Towards an Energy Consumption Index for Deep Learning Models: A Comparative Analysis of Architectures, GPUs, and Measurement Tools

The growing global demand for computational resources, particularly in Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications, raises increasing concerns about energy consumption and its environmental impact. This study introduces a newly developed energy consumption index that evaluates the energy efficiency of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 25; no. 3; p. 846
Main Authors: Aquino-Brítez, Sergio, García-Sánchez, Pablo, Ortiz, Andrés, Aquino-Brítez, Diego
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 30.01.2025
MDPI
Subjects:
Analysis
Artificial intelligence
convolutional neural network
deep learning
Emissions
Energy consumption
Energy efficiency
green computing
Machine learning
Neural networks
Spain
deep learning
green computing
machine learning
convolutional neural network
energy efficiency
ISSN:1424-8220, 1424-8220
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The growing global demand for computational resources, particularly in Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications, raises increasing concerns about energy consumption and its environmental impact. This study introduces a newly developed energy consumption index that evaluates the energy efficiency of Deep Learning (DL) models, providing a standardized and adaptable approach for various models. Convolutional neural networks, including both classical and modern architectures, serve as the primary case study to demonstrate the applicability of the index. Furthermore, the inclusion of the Swin Transformer, a state-of-the-art and modern non-convolutional model, highlights the adaptability of the framework to diverse architectural paradigms. This study analyzes the energy consumption during both training and inference of representative DL architectures, including AlexNet, ResNet18, VGG16, EfficientNet-B3, ConvNeXt-T, and Swin Transformer, trained on the Imagenette dataset using TITAN XP and GTX 1080 GPUs. Energy measurements are obtained using sensor-based tools, including OpenZmeter (v2) with integrated electrical sensors. Additionally, software-based tools such as CarbonTracker (v1.2.5) and CodeCarbon (v2.4.1) retrieve energy consumption data from computational component sensors. The results reveal significant differences in energy efficiency across architectures and GPUs, providing insights into the trade-offs between model performance and energy use. By offering a flexible framework for comparing energy efficiency across DL models, this study advances sustainability in AI systems, supporting accurate and standardized energy evaluations applicable to various computational settings.
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ISSN:1424-8220
1424-8220
DOI:10.3390/s25030846