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Green Coding

Three screens per desk, super-cooling fans and computers that are always switched on: the general image of an internet agency is full of energy and technology, and we at F7 are passionate about showing that sustainability and environmental awareness are a huge part of the technology sector as well.

Every technical decision we make is driven by our customers' needs and our commitment to developing economical, resource-efficient solutions with the lowest possible environmental impact. From lean code to server power consumption, we strike a balance between what the customer needs, what the result is worth, and how it will affect the environment in the long run.

In this article we will address several key aspects of green coding:

Greener in­fra­struc­ture

The choice of server and cloud infrastructure has a significant impact on the environmental footprint of software. Our hosting solutions are tailored to each customer's needs and impress with the highest security standards and availability. We also rely on 100% renewable electricity and energy-saving direct cooling with fresh Nordic air, which reduces the consumption of air conditioning systems in the data centers by up to 70%. Depending on the project, server virtualization helps reduce unnecessary idling of individual components.

We also host our own website in a data center with climate-neutral green electricity, and you can confirm that on the independent portal of the Green Web Foundation.

Code efficiency

The way software is written has a big impact on how much energy it uses. If the code is written well, it can use less computing power, which means fewer servers, data centers, and end devices are needed. This means that less expensive, or more efficient, hardware is needed for computation and display, which in turn leads to reduced power consumption for both hosting and end users.

Optimizing algorithms

When writing the code we're careful to avoid unnecessary database queries and overly complex algorithms, and our automated testing and development environments help us find and get rid of superfluous code. This means that our projects only contain the code that's really needed and used.

These tests ensure that we can deliver the same familiar output, even after updates and optimizations. This is really important, especially when we pass on specially formatted data via an API to third-party providers (like a booking tool or a sales app) who have to rely on us not changing anything undocumented.

Sustainable lifecycle

Completely relaunching your own website every two to three years is not only time-consuming and expensive, but also unsustainable. Instead, we rely on the constant further development of what already exists.

A FreshUp or Rebrush is often enough to freshen up the look and feel of a website - without having to replace the entire underlying code. Regular updates of the TYPO3 CMS core code guarantee the best possible security, resource efficiency and long-term web projects.

Scaling

The number of visitors to a website fluctuates greatly depending on the time of day, events such as trade fairs or releases, and multimedia campaigns like raffles or TV commercials. The main groups of people you're trying to reach can mean very different high times of activity. When we look at energy and cost efficiency, it's not a good solution to have the most powerful server possible that sits completely underutilized for most of the day.

For each project, we figure out what we can do to handle the load, like using a CDN, virtualization, caching, load balancing, or extra servers on-demand. This way, we can avoid burning electricity and therefore money.

Conclusions

Green coding is all about reducing the environmental impact of the digital world. By focusing on energy efficiency and saving resources, we're helping to cut down on CO₂ emissions and encourage more sustainable technology use.

Green coding is also a valuable asset for your company by being beneficial for both the environment and your business. We are here to support you in enhancing your customer brand. 

Let's discuss strategies for reducing costs and enhancing the performance of your website in the long term.