Why Sustainability in Software Engineering Matters

Tech managers often focus on immediate achievements instead of real impact. They are proud when employees work late and believe it equals productivity. In reality, this approach is counterproductive.

Sustainable software development yields much better results. It’s a comprehensive approach to optimizing the SDLC, finances, and human resources during software engineering and use. Sustainable software also means minimum harm to the environment, which is critical given that by 2040, ICT will account for 14% of the global carbon footprint.

To achieve sustainability in software engineering, product teams need to introduce proactive updates, minimize complexity, pay attention to resources consumed by software, and more. These are far-reaching efforts that change the entire industry and contribute to combating climate change.

What Is Sustainability in Software Engineering?

First, let's clarify the notion of sustainable software engineering. Many companies call their approaches sustainable when in reality, they don’t realize what sustainable software means. As a result, they follow a few principles of sustainable software development and create solutions that still consume too many resources.

Sustainable software development is a comprehensive approach that centers around two main ideas. First, product teams should make their solutions as cost-efficient, productive, and eco-friendly as possible. Second, optimization should increase the quality of products. The principles of sustainability listed below explain the sustainability software methodology in more detail.

Why Should Product Teams Strive for Sustainable Software Engineering?

The idea of making our planet greener is not enough to convince businesses to change old-fashioned approaches. Usually, only business advantages or regulatory requirements speed up the change.

When it comes to sustainability in software engineering, the benefits are far-reaching. They allow product teams to create solutions that focus on growth instead of troubleshooting. When development is unsustainable, by and large, teams are stuck in a vicious circle of fixing mistakes and financial losses. Sustainability software development, on the other hand, allows engineers to continuously improve their services despite the growing complexity. They create sustainable software that uses less human and hardware resources than traditional products.

Here are the main benefits of sustainability software:

• It’s eco-friendly. Sustainable software development relies on environmentally friendly practices, and hence, causes less environmental damage. By 2030, data centers will consume 8% of global electricity. The carbon footprint of computer systems steadily grows. Therefore, it’s life-critical to start reducing the volume of consumed resources and emissions caused by ICT now.

Environmental impact associated with data center operation (US)

• Software sustainability ensures an entirely new engineering approach. Even though sustainable software engineering focuses on ecology, it also revolutionizes SDLC approaches. Sustainability is about optimizing the work of tech teams as well. Instead of working on weekends to meet deadlines, managers promote actual productivity. They invest time in organizing smarter work to enjoy greater efficiency later on.

• Sustainability software increases revenue due to more motivated and productive teams. When tech teams feel they develop a product that brings real value to society, it boosts their motivation. They offer more creative and efficient solutions, which generate more profit.
• Sustainable programming shows end-users and your business partners that you care. Companies that offer sustainable software have a better reputation. Consumers view such brands as more reliable. They feel that by using such solutions, they make a positive impact.
• Sustainability software cuts maintenance expenses. Since sustainable software reduces the load on servers and consumes less power, it’s highly cost-effective. It matters both to end-users and product owners.
• Sustainable programming cuts unexpected costs resulting from compliance with new regulations. In the upcoming decades, we will see many new acts limiting carbon emissions and excessive use of resources. By designing sustainable software now, you prepare for the future and simplify compliance. When governments pass such regulations, you will meet the requirements without rebuilding your product.
• Sustainability in software engineering makes your company a favorable place of work. When potential employees know their work will contribute to the big idea, it may be a decisive factor to join your company. Such an advantage is critical in a highly competitive labor market where qualified human resources are (and will be) limited.

Finally, any tech company that wants to compete with market leaders will need to ensure software sustainability. By following principles of sustainability, you create products that will last. They have enough flexibility to adapt to the changing market environment where the need for optimization becomes more acute.

3 Main Steps Towards Software Sustainability

Software sustainability requires a revolution of software development best practices, models, and approaches. To ensure sustainability in software engineering, teams need to measure how much energy their products consume. Most tech teams have never done that before. Hence, it may be challenging to change the mindset and become greener.

If you want to shift to sustainable programming, follow these recommended steps.

Step #1: Get Ready for Sustainability Software Development and Educate Your Team

Few tech companies have adopted sustainable programming approaches. They focus on satisfying the current user needs without making strategic software sustainability plans. Hence, to achieve sustainability in software engineering, you need to rebuild your existing models.

Be sure to implement automated testing, avoid overdesign, and adopt tools to calculate the environmental impact of the software.

Step #2: Use Green Coding for Sustainable Programming

Green code is code written to minimize the relative power consumption of the algorithm. This way, green coding reduces the energy load on physical servers and systems. It’s a trending approach that enables sustainable programming.

To create green code, you need to:

• Optimize features with high energy consumption and common usage scenarios
• Remove unused features and loops
• Optimize data usage through a more efficient cache policy, minimized data exchange, and compression
• Adapt the work of the application to the power mode and operating conditions of the device
• Choose a less energy-consuming ML model if your software includes AI capabilities

Step #3: Measure the Impact of Your Product

Finally, you have to monitor the energy consumption of the developed software to identify the modules you can optimize. It’s a step-by-step process that should happen throughout the entire sustainable software engineering cycle.

Examples of Sustainable and Green Programming Projects

Tech industry leaders are sustainable software engineering trend-setters. They value their business reputation and understand the impact they have on society. To know what others do for software sustainability, check out these examples.

Apple

In 2020, Apple committed to ensuring 100% carbon neutrality for its products and supply chain by 2030. It plans to decrease emissions by 75% and develop innovative carbon removal technologies for the remaining 25% of the footprint. Apple has also designed a 10-year climate roadmap for lowering emissions. According to it, all recently released iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac devices include recycled content.

Walmart

The world’s largest retailer has introduced many digital transformations to reduce wastage and energy usage. They also take steps to enhance supply chain efficiency through more advanced sustainability software solutions.

In particular, Walmart allows consumers to complete mobile express returns through their mobile app. Buyers can scan QR codes at local retail stores to pay for goods. It saves their time and benefits ecology since self-service reduces transport usage and related CO2 emissions.

Facebook

In 2020, Facebook released its Net Zero Commitment paper, confirming the readiness for sustainable software engineering and careful resource management. In 2030, they will reach net-zero GHG emissions across their value chain.

To improve sustainability, Facebook incorporates circular economy principles into their server hardware and consumer products. They build repairability and recyclability into design processes and extend the life of their hardware. 

Given that tech leaders shape the industry, sustainability in software engineering will become a dominating trend. Every technology company and startup entering the market will need to follow the principles of sustainability and design optimized solutions.