Draft:ISO 21031

ISO 21031 is a standard entitled "Information technology — Software Carbon Intensity (SCI) specification", it's purpose is to define a standard and systematic means of evaluating the greenhouse gas (GHG) impact of software-based systems, in particular the CO2 emissions due to the software operation, and the embedded emissions of the hardware used by the software.

Identifying the GHG impact caused by a particular piece of software involves identifying its energy use, which depends upon the particular environment in which it executes, and upon the carbon intensity of the energy used by the software (for example, if renewable sources are used for the electricity, versus fossil fuel sources). The standard provides recommended procedures for these steps in order to ensure that measurements are made in a consistent and comparable manner.