Keys to a sustainable future

Energy Star was launched in 1992 by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a voluntary labelling programme recognising the value of energy-efficiency in a broad range of computer-related products, from personal computers to air-conditioning systems. The programme's major success was the widespread adoption of the energy-saving "sleep mode" in consumer electronic devices. Energy Star's innovative breakthrough represents an important platform from which today's concept of computational sustainability was launched. Computational sustainability is defined as a field of interdisciplinary research that attempts to optimise societal, economic and environmental resources using advanced decision-making algorithms supported by the ever-increasing processing power of today's evolving computer systems. Computational sustainability's key goals include the development of computational models, methods and tools to assist in the management of the delicate balance between environmental, economic and societal needs. Advancements in AI and HCI have enabled combinations of robots and humans to carry out critical functions in the most hostile of environments.