Snowleaf
Emissions and efficiency reporting for organisations that run their own servers. I designed and built all of it.
- Role
- Design and build, end to end
- Year
- 2026
- Depth
- 5 layers
- Live
- snowleaf.xyz
Why
The problem
Who it is for, and why
Organisations that run their own servers want to know what that power costs and emits. The inputs come from three places (the grid, a generator, solar), and most of them arrive in spreadsheets nobody can check.
Snowleaf measures every hour and shows its working, so a figure can be traced back to the reading and the file it came from.
How
Layer by layer
5 layers · the decision in each, and why
The same depth as on Work, opened up.
Interface
Show the working
Every figure on screen can be followed back to the reading and the file it came from. The site, the app and the report all carry the same trace.
Why · A number nobody can check is a number nobody trusts
API
One contract for both sides
The API is generated from a single specification, server and client alike, so the two cannot drift. The first quick routes were written down as debt; the core feature got the contract first.
Why · The part a buyer evaluates should never be the shortcut
Engine
The same answer every time
The calculation is a set of pure functions with no input or output, tested on their own. On day three, before any code existed, the whole backend moved to one compiled language: less work per request, and one toolchain from server to meter.
Why · An auditor re-runs the figure; Snowleaf measures its own footprint too
Gateway
A small reader on site
One small program on the customer’s own hardware reads the meters and sends the readings up. It runs on low-power devices, in the same language as the backend.
Why · The numbers start at the meter, not in a spreadsheet
Data
No real data until the gate
During the pilot, a partner’s files are processed locally with the same engine and only the report goes back. Nothing real reaches the hosted service until a go-live gate is passed.
Why · Trust is earned before it is asked for
Ends here · 5 layers
Now
Where it is
As of November 2026
Live: the site, the app and the API. It is in its first test with design partners, and the pilot runs on the same engine as the product.
Contact
For a role, a product, or a second opinion on one. A call books straight into my calendar.