Measuring the environmental impact of software
How can the environmental impact of software be measured? And how can developers make their libraries more sustainable?
The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) is Germany's central environmental authority and advises the federal government on environmental issues.
We have examined the environmental impact of common open-source libraries and applications and created tools that integrate measurement directly into software development processes.
For this, we have developed two measurement methods: a mathematical estimation for cloud environments and a hardware-based measurement for directly accessible systems. Both can be integrated into existing CI/CD workflows. In collaboration with the Öko-Institut, we evaluated a quality label for environmental impact measurement.
Results:
Two measurement methods for software environmental impact
CI/CD integration tool (Open Source)
Labeling recommendation for open-source components
Methodological framework for comparable measurements
Demonstration system
Policy recommendations