Green Metrics Tool: Measuring for fun and profit

Abstract

The environmental impact of software is gaining increasing attention as the demand for computational resources continues to rise. In order to optimize software resource consumption and reduce carbon emissions, measuring and evaluating software is a first essential step. In this paper we discuss what metrics are important for fact base decision making. We introduce the Green Metrics Tool (GMT), a novel framework for accurately measuring the resource consumption of software. The tool provides a containerized, controlled, and reproducible life cycle-based approach, assessing the resource use of software during key phases. Finally, we discuss GMT features like visualization, comparability and rule- and LLM-based optimisations highlighting its potential to guide developers and researchers in reducing the environmental impact of their software.