Hi everyone. I am wondering does anybody have any experience in achieving an optimal sustainability rating using Relume components only? I usually use https://www.websitecarbon.com/ to test things out. I have a client that is extremely conscious of their environmental impact and wishes to get an A+ rating using this checker. Thanks in advance!
It's difficult to argue with your client about this. I have been there too. Some of my conclusions regarding Wholegrain Digitals calculator:
Automatically measuring carbon emissions on websites based on a URL is not straightforward. Page size does not precisely indicate a website's energy consumption. For instance, large, static cached files may consume less energy than smaller pages with complex databases. Moreover, energy usage does not increase proportionally with the number of page views.
The criteria for being recognized as an approved data center are also inconsistent and unclear. Questions arise such as what criteria define being "green"? What are the threshold values? Is the use of fossil energy acceptable if offset by purchasing quotas (carbon credits) or contributing with other green projects?
There could also be potential conflicts of interest for Wholegrain Digital, the creators of one of the calculator and sellers of 'Digital Sustainability services', in their algorithm choices.
They write in their FAQ: "<i>[...] some websites use sneaky optimizations to bypass page load testing. [...] there are genuine cases where our test fails to detect the loading of some images or scripts. [...] a website may use green hosting, but we are unable to confirm this. [...] without manual checks, these cases can't be easily identified.</i>"
It's also crucial to understand that this calculator only tests the provided URL, not the entire website. For a site we designed, the homepage received an F, while subpages scored A-B. These results do not reflect the overall carbon footprint of the website, potentially alarming clients about their environmental impact.
Carbon calculators can mislead by either overestimating or underestimating actual emissions, leading to incorrect conclusions. This misdirection can result in greenwashing or the misallocation of resources in efforts to reduce emissions.
Despite the complexity of calculating carbon emissions, especially for a calculator, there are compelling reasons to ensure websites are lightweight and fast to load, not just for the sake of the climate.
