- Google Doc project drafting doc
- See - Green-Software-Foundation/projects#44
- See - Green-Software-Foundation/sci#359
- See - Green-Software-Foundation/sci#348
- Co-Chair: Marco Valtas, facilitates meetings and manages meeting times, sets the overall direction and vision, makes decisions when consensus cannot be reached, although this is typically a last resort.
- Co-Chair: Chris Xie, share responsibilities with the Chair.
Contribute and collaborate on the work items of the Working Group.
The primary goal of this kick-off meeting is to align all members on the mission and objectives of the Software Carbon Efficiency Rating Working Group, identify key areas of focus, and set milestones and timelines for the working group.
Global trends in energy-efficient computing, open source's role in driving software carbon efficiency
- Corporate/Industries:
- Microsoft - Carbon Negative by 2030
- Apple - carbon neutral across its entire supply chain and product life cycle by 2030.
- IKEA - aims to become climate-positive by 2030
- Ford - plans to be carbon neutral by 2050
- Public sector/Policy regulations/Standards:
- ISO/IEC develops standards (e.g., ISO 30134) that provide guidance on energy efficiency in data centers and ICT products, which may be adopted by governments.
- LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. Data centers that meet specific criteria may be eligible for tax breaks or other incentives.
- US Government Green Procurement Policies
- SCER WG aligns with Green Software Foundation's overall goals:
Scope: The working group will focus on the following key areas, including the development of a software carbon efficiency rating (SCER) standard:
- Software Carbon Efficiency Rating (SCER) Standard: Develop a standardized software carbon efficiency rating system that can assess and rate the carbon efficiency of software products. This standard will provide a framework for evaluating and comparing the environmental impact of different software applications, through the inclusion of a benchmark and a rating algorithm which can be used for decision making around carbon-efficiency of the software applications.
- Creating a Green Software Certification Lab (GSCL), a standardized testing and certification lab for green software, similar to UL (Underwriters Laboratories) for hardware and electrical systems, involves defining specific criteria, processes, and requirements to evaluate and certify the environmental sustainability and efficiency of software applications. Here is a set of specifications for the lab: Certification Framework, Energy Efficiency, Environmental Impact, Resource Optimization, Power Efficiency, Green Data Management, Renewable Energy Compatibility, Sustainable Development Practices, Certification Levels, etc.
- Documentation and Guidelines: Create comprehensive documentation and guidelines that detail the carbon-efficient software development process and the SCER rating system.
- Community Engagement: blogs and conferences promoting SCER.
- Carbon Efficiency Best Practices: Define a set of best practices for carbon-efficient software development, considering different use cases and scenarios. These practices will cover aspects such as energy-efficient algorithms, resource optimization, and sustainable coding techniques.
- Badge Program: Establish a software carbon efficiency badge program similar to the OpenSSF's security badge program. Software projects can apply for badges by adhering to both the carbon efficiency best practices.
- Software Carbon Efficiency Rating (SCER) Standard: Development and publication of a standardized SCER system that can assess and rate the carbon efficiency of software products.
- Green Software Certification Lab (GSCL): Detailed specification of the lab so that organizations can implement their own labs based on the specification.
- Documentation and Guidelines: Comprehensive documentation and guidelines on the use of the SCER standard, available as reference materials for the community.
- Community Engagement Initiatives: Initiatives to engage the broader software development and environmental communities, such as webinars, forums, and collaborative projects.
- Timelines: The working group proposes the following timelines for its activities, with the addition of the SCER standard:
Formation and Kick-off: Within one month of the working group's establishment on GitHub (Starting Date: Oct 18, 2023).Carbon Efficiency Best Practices Guide: Develop and finalize the guide within six months (Target Completion Date: [Insert Date]).Software Carbon Efficiency Rating (SCER) Standard: Develop and publish the SCER standard within eight months (Target Completion Date: [Insert Date]).- Badge Program Implementation: Establish the software carbon efficiency badge program within eight months (Target Completion Date: [Insert Date]).
- Documentation and Guidelines: Create and release comprehensive documentation and guidelines within six months (Target Completion Date: [Insert Date]).
- Community Engagement Initiatives: Plan and execute engagement initiatives continuously, with an initial series of webinars starting within three months (Starting Date: [Insert Date]).
- Primarily GitHub
- Zoom calls
Standard framework to determine software categories (meta-standard) - Given there are so many different types of software, how should we determine a category?
