Karelia UAS Launches “Communicative Energy” Project to Drive Carbon Neutrality in Digital Services

Karelia University of Applied Sciences has kicked off the Communicative Energy initiative, where students collaborate with regional digital entrepreneurs to carry out life cycle assessments (LCAs) of web-based companies and digital services. Using the SimaPro Expert tool, the project helps SMEs gain strategic insights into their environmental impact and supports their path toward carbon neutrality.

This collaboration gives SMEs strategic insights into environmental impacts, helping them align business operations with sustainability goals.

To enable this work, the university has expanded its license portfolio with the SimaPro Expert tool. Having already used SimaPro Classroom for teaching energy and environmental technology, Karelia UAS is now pushing further, moving from purely academic learning to applied research with real-life case studies.

While students map indicators and interpret results together with business partners, a particular focus is on digital infrastructure: server usage, cloud functions, and the otherwise “hidden” energy needs of web services. With Communicative Energy, Karelia UAS aims to bring more transparency to these impacts—and ensure that efforts toward digitalization don’t unintentionally undermine carbon neutrality.

Source: New project investigates the impact of web-based companies – SimaPro