Systems re-design for sustainability: PetShop Case study

Recognition of the critical role of software in promoting and maintaining sustainability has been emerging recently. Yet, over the last 60 years a vast amount of software has been developed and deployed without any consideration of sustainability. This paper presents a case study on how relevant sustainability requirements have been identified (using goal-oriented techniques) and integrated into an existing software design and implementation. It also discusses metrics used for evaluation of the sustainability effects of the new design. The evaluation of this study demonstrates that the re-designed software is both more extendable and more sustainable. Thus, this paper presents an example process and case study for undertaking sustainability-centred software re-design, as well as reports on a number of trade-offs and interdependencies between the studied sustainability requirements.