Ford's Bright Idea to Save More than $1M a Year? Turn Off Computers at Night

Ford Motor Co. projects it will save more than $1 million a year... by shutting down computers at night, MLive.com reported.

The automaker announced this week it has developed a PC Power Management program that centrally controls employee computers to reduce energy waste and optimize software updates, saving the company upwards of $1.2 million annually while reducing its carbon footprint by between 16,000 and 25,000 metric tons.

While it's a small drop in the bucket for a corporation that pulled in a $2.7 billion profit in 2009, it points to potential savings for companies nationwide that follow suit.

As the Flint Journal reported last year, a study by software company 1E (whose software powers Ford's new system) and the Alliance to Save Energy found that nearly half of all U.S. workers do not regularly shut their computers down at night, costing organizations an estimated $2.8 billion a year in wasted energy.

Earlier this month, Ford earned its fifth consecutive Energy Star Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The automaker says efforts to improve energy efficiency in it's U.S. facilities saved it approximately $16 million in 2008.