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EPISODE · Sep 17, 2026 · 37 MIN

Backstage: Software Water Intensity

from Environment Variables · host Green Software Foundation

Producer Chris Skipper goes Backstage with Yi Ding and Hongliu Cao, chair and co-chair of the Software Water Intensity project, to discuss the development of the standard. They explore why water is a unique sustainability challenge, how data centres and semiconductor manufacturing contribute to water use, and the complexities of measuring water withdrawal, consumption, and stress. The conversation also looks at the challenges of data availability and how SWI could turn water impact into a practical metric for making better software and infrastructure decisions. Learn more about our people: Chris Adams: LinkedIn | Website Yi Ding: LinkedIn | Website | Scholar Hongliu (Leo) Cao: LinkedIn | Scholar Find out more about the GSF: The Green Software Foundation Website Sign up to the Green Software Foundation Newsletter Resources: Global Water Bankruptcy Report | United Nations [09:50] Software Carbon Intensity | GSF [14:43] SCI for AI | GSF [15:26] Not All Water Consumption Is Equal: A Water Stress Weighted Metric for Sustainable Computing (SCARF Paper) [18:07] Why AI’s Water Footprint Is Harder to Measure Than Carbon | Hongliu Cao [22:32] Different Clouds, Different Water Stories: Why AI’s Water Footprint Is Harder to Measure (Part 2) Welcoming the Software Water Handbook | GSF Software Water Handbook: A companion resource to the SWI specification | GSF Green Software Movement Platform | GSF If you enjoyed this episode then please either: Follow, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts Follow and rate on Spotify Watch our videos on The Green Software Foundation YouTube Channel! Connect with us on Twitter, Github and LinkedIn! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Backstage: Software Water Intensity

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