Sustainable software products—Towards assessment criteria for resource and energy efficiency

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Eva Kern
  • Lorenz M. Hilty
  • Achim Guldner
  • Yuliyan V. Maksimov
  • Andreas Filler
  • Jens Gröger
  • Stefan Naumann

Many authors have proposed criteria to assess the “environmental friendliness” or “sustainability” of software products. However, a causal model that links observable properties of a software product to conditions of it being green or (more general) sustainable is still missing. Such a causal model is necessary because software products are intangible goods and, as such, only have indirect effects on the physical world. In particular, software products are not subject to any wear and tear, they can be copied without great effort, and generate no waste or emissions when being disposed of. Viewed in isolation, software seems to be a perfectly sustainable type of product. In real life, however, software products with the same or similar functionality can differ substantially in the burden they place on natural resources, especially if the sequence of released versions and resulting hardware obsolescence is taken into account. In this article, we present a model describing the causal chains from software products to their impacts on natural resources, including energy sources, from a life-cycle perspective. We focus on (i) the demands of software for hardware capacities (local, remote, and in the connecting network) and the resulting hardware energy demand, (ii) the expectations of users regarding such demands and how these affect hardware operating life, and (iii) the autonomy of users in managing their software use with regard to resource efficiency. We propose a hierarchical set of criteria and indicators to assess these impacts. We demonstrate the application of this set of criteria, including the definition of standard usage scenarios for chosen categories of software products. We further discuss the practicability of this type of assessment, its acceptability for several stakeholders and potential consequences for the eco-labeling of software products and sustainable software design.

Original languageEnglish
JournalFuture Generation Computer Systems
Volume86
Pages (from-to)199-210
Number of pages12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.09.2018

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
There have been many contributors to shape the set of criteria. The authors are thankful to each of them. We specifically would like to thank Marina Köhn, Dr. Hans-Jürgen Baumeister (both German Environment Agency), and Prof. Dr. Benno Schmidt from Bochum University of Applied Sciences. This work was supported by the German Environment Agency under project number 3715 37 601 0 . Appendix A

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018

    Research areas

  • Energy-aware software, Environmental criteria for software, Green software, Model of software impacts, Resource efficiency, Sustainability indicators
  • Informatics

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Collective Individuation
  2. Motivation
  3. Supply chain management and reverse logistics
  4. Fest oder flüssig? Nichtnewtonsche Stoffsysteme
  5. Stereotyp
  6. Probing alignment of personal and organisational values for sustainability
  7. Article 72 CISG
  8. Globalization’s limits to the environmental state? Integrating telecoupling into global environmental governance
  9. Green Big Data: A Green IT/Green IS Perspective on Big Data
  10. Keller, James A.: Problems of Evil and the Power of God, Aldershot 2007
  11. Linking Prefunding Venture Structure and Venture Capital Exit Performance
  12. Infiltrating Artifacts
  13. Intentions to adopt photovoltaic systems depend on homeowners' expected personal gains and behavior of peers
  14. Virtual Voting in RFMOs
  15. Critical reflection on knowledge and narratives of conservation agriculture
  16. Wie fange ich an ?
  17. Community assembly and biomass production in regularly and never weeded experimental grasslands
  18. More than the sum of its parts? Synergy and picturebook translation
  19. E/Z isomerism without a double bond - An unusual type of stereoisomerism, and an unprecedented isomerisation in a bicyclobutane
  20. Error Training
  21. Report on the First CELIS NOW Conference ‘The Age of Open Strategic Autonomy’
  22. Co-productive agility and four collaborative pathways to sustainability transformations
  23. Alcohol myopia and goal commitment
  24. Simulation of the quench sensitivity of the aluminum alloy 6082
  25. Barrier effects in real-world compared to virtual reality macro-environments
  26. Baumol's cost disease, efficiency, and productivity in the performing arts
  27. Effects of facebook activities on the performance of start-ups
  28. Transdisciplinary case studies as a means of sustainability learning
  29. Existential insecurity and trust during the COVID-19 pandemic
  30. Verbraucherrechtsdurchsetzung
  31. Interview mit Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Thomas Schomerus
  32. Edge Effects
  33. "And in the end my street will not be the same"
  34. Interactions between Climate and Trade Policies
  35. Arbeitsmotivation
  36. Backstage: Organizing Events as Proto-Institutional Work in the Popular Music Industry
  37. Uncertainty in the river export modelling of pesticides and transformation products
  38. Mathematische Modellierung eines Raumes zur Nutzung in einem dynamischen Cyber-Physischen System
  39. Impacts of entrepreneur’s error orientation on performance: A cross-culture comparison
  40. Between the Ends of a Wire
  41. Multisensory Design of Retail Environments
  42. myStudy
  43. Photodegradation of the UV filter ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate under ultraviolet light
  44. Non-metric multidimensional performance indicator scaling reveals seasonal and team dissimilarity within the National Rugby League
  45. Freiheit in Liebe. Eine Einführung
  46. Natural vs. financial insurance in the management of public-good ecosystems