Toward Sustainable AI Deployment: A Carbon-Aware Decision Framework for Enterprise Supply Chain Systems

Abstract

Enterprises deploying AI for supply chain decisions commonly default to the largest available language model, a procurement heuristic that neglects both empirical performance and environmental cost. We benchmark six large language models across 520 supply chain tasks, simultaneously measuring decision quality and estimated generation-related operational carbon. Drawing on the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, we develop a Carbon-Aware AI Procurement Framework (CAAPF), a Green IS design artifact that operationalizes sustainable AI governance for enterprise procurement. Within this bounded sample, quality spans 0.497-0.723, and the models with the largest disclosed parameter totals do not achieve the highest scores. The design does not isolate size, provider, architecture, or benchmark-construction effects. A category-by-tier calibrated GreenRoute proof of concept reaches 0.733 mean out-of-sample quality at an estimated 0.402 gCO2/task. Static Haiku reaches 0.699 at 0.022 gCO2/task, while Sonnet reaches 0.723 at 0.401 gCO2/task, demonstrating that the preferred strategy depends on the organization's quality requirement. Our "benchmark first, select green" principle suggests that environmental responsibility and decision quality can be mutually reinforcing, contributing to sustainable digital infrastructure governance aligned with SDG 12 and SDG 13.