Software and hardware belong together like a book and its pages. A computer, notebook and smartphone can only be as energy efficient as the software allows. Although it is the hardware that consumes energy, it is the software that triggers the consumption of this energy. The design of the software and its programming also have an influence on the hardware specifications and are thus also responsible for the replacement of supposedly less powerful hardware.
Ceremony to award the certificates during the Green IT Conference
The Federal Ministry for the Environment awarded the first Blue Angel ecolabels for resource and energy-efficient cloud software to Nextcloud Server and Green Metrics Tool on 11 June 2025. The first two verifiably environmentally friendly and transparent open source software solutions were certified with the Blue Angel for Resource and Energy-Efficient Software Products at an award ceremony.
Open source products enable long-term use, avoid software-related product obsolescence and reduce electrical waste. The Blue Angel gives companies, authorities and consumers reliable guidance when they are making purchasing decisions for sustainable software – and also sets ambitious standards for developers and public invitations to tender.