Architecting a Sustainable Future by Jan-Hendrik Kuperus

Data centers are projected to consume 20% of global energy by 2030, up from current 1-1.5% usage, making IT sustainability crucial

Observability and metrics are essential first steps - you can’t improve what you don’t measure. Tools like the Carbon SDK help track software carbon intensity

Key tactics for sustainable architecture:

• Demand shaping: Moving workloads to times when energy is cleaner
• Demand shifting: Relocating compute to regions with cleaner energy
• Light switch ops: Turning off unused environments/resources
• Scaling to zero when possible
• Upgrading to newer, more efficient versions of languages/frameworks

Common devices consume more power than expected:

• Home router setup ≈ 5 refrigerators worth of power
• Dishwasher ≈ 10 refrigerators
• Always-on devices have significant cumulative impact

The Green Software Foundation provides practical tools and frameworks:

• Carbon awareness SDKs
• Assessment tools
• Best practice templates
• ISO standards for measuring software carbon intensity

Constraints drive innovation - developers should self-impose limitations on resource usage rather than defaulting to scaling up

Sustainability efforts align well with FinOps - reducing costs often means reducing energy usage

Automated scaling is underutilized - over 50% still manually scale applications

Organizations can start by:

• Monitoring idle/overprovisioned resources
• Implementing auto-scaling
• Moving batch processes to cleaner energy times
• Using efficiency metrics to compare iterations

Individual developers can contribute through:

• Joining sustainability communities
• Participating in green coding initiatives
• Advocating for sustainable practices
• Making sustainability part of architectural decisions