Green IT: How to Reduce IT's Environmental Footprint

"Green IT focuses on reducing IT's environmental footprint, by rethinking how you build, deploy, and power IT systems. At QCon London, Ludi Akue presented how her team did a lifecycle assessment, set a 10% emissions reduction goal, simplified architecture, and optimized frontends, to align with climate goals. It's important to distinguish between sustainable technology and Green IT, Akue said. Sustainable technology is the broader concept, covering any technology designed to operate within planetary boundaries while supporting long-term environmental, social, and economic well-being."

"This includes renewable energy systems, circular economy approaches, and technologies that minimize resource consumption, she mentioned. Green IT is more specific, focusing on reducing the environmental footprint of our digital systems and IT infrastructure, Akue said. This includes everything from energy-efficient hardware and optimized code to data center design and software architecture decisions that minimize resource use: In my work, I focus on Green IT as a critical component of sustainable technology."

Green IT focuses on reducing the environmental footprint of digital systems by rethinking how IT systems are built, deployed, and powered. A lifecycle assessment (LCA) can identify where technology contributes most to emissions and inform targeted interventions. Setting measurable goals, such as a 10% emissions reduction, helps prioritize architecture simplification, frontend optimization, and hardware and software efficiency. The tech sector contributes roughly 6% of global emissions, with AI growth risking significant increases, making emissions a design constraint. Successful green IT journeys begin with clear measurement and scoping to locate high-impact changes and guide infrastructure and software decisions.

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