Development and evaluation of a reference measurement model for assessing the resource and energy efficiency of software products and components—Green Software Measurement Model (GSMM)

Abstract

In the past decade, research on measuring and assessing the environmental impact of software has gained significant momentum in science and industry. However, due to the large number of research groups, measurement setups, procedure models, tools, and general novelty of the research area, a comprehensive research framework has yet to be created. The literature documents several approaches from researchers and practitioners who have developed individual methods and models, along with more general ideas like the integration of software sustainability in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, or science communication approaches to make the resource cost of software transparent to society. However, a reference measurement model for the energy and resource consumption of software is still missing. In this article, we jointly develop the Green Software Measurement Model (GSMM), in which we bring together the core ideas of the measurement models, setups, and methods of over 10 research groups in four countries who have done pioneering work in assessing the environmental impact of software. We briefly describe the different methods and models used by these research groups, derive the components of the GSMM from them, and then we discuss and evaluate the resulting reference model. By categorizing the existing measurement models and procedures and by providing guidelines for assimilating and tailoring existing methods, we expect this work to aid new researchers and practitioners who want to conduct measurements for their individual use cases.