Smells and Refactorings for Software Environmental Sustainability: A Systematic Literature Review

2026-10-02

AI Summary

This study addresses the environmental sustainability challenges arising from high energy consumption in software systems. Employing a systematic literature review, it conducts a multidimensional classification and analysis of 66 core studies. The primary contribution is the first systematic mapping framework between green code smells and refactoring techniques, precisely identifying 20 code smells that compromise environmental sustainability and proposing corresponding structured refactoring strategies. By establishing a standardized reference framework for eliminating structural inefficiencies and reducing the software ecological footprint, this work effectively advances both the theoretical foundations and practical implementation of sustainable software engineering.

Abstract

Context: The environmental impact of ICT is constantly growing. Enhancing its environmental sustainability requires dealing with energy-hungry software systems, by possibly reducing their footprint. Objective: To better frame the problem and its persistent nature, software can be viewed as carrying structural inefficiencies regardless of how advanced its functionality may be. Identifying these inefficiencies as"green smells"provides a basis for refactoring code to mitigate its ecological impact. We aim at identifying well-known green smells impacting environmental sustainable software and map them to corresponding refactoring aimed at reducing the impact therein. Method: In this article, we conduct a systematic literature review on the articles that discuss green smells and their possible refactorings. We analyse and classify 66 primary studies published up to March 2026. Results: We identify 20 smells impacting environmental sustainability of software. Each smell is associated with one or more refactoring techniques known to mitigate their negative effects on the environmental sustainability of software. Conclusions: The literature witnesses the interest in resolving the green smells affecting software systems. The catalogued green smells and the corresponding refactorings can provide pragmatic value for practitioners in their daily development workflows, while also offering researchers a starting point to establish new research directions in sustainable software engineering.

Problem

• Environmental Sustainability
• Green Smells
• Software Refactoring
• Energy Efficiency

Innovation

• Green Smells
• Refactoring
• Environmental Sustainability
• Systematic Literature Review
• Sustainable Software Engineering