In a world where environmental issues are becoming increasingly important, the digital sector is no exception.
According to Green IT, the digital sector now accounts for almost 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, a figure that is constantly rising.
In response, a number of initiatives have been launched to limit the environmental impact of digital services.
Among them, the Référentiel Général d'Écoconception de Services Numériques (RGESN ) is an essential tool for assessing and improving the environmental impact of digital services.
In this article, we'll explore why an ESMR audit is crucial for companies, and how to carry it out in a structured way.
What is the RGESN?
The RGESN is a French reference framework that proposes a series of best practices for designing digital services that are more respectful of the environment.
It is aimed at all those involved in the design, development and maintenance of digital services, such as websites, mobile applications and online platforms.
Its main objective is to help organizations reduce the environmental footprint of their digital services, while guaranteeing an optimal user experience.
The RGESN is based on several main principles:
- Minimize the energy consumption of digital services.
- Optimize resources (infrastructure, data, etc.).
- Maximize the lifespan of digital services and associated equipment.
- Educate users to adopt more responsible digital practices.
Why have an RGESN audit?
1. Reduce the ecological footprint of your digital services
Every click, every request, every interaction with a digital service consumes energy, mobilizes servers and emits carbon.
An RGESN audit allows us to measure this impact and identify solutions to better understand where to start reducing it.
2. Meeting user and stakeholder expectations
Consumers, like partners and investors, are increasingly sensitive to environmental requirements.
Adopting an eco-design approach can strengthen your brand image and demonstrate your commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR).
3. Comply with regulations
With the adoption of laws such as France's REEN law (Réduction de l'Empreinte Environnementale du Numérique), companies must now integrate eco-design practices into their digital services.
An ESMR audit helps you to ensure that your services comply with these new legal requirements.
4. Optimize your costs
Ecodesign often goes hand in hand with resource optimization, which can lead to a reduction in operating costs.
For example, reducing the size of data transferred or reducing the number of requests to the server can improve performance while reducing energy bills.
How to carry out an RGESN audit?
1. Preparation and framing
Define the scope of the audit. Identify the digital services to be audited: website, application or SaaS platform, for example.
Raise team awareness. Make sure your teams understand the challenges of eco-design and the importance of this audit.
2. Extrapolation of the specifications described to suit you
If you consult the Référentiel général d'écoconception, you'll find a full list of specifications aimed, above all, at reducing the energy consumption of infrastructures, the volume of data transferred and page load times.
Of course, it is necessary to identify the specifications relevant to your specific case.
For example:
Data collection
This means minimizing the amount of data collected, processed and stored, including non-personal data and metadata, to optimize the use of IT resources.
If a piece of data doesn't contribute directly to improving the user experience or service operation, it's best to avoid collecting it.
The collection of metadata for user profiling must also be avoided.
This practice encourages responsible and reasoned data collection, complementing the legal minimization obligations set out in the RGPD.
User experience (UX)
The simpler and more fluid the UX, the less energy your digital service will consume.
The key is to minimize the time spent per user, while improving the user experience. It is therefore essential to test critical functions on different screen sizes and browsers, and to smooth the user journey as much as possible.
The architecture
Eco-responsible digital architecture adapts allocated resources to demand.
To do this, build up a comparison between resources allocated and those consumed over a period of time, and correct existing faults.
The energy consumption of videos
Sometimes, videos are broadcast in high definition when they don't need to be, unnecessarily increasing energy consumption and data traffic.
Analyze this content and adjust the default video definition to suit real needs, while offering autonomy options to the user.
Hosting
Data centers account for around 15% of France' s digital carbon footprint, and their environmental footprint is not limited to GHG emissions.
That's why it's important to choose accommodations with a commitment to the environment in terms of equipment management.
For example, DRI is an eco-responsible French web host and outsourcer, and is fully committed to a full open source approach, integrating advanced environmental practices.
DRI boasts some of the lowest energy consumption on the market, made possible by its low-carbon impact datacenter.
3. Implementation and follow-up
By identifying discrepancies between the relevant ESMR specifications and your current digital service, you'll be able to implement concrete adjustments.
For example, you can optimize multimedia files, reduce unnecessary scripting or simplify navigation processes to improve the overall efficiency of your user experience.
Once these recommendations have been established, implement them by involving your technical and functional teams. Regularly monitor results to assess the impact of improvements and maintain best practices over time.
Periodic Green IT testing is also crucial to ensure ongoing compliance with eco-design principles.
Mr Suricategoes green!
By reducing resource consumption, optimizing product lifecycles and cutting carbon emissions through Green IT strategies and practices, companies can integrate digital sustainability into their software development practices.
When it comes to Green IT, test automation is an indispensable practice, and we at Mr Suricatewe cover a wide range of automated tests, so that you can control your acceptance testing and offer your users the best possible experience.
