Sustainable computing and software shape future engineering tools
Perspectives on Sustainable Computational Science and Engineering
Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Summary
Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) helps design and improve products and processes across many fields. This paper points out that while CSE enables sustainable solutions, sustainability itself hasn’t been fully embraced within CSE practices. The authors suggest focusing on making CSE methods and software more sustainable by adopting best practices and measurable goals. They propose that sustainability should be a key part of how CSE is developed, not just an afterthought.
What this means in practice
- •For software engineering teams: Implement sustainability-focused design principles to build more efficient and maintainable engineering software tools within computational workflows.
- •For engineering operations managers: Integrate sustainability metrics in computational models to improve product and process lifecycle impacts during model-based decision making.
A position paper. It proposes an approach and reports no results.
Authors
Julia Kowalski, Ann S. Almgren, Achim Basermann, Alan Correa, Immo Huismann, Uwe Naumann, Hendrik Ranocha, Matthias Rauter, Jens Saak, Michael Schlottke-Lakemper, Robert Speck, Manuel Torrilhon, Mario Wolter, Niklas von der Assen, Maria Guadalupe Barrios Sazo, Dipankul Bhattacharya, Marcel Bock, Faras Brumand-Poor, Dirk Brömmel, Semih Burak, Sara Grundel, Christiane Helzel, Bruce Hendrickson, Robert Klöfkorn, Katharina Kormann, Zahra Lakdawala, Hannah Lanzrath, Camilla Lüttgens, Anna Matuszy`nska, Matthias Meinke, Abigail Morrison, William S. Moses, Georgii Oblapenko, Marcel Pfeiffer, Jana Sasse, Katharina Schmitz, Miriam Schulte, Anna Schwarz, Pit Steinbach, Ingo Steldermann, Anton Stratmann, Lambert Theisen, Joseph De Veaugh-Geiss, Tim Wegmann, Gabriel Wittum, Anil Yildiz
Abstract
Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) combines expertise at the intersection of engineering, applied mathematics, and computer science to form powerful methods for model-based design and model-based decision support across disciplines. Today, CSE methods and tools have an impact as an enabling technology in the development of increasingly sustainable products, processes, and operations. However, sustainability is rarely considered holistically in the context of CSE itself. This paper develops a perspective on sustainability in CSE by distinguishing CSE as an enabler of sustainability in application domains from sustainability within CSE itself, which rests on two complementary pillars: sustainable computing and sustainable software. We present illustrative examples for these pillars and derive recommendations and best practices for CSE stakeholders. Developing an understanding of how sustainability can create added value in CSE is an important future direction for the field. This calls for a concerted effort within the CSE community to define measurable outcomes and best practices that embed sustainability as a core design principle rather than an afterthought.