100 points to know about...
Eco-Design Web Development

We saw that the use of databases and dynamic webpages are not the best options when considering web eco-design. The solution might come from another category we introduced earlier: static webpages, and in a more general way, static websites. Let’s see some of their advantages.

A static website gives more control over its development

Because a static website can be built in a more “manual” way, its development offers more flexibility and control over a set of parameters. Indeed, static website’s HTML code can be written internally. Built this way, the website would no longer rely on too many external and automated protocols or services that could increase the environmental impact of the site (no databases, no "heavy" language like PHP or SQL, no frequent updates, etc.) and over which the web developer would have no control. This way, a web developer has the opportunity to manage the eco-design aspect by himself or herself, in a more rational and responsible way and so try to minimize the impact of the website.

A static website allows you to hand-craft the HTML

Having the possibility to develop the HTML code of a static website on your own means that you are no longer dependent on other services as mentioned above, but also that the code is relieved from potentially useless functionalities, and is optimized for a lower energy and resources consumption. It can be designed in such a way that it does not burden the website’s impact through all its stages:

• the design (sober design, no accessory feature, image compression, possibility to configure the compilation),
• the storage (a rationalised HTML code means less storage space required so less energy used to store the website or to build and maintain storage devices)
• the consultation of the website by users (possibility to set up requests and solicitations to the application server or the database, saving bandwidth).

For more information about how to improve your code, you can consult the next Lesson “To go further, some code practice”.

A responsible static website can be made with static site generators

Practising eco-design with a static website doesn't mean you're on your own with this task. There are tools to help you in this process: static site generators (SSG).
Static site generators are tools that will build for you fully operational static websites simply by providing it raw data, code and content in a text-based files form. You will be able to have interactivity on a static webpage just like on a dynamic webpage, without the disadvantage of using a database.

The Good Manager’s website was made with a static site generator called Gatsby, but there are a lot of them: Next.js, Jekyll, Hugo, Hexo, etc.

A static website is compatible with an eco-design approach

As we saw in this notion, static websites seem to be a good alternative to dynamic websites. It is highly customizable for the developers and can be made and used easily thanks to static website generators, without going through databases. These are signs that indicate their compatibility with eco-design. In all cases, a preliminary dialogue is essential between all the actors involved in the design of the website to ensure that the final creation corresponds to functional expectations, and is part of a global logic of sustainability at the same time.

To go further

An article about static website generators and their advantages: https://teleporthq.io/blog/what-is-a-static-site-generator