About

What stage are these principles at?

These principles are a work in progress - a prototype. There are probably things that are missing that will be added, others that might be removed entirely, and still more that will be significantly reshaped.

We are sharing the principles as a prototype because, as the Government Design Principles put it, working in the open ‘makes things better’. Sharing prototypes prompts engagement and dialogue and we believe that gathering feedback in this way is the best and fastest route to develop a mature set of principles and guidance for ‘Greener Services’.

What value does this set of principles seek to bring?

These principles in effect provide a list of all the actions that could be potentially taken to reduce the environmental costs and boost the environmental benefits of a service.

On a particular project, a team may well not be able to take all of the actions pointed to in these principles. Some big decisions may have already been made, depending on lifecycle stage, or determined through contracts and agreements at the departmental or organisation level.

However, principles on the environmental impacts of services can help us to:

• Understand what good practice looks like in the form of actionable points

• Provide a common language and reference points for cross-disciplinary discussion and collaboration

• Provide an introduction and way into the topic for those new to it

• Provide a way to signpost readers to more detailed guidance and training materials

How are the principles structured?

The Greener Service Principles are structured as follows:

• 10 principles, numbered 1 - 10: The wording of each principle is intended to be easily understandable and action-focused.

• Guidelines, labelled a, b, c: Each principle is then be broken down into a number of guidelines

• Lifecycle phases, actions, measurements and further reading: Each guideline features guidance on the lifecycle phases they apply to, what actions (labelled (i), (ii), (iii) ) we can take to deliver reduced environmental impacts, what we can measure, and where we can read more.

Aren’t some of the points mentioned in the principles established best practice anyway?

Some of the points contained within the Greener Service Principles may be considered general best practice from a policy, architecture, service design or software development perspective.

However we consider it important to include mention of these points here because:

• We need to be aware that there is an environmental cost or potential benefits that can come from making services as lightweight and efficient as possible.

• The sustainability lens is a different angle on services and technology that can help highlight and reinforce the need to follow best practice in order to deliver ‘win-wins’ from a usability, cost, accessibility, inclusivity and sustainability perspective.

Why do we use the term ‘green(er)’?

The term ‘green’ is generally used to suggest that the noun it is attached to (e.g. ‘greener building’) is bringing some kind of environmental benefit, relative to the non-green, standard kind.

The word ‘green’ has been criticised by some for its ambiguity, and the way this leaves it open to being applied in ways that serve to hide ‘greenwashing’ (the act of making false or misleading statements about the environmental benefits of a product or practice).

However, the flexibility of the term has its advantages when we talk about services, as it can accommodate the different types of environmental benefits that they can bring.

Broadly speaking, services can ‘do more with less’, and be more efficient than the thing they replace, thereby reducing carbon footprint, water usage and other environmental impacts. Or they can enable broader environmental benefits, that might result from behaviour or process change.

In a nutshell then, the goal of ‘greener services’ is to reduce environmental costs and boost environmental benefits as far as possible.

See Principle 1 for more on the difference between efficient services and those we can label ‘sustainable’.

What is the process that has produced these principles?

A group of designers and researchers in Defra began gathering their learnings on best practice into a set of principles in early 2022.

Since then, the principles have been iterated and evolved through a series of workshops and other sessions involving colleagues from across government and beyond.

How will the principles evolve from here?

These principles fit into an evolving landscape of cross-government collaboration on digital sustainability in the UK.

Ultimately, they may change form entirely, reshaped as needs become clearer or to fit with existing government guidance. They may be a first step along the journey to ultimately having a set of standards against which the environmental performance of services can be judged.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has managed sustainable ICT across UK government departments for over a decade.