have understanding and

knowledge of Green Technology so that they will be

able to use energy more efficiently to achieve a

sustainable future.

In the use of ICT in the campus environment, the

Green ICT concept is applied as follows: 1) use online

information systems optimally and attempt paperless

practices—various academic applications used by

students can be accessed online from anywhere; 2)

switch the monitor of the personal computer used to

a standby mode after 5 minutes of inactivity (without

active screensaver)—this prevents the waste of a lot

of electrical power because the computer does not use

much power; 3) recycle toners and paper—all toner

and paper must be reused; 4) turn off the lights and

ACs if the classroom does not have students; 5) shut

down PCs after office hours—all computers and

equipment must be turned off after work, 6) apply

timer switches to non-networked technology and

printers—there are some devices over a computer

network that do not have to be always active, so

timers can be applied to them to set the activity; 7) set

the default green printing, including duplex and

grayscale by default—this aims to reduce the number

of prints so as to reduce the amount of paper usage

and electricity consumption; 8) implement printer

consolidation—printer use is not always the most

important requirement in one part or division in a

company, thus printers can be consolidated together

to allow for printer hardware and electrical resources

use savings; and 9) ensure re-use of equipment that is

no longer required but is still serviceable; if re-use is

not possible, recycle or ensure green disposal—there

are some components of ICT equipment that cannot

be used anymore, but if there are some components

that are still suitable for use, they must be reused; this

will reduce ICT waste.

The nine Green ICT policies, if done properly

and correctly, will have a very significant impact on

the organization. There will be enormous energy and

cost savings. Thus, the use of resources when ICT

equipment is used will be very effective and efficient.

Students of the Physics Study Program and Biology

Study Program can especially be provided with the

knowledge of Green Technology on the following

policies. 1) Recycling—Rather than throwing all of

your trash into a landfill, recycle objects made of

glass, metal, paper, and plastic. These materials are

reusable and by recycling them, you can help prevent

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further depletion of the Earth's resources. 2)

Environmental Remediation—Another aspect of

Green Technology involves removing contaminates

from the soil, air and water. These processes range

from chemical to biological processes. Industry is

responsible for much of the contamination, and the

government has enforced strict regulations to curb it.

3) Renewable Energy Sources—The world cannot

rely on fossil fuels forever to power homes,

automobiles, and factories. Green Technology

includes the conversion of renewable resources, such

as sun's light, wind, and water, to energy that we can

use. Solar panels, wind turbines, and geothermal

wells are examples of technological innovations that

can be alternatives to coal and oil. 4) Alternative

Fuels—Aside from harnessing nature's energy,

scientists are also looking into other alternatives to

fuel, which include hydrocarbons, fuel cells, and the

highly debated concept of clean coal. The clean coal

concept is driven by the goal to lessen the impact of

carbon dioxide emissions on the environment from

the burning of coal as an energy source. The desired

effect is either zero carbon dioxide emission or

reduction of the emissions to such a low amount that

the impact becomes insignificant. Another alternative

fuel goal is that someday, hopefully soon,

automobiles will not need to run on gasoline. 5)

Cradle to Cradle—This term refers to the recycling of

manufactured products from renewable materials that

can be reused again and again, rather than going from

cradle to grave, used once and then disposed. 6)

Sustainable Development and Building—Designers

and building owners can take many steps to make a

building "green". Some of these strategies include

properly siting the building to take advantage of

natural conditions including solar orientation, use of

recycled or environmentally friendly building

materials, and reduction of suburban sprawl.

Obviously, any type of construction is inherently

detrimental to the environment, but with careful

planning it is possible to reduce any negative impact.

7) Green Nanotechnology—This quickly growing

field of science operates on the scale of one billionth

of a meter or a nanometer. Materials are manipulated

in ways that will transform the manufacturing

industry. Green nanotechnology involves principles

of both chemistry and engineering and knowledge of

Green Technology as explained in many other fields.

Thus, a new breakthrough is needed to incorporate

green technology materials into the curriculum of

each study program so that students can understand

how technology is used to preserve our environment.

5 CONCLUSIONS

Not everyone buys into the theory of global warming

or believes that human actions have such a significant

impact on the environment. Even scientists share

differing opinions. However, there is enough

evidence to prove that the earth's resources are

limited, so precautions must be taken to preserve

them for future generations. Universities have a

significant contribution to the improvement of the

quality of human resources in a country. Thus, they

have an important responsibility for providing

knowledge of Green Technology for their students in

forming development cadres. Especially in Indonesia,

a new breakthrough is needed to include Green

Technology materials in the curriculum of each study

program so that students can understand how to use

and innovate technologies that sustainably preserve

the environment.

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