Designing Energy Efficient Websites
summary
The internet drives about 4% of global greenhouse emissions, and a single web page at average page 2.2 MB sends roughly tens of grams of CO2 per thousand views; auditing 100 climate-focused sites finds an 100 audited sites average 7 MB page and a largest page of 36 MB, with 58% green hosted. Measurement using Website Carbon Calculator, Ecograder, Firefox profiler and CO2.js feeds a real‑user monitoring system that reports per‑page CO2 so teams can remove heavy images, trim JavaScript, enable caching and see measurable emission reductions.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (22)
- 0:00Internet’s carbon footprint
- 3:56Research findings on websites
- 7:54Measuring website emissions
- 13:12Carbon calculation models
- 15:19Green hosting vs optimization
- 15:40Defining website purpose
- 17:03Optimizing images and assets
- 18:07JavaScript overuse impact
- 19:12Updating tech stack
- 20:36Business vs sustainability trade-offs
- 21:39Browser caching benefits
- 22:42Progressive design strategies
- 24:30Dark theme and energy savings
- 25:35Holistic energy efficiency
- 26:59Tools and resources
- 29:45Q&A on data transfer distances
- 33:42Convincing stakeholders with data
- 36:53Group effort and awareness
- 40:12Holistic climate change approach
- 44:05Reducing trackers and waste
- 47:57Mindful third-party management
- 49:25Closing and next steps
related talks
30mReducing the Carbon Footprint of your Website
22mDigital Ecology: Can you Mitigate The Carbon Footprint of Websites
38mSustainable Web Design: Principles and Best Practices
33mUX and sustainable Web
27mWorking towards a greener world from behind the keyboard
20mThe Role of Frontend Code in Reducing Carbon Emissions
51mdisplay: green; applying the web sustainability guidelines
10mSustainable means performant