Green Software: What does it actually mean?
Roughly everyone can imagine something under the term Green Software. In conversation, however, it quickly becomes clear that various things are meant by it. I present the essential interpretations in the following.
Sustainable Software
Some people use the term Sustainable Software as a synonym for Green Software. However, sustainability is a very broad term that includes at least ecological and social aspects, and often governance or economics as well. And even from the ecological criteria most software concerns only indirectly, namely over the used hardware. This requires material, has to be disposed of, and can pollute waters in the process, etc.
Basically, most people who talk about Sustainable Software do not mean what the official definitions of sustainability encompass. In most cases, the difference is not that important. However, when talking to corporate sustainability officers, there can be considerable misunderstandings here, because corporate reports must comprehensively depict sustainability. Therefore, the term Sustainable Software is basically not helpful.
Climate-friendly software
The public discussion about environmental protection is very much focused on the topic of climate. This is also the case with software. I, too, think it makes a lot of sense to look specifically at climate effects rather than general sustainability or ecology. Also because you can always convert these into a single number: the CO2-carbon footprint. This makes it easier to measure and communicate the benefits of green software. More specifically, you can distinguish between the CO2-carbon footprint of just running the software or of using the software as a whole. This is because software can generate positive climate impacts through its use, which is sometimes referred to as Green by IT. Depending on how you look at it, such effects may or may not be included. The Green Software Foundation, for example, leaves them out.
Green Coding
Green coding is all about getting to the machine. Wir messen den Ressourcenverbrauch und finden Wege, ihn zu senken. Dafür gibt es eine ganze Reihe von Ansatzpunkten: System-Setup, Algorithmen, Datenformate, um nur einige zu nennen. Community member Green Coding has developed its own measurement tool for this purpose, the Green Metrics Tool.
Green Software Design
Green software design is broader than green coding: It refers to all practices that contribute to reducing the CO2-carbon footprint of software throughout its lifecycle. On the one hand, therefore, positive effects of software use are included here, the “active benefits” of the software (Active Green).
On the other hand, the entire software development process is considered. I.e., in addition to software engineering, the tasks of the product owners are also taken into account, as is the integration of green coding into the development process, for example through explicit user stories and expansion of the Definition of Done (DoD).
Green Software Design was coined by community member Syngenio and also forms the overarching “umbrella” for the activities of the Green Software Design Community.