Chapter 09 · Sustainability & AISustainability & AI
Green computing
Definition
The environmentally responsible design, manufacture, use and disposal of computers and IT systems — the established field that predates and frames today's sustainable-AI debate.
References
This source provides part of the technical or institutional basis for the definition.
This source supports the explanation of how the term is applied, measured or governed in practice.
Overview
What it means
Green computing (also 'green IT') grew from energy-efficient hardware and power management to cover procurement, longevity, e-waste and data-centre operations. It supplies much of the vocabulary — efficiency metrics, life-cycle thinking — now applied to AI infrastructure.
How it is used
Organisations practise it through efficient procurement, extended equipment life, virtualisation, responsible disposal and data-centre optimisation; regulation such as the EU's ecodesign rules for servers sets minimum hardware requirements.
Why it matters
AI's footprint is a subset of computing's footprint. Green computing's decades of practice — measure, extend life, design out waste — are the operational base on which credible AI sustainability programmes are built.