As the environmental crisis, characterized by climate change and ecosystem collapse, intensifies, the need for society-wide responses to environmental protection has been consistently raised. Particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, as contactless ac...
As the environmental crisis, characterized by climate change and ecosystem collapse, intensifies, the need for society-wide responses to environmental protection has been consistently raised. Particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, as contactless activities have become routine and digital service usage has expanded, network traffic and data processing volumes have surged, bringing energy consumption and carbon emissions in digital environments to the forefront of environmental discourse. With digital technology and service usage expected to continue expanding, discussions on how to manage and reduce resource use within digital environments are increasingly necessary.
Based on this awareness, this study approaches carbon emissions in digital environments from a design perspective, aiming to verify the potential for carbon emission reduction through adjustments to screen composition and resource usage in public web services. It particularly focuses on the possibility of mitigating environmental burdens by adjusting reducible elements at the service design stage, without requiring additional changes in user awareness or behavior.
To this end, major prior research on the environmental impacts of data centers and artificial intelligence technologies was reviewed, and theoretical discussions on carbon neutrality and sustainable design were synthesized. Additionally, cases of digital carbon neutrality initiatives by domestic and international governments and corporations were analyzed to identify structural characteristics and design-level improvement possibilities in public digital services.
Based on this analysis, design improvements were proposed for South Korean public agency web services. Web-based services were selected as experimental subjects, and adjustments were made focusing on screen composition, visual resources, and data usage methods while maintaining existing service functions and information delivery structures. Design work was conducted using Figma, static prototypes were implemented through the AI-based code automation function of the Anima plugin, and page weight and estimated carbon emissions were compared and analyzed using carbon emission analysis tools.
The results showed that the 'Carbon Neutrality Guide' page achieved reductions of approximately 61.9% in carbon emissions and 61.8% in page weight compared to the original, while the 'Carbon Neutrality Point System' service showed reduction effects of approximately 92.2% and 94.6%, respectively. This suggests that digital carbon emissions can be significantly reduced by adjusting UI components and resource usage methods in public web services alone, without introducing additional functions. Through this, the study examines how design choices in public web services connect to resource usage and carbon emissions in digital environments and presents analytical evidence for discussions on digital carbon neutrality.