Software is an often-overlooked climate factor: The increasing energy consumption of inefficient applications is increasingly seen as a contributing factor to global emissions. The GreenCode project aims to counteract this: A framework that helps developers make their code more sustainable.

Software controls many modern devices – from simple coffee machines to processing complex AI data in industrial applications. The requirements for software are diverse: security, performance, scalability, and reliability. However, one aspect is often overlooked: energy-efficient programming. Under the pressure of tight deadlines, energy consumption is frequently ignored. Yet careless programming can lead to unnecessary loops and memory operations that place an undue burden on the device. Simply switching to a more efficient programming language can reduce energy consumption by up to 70%.

A Tool for Efficiency Checks
With ambitious sustainability goals and the increasing use of energy-hungry AI models, this topic is gaining more attention. A study by Salesforce shows that 75% of developers want to focus more on resource conservation in their work.
One potential solution is the GreenCode research project, which provides developers with tools for efficiency checks. The concept: The code is automatically tested for energy and resource consumption, with an AI model suggesting more efficient programming alternatives.

GreenCode optimizes both new code and existing software architectures, with a testing pipeline verifying the actual savings.

Saving Energy with Existing Hardware
GreenCode offers significant potential for the aviation industry: It could reduce energy consumption during aircraft operations and make better use of existing devices such as lighting systems and in-flight entertainment. Many of these devices are not in constant operation. By utilizing distributed data processing, these devices could take on additional tasks during idle periods without requiring additional hardware.

Making Energy Consumption Visible
For developers, it is often difficult to estimate how much energy new software will consume. This is where GreenCode comes in: The Intelligent Digital Cabin team at ZAL is developing a test pipeline to realistically evaluate the efficiency tool during development. This pipeline automatically measures and compares the electrical energy consumption, memory usage, and CPU resources of different algorithm variations.

GreenCode Takes Flight
The project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), was launched in October 2024 with a strong partnership between research and industry, led by ZAL GmbH as the coordinator of the German consortium. The international project, running until the end of 2027, also includes partners from Spain, the United Kingdom, Finland, Romania, and Turkey. Given the global relevance of the project’s topic, the need for universally applicable standards is being addressed so that energy-efficient programming practices can be adopted across different regions and contexts. GreenCode aims to improve the state of the art, explore innovative approaches, refine existing metrics for more accurate assessments, and promote the integration of green practices into the standard software development workflow.

Are you interested in sustainable programming or have questions about the GreenCode project? Share your thoughts with us and give us a call:

German Consortium

• ZAL GmbH
• FH Aachen
• Fraunhofer IESE
• Itemis
• Siemens
• Hochschule Trier
• TWT
• University of Augsburg
• Tokiwa Software GmbH