As technology becomes increasingly integrated into every aspect of our lives, the need for sustainable digital solutions has never been more critical. 

The National Institutes of Health estimates that global internet usage accounts for 3.7% of global CO2 emissions, equivalent to the emissions of global air traffic. Organizations utilizing digital products to create meaningful change should not only aim for robust and efficient solutions but also solutions that minimize their overall environmental impact. 

This post explores the critical elements involved in building sustainable digital products, from developing the initial product strategy and design to sustainable development practices and choosing the right infrastructure.

Begin with Sustainability in Mind

Sustainability should be a core consideration from the earliest stages of digital strategy and planning. When devising the strategy for a new website or digital product, it’s essential to consider the long-term impact of the project. This means planning for scalability, longevity, and energy efficiency from the outset.

• Set Clear Goals: Integrating sustainability into the digital strategy from the outset ensures long-term viability and efficiency. This involves setting clear goals that align with sustainable outcomes such as reducing server loads and optimizing energy consumption. Each phase of a digital product’s lifecycle, from planning to deployment, should aim to minimize environmental impact.
• Lifecycle Thinking: Consider the entire lifecycle of the digital product. From planning and design to development and deployment, every stage should be optimized for minimal environmental impact.
• Renewable Energy: When evaluating third-party vendors, consider their use of renewable energy and/or carbon offsets as an important factor in measurably reducing environmental impact.

Design with Purpose

The design and user experience of a digital product can have an enormous impact on how much energy it uses. Good design and user experience are not only good for users, but good for minimizing environmental impact. 

• Streamlined User Journeys: Design with a user-first approach to help users find what they need faster and reduce the amount of time spent searching for information and completing tasks, thereby reducing the energy consumption associated with server requests and page loads.
• Mobile-First Layout: Ensure sites are optimized for mobile devices, which is not just good UX—but also a sustainability practice. Digital Products designed to be Mobile-First, load faster and consume less data, which translates to lower energy use.
• Dark Mode and Color Palettes: Implementing a dark mode can significantly reduce power usage on devices with OLED or AMOLED screens. Moreover, using dark mode from the start can further decrease energy consumption across all devices.

Optimize for Performance

The way a digital product is built can significantly affect its environmental footprint. Following best practices when it comes to performance and accessibility can dramatically decrease the carbon footprint.

• Minimize Data Transfer: Reduce the size of files that need to be downloaded by minifying CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files, and leveraging compression techniques like Gzip.
• Clean Coding Practices: Use clean, streamlined code and avoid unnecessary or bloated libraries, plugins, modules, or frameworks that add overhead and increase load time and processing power.
• Image Optimization: Consider next-gen image formats such as WebP and utilize tools that automatically optimize images for format and file size. 
• Adaptive Strategies: Implement features like lazy loading for images and other media and leverage browser caching to further decrease the energy footprint.
• Consider Composable Solutions: Composable architectures, such as those built on microservices, allow for more granular scaling. This means only the components experiencing high demand need to be scaled up, which can lead to significant energy savings compared to scaling an entire monolithic application.

Choose the Right Infrastructure

The choice of hosting solutions can make a significant difference in the sustainability of a digital product. Opting for hosting solutions that prioritize energy efficiency can significantly reduce carbon emissions.

• CDNs and Edge Networks: Utilize CDNs and Edge Networks to minimize latency and reduce the energy required to deliver content to global users. By caching content closer to the end user and reducing the data travel distance, the carbon footprint is reduced.
• Database Optimization: Optimize database queries with indexing, proper schema design, and efficient query statements.
• On-Demand Resource Utilization: Deploy digital products into cloud environments and utilize technologies like containers or serverless functions to ensure that resources can be precisely allocated based on real-time demand and de-allocated or not spun up when not in use, minimizing idle resource consumption.
• Third-Party Services: Opt for third-party services and APIs that are committed to sustainability, whether through low-resource allocating code and practices, energy-efficient infrastructure, carbon offsetting practices, or renewable energy usage.

Validate and Maintain

It’s important to validate along the way that the product being developed meets the goals that were initially set out. In order to do this, a regular audit process should be put in place to assess performance and carbon emission KPIs.

• Performance and Sustainability Audits: Conduct regular performance and sustainability audits to understand the impact and identify opportunities to decrease carbon footprint.
• Integration of Carbon Calculators: Integrate carbon calculator tools, such as Website Carbon and Ecograder, to regularly measure and better understand the carbon footprint of a digital product.
• Sustainable Maintenance Practices: Adopt maintenance practices that emphasize sustainability, such as optimizing existing features instead of adding new ones that increase resource usage.

Sustainability as the Standard

At Forum One, we envision a future where sustainability is as standard as accessibility and performance in digital product design and development. By aligning with emerging guidelines such as the W3C’s Web Sustainability Guidelines, we aim to create digital solutions that not only meet our clients’ needs but also contribute positively to our planet’s future.

We believe following these standards will not just enhance the digital user experience but also make a significant impact on the global carbon footprint. Join us in redefining the intersection of technology and sustainability, paving the way for a greener digital future.