A guide to building and measuring sustainable IT—with metrics

Sustainable IT aims to reduce environmental and climate impacts by employing various infrastructure, coding, and operational techniques, with a focus on energy efficiency and resource optimization. The approach includes operational efficiency, architecting software for minimal carbon emissions, enhancing energy efficiency, and maximizing hardware longevity, all of which contribute to reducing carbon footprints. Techniques like frugal data storage, green coding, and API call optimization are emphasized, while monitoring and measurement systems play a crucial role in identifying effective practices. Sustainable IT practices also incorporate key performance indicators (KPIs) that combine proxy and business metrics to evaluate energy usage against business outcomes, such as transaction completions and user activity, ensuring that sustainability efforts do not compromise business goals. This approach not only supports environmental objectives but can also result in cost savings, aligning with broader business sustainability strategies.