Projects in Green Software Engineering

ReFoPlan 2020

ReFoPlan 2020 - Resource Efficient Software

"Further development of the Blue Angel eco-label for software"
Project duration: 09/2021 to 11/2023

With the Blue Angel for software products, the first eco-label for sustainable software is available since 2020. Currently, the Blue Angel can only be awarded to desktop software, whose development focuses on resource and energy efficiency. In this project, the existing Basic Award Criteria for the eco-label will be developed further, so that client-server systems and mobile applications (apps) can also be certified in the future.

Blauer Engel - Source: https://www.blauer-engel.de

Information technology is comprised of the interaction between hard- and software. While the hardware constitutes the physical prerequisite of an IT system, the software determines the behavior of the system. In this context, the software triggers the usage of the hardware and thus also controls its power consumption. In addition, the hardware requirements of a software product frequently cause the need to renew a piece of hardware and thus, the associated environmental impact of its manufacture. Data-intensive multimedia formats take up a large part of the storage and transmission capacities and require data centers to expand their capacities and data transmission networks.

The project builds on the results of two previous projects ("UFOPLAN-SSD 2015" and "REFOPLAN-2018"). The first project consisted of the development of criteria and a method for the assessment of the resource efficiency of software products. In the second project, we development of the Basic Award Criteria for the eco-label from the criteria catalog.

Project goals

In this project, we (i) examine the existing criteria, to determine whether they can be used to extend the scope to include client-server systems and apps and whether they need to be adapted or extended, (ii) identify manufacturers and developers interested in receiving the eco-label and test proposed extended criteria in case studies, and (iii) discuss the results with both the specialist public and developers and distributors who are potenital holders of the eco-label. If the results show that an extension of the scope is possible, the guidelines will be extended and adapted.

Project activities

Discuss the extension of the Blue Angel for Software with us.

The workshop will take place on June 22. 2023, from 11:00 a.m. to about 5:00 p.m., online and at the Öko-Institut e.V. in Berlin.

In the workshop, we want to further develop the concept of the extended Blue Angel for software with you and discuss our proposals for assessing the environmental impact of client-server software and apps.

We are looking forward to the exchange with you.