Why Azure Container Apps are the future of sustainable web development. Cheaper, greener, smarter

This March, I attended a tech innovation conference in Bristol, and I've got to share a key takeaway: it applies to development teams and digital leaders worldwide.

Ready?

• Container apps are the future. 

• They drastically reduce carbon emissions and costs in web development. 

• We should all be building this way.
  
  

Cogworks Head of Development Imran wrote and presented an amazing talk on this topic. With everything I learned in 10 minutes, here's a not-too-technical explanation of how Azure Container Apps work and why everyone should build with them in 2025.

Container apps are essentially a "pop-up shop" for your website code. You don't have to keep your server running 24/7 if no one is on your website or visiting your "shop". Because they only work when needed, container apps are more efficient, scalable, and make good business sense!

"Azure Container Apps are like motion-sensor lights—they only turn on when someone walks into the room (when there's demand) and turn off when no one is around.

In contrast, Azure Web Apps are like leaving all the lights and appliances in your house on 24/7, whether you're home or not—you're always paying for them, even when they're not in use!" - Imran Haider, Head of Development, Cogworks.

I don't know about you; the thought of appliances on 24/7 makes me panic slightly. Think of the energy bills.💸 🙊

We all know the phrase, "with great power comes great responsibility," right?

This part of the talk showed me how much environmental responsibility and power developers have. Once you understand this, it's easier to look at your builds from a more environmentally and financially conscious point of view.

"We talk about digital transformation, but what we need just as much is digital responsibility. Container apps give us that." - Imran, Umbraco Spark

And he's right. We always talk about moving forward, scaling, and becoming more efficient, but what about becoming more responsible? 

With ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) regulations and supply chain pressure, we are already trying to create carbon-neutral solutions through things like green hosting. But is this enough? 

Actually, no. 

Green hosting is good, but not enough. 

Green hosting is where your app sleeps, but green architecture is how it breathes. To truly make an impact, we must first "build green" with Azure Container Apps and then "host green" second; this is the ideal planet-saving combo. 

If developers build in a containerised way for any size website, it will have a massive effect on the world.   

"If we containerised just the top 10% of enterprise websites, we could cut global web infrastructure emissions by an estimated 30–40% in under five years." Imran, Umbraco Spark

And what would a 30%- 40% reduction in web infrastructure emissions do? Well, If web infrastructure causes about 3-4% of global emissions, that's hundreds of millions of tonnes of CO2 would avoided every year.

Next, Imran explained how much digital brands benefit and save by developing their infrastructure with container apps versus traditional web hosting, like Azure Web Apps. 

Container apps save significantly more money than mainstream build methods of today:

"In two months on an Azure Web App, you'd spend more than a whole year running the same site on a container app." Imran

This stat got the whole room murmuring. 

The potential for long-term savings is massive, especially for teams managing multiple environments.

In real projects, Imran and his team reduced hosting costs by 32.4% by switching from traditional (Azure Web Apps) to Azure Container Apps.

The key saving came from automatically scaling down overnight when usage was low. This approach can be applied across multiple environments — for example, a production CMS could scale down during off-hours when content editors aren't actively working! 

I'll be back in the audience for Imran's next talk on sustainability; it's great to spread the word about some of the most critical issues and solutions in tech.

If you want to hear more on this topic, you can find something helpful at Innerworks ( no matter your digital role). Follow Innerworks for quick access to LinkedIn for essential discussions and sustainability topics. 

Are you curious how Azure Container Apps could save money and reduce emissions in your next project? Talk to Cogworks about building a sustainable website using green architecture and modern infrastructure. Say hello in live chat or use the contact form to get in touch.