Why energy is only part of the story

Take a server. During its lifetime it consumes a lot of electricity, but half of its CO₂ footprint is created in the factory. Laptops and desktops may seem small per device, but multiply them by thousands and you’ll see where the hidden footprint comes from.

Without a reliable calculation you face two risks: you underestimate your emissions, and you miss opportunities to reduce both costs and e-waste. For companies falling under CSRD, this isn’t just a missed opportunity — it’s a compliance risk.

What you need to include

A proper CO₂ calculation looks far beyond the energy bill. Three phases matter:

• Production: raw materials, manufacturing, and transport. Often 50–70% of the total footprint. Just mapping this out can already mean hundreds of spreadsheet rows and hours of digging through invoices and asset lists.

• Use: electricity consumption and cooling, depending on your energy mix. This requires per-device calculations, often across several years.

• End-of-life: what happens when devices are decommissioned or recycled. Data that usually isn’t centrally available and costs more time to gather.

How to calculate the CO₂ emissions of hardware

A calculation always comes down to five steps. Skip one, and the result is incomplete.

Step 1. Inventory
List all hardware: servers, storage, networking, and workplaces. Note type, quantity, and year of purchase. For thousands of devices, this already takes days to weeks.

Step 2. Find CO₂ factors
Check if your vendor provides an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). If not, use average values from LCA databases or benchmarks (e.g. ±2,250 kg CO₂ for a server, ±300 kg for a laptop). Finding the right factor typically takes 15–30 minutes per device group.

Step 3. Calculate per lifecycle phase

• Production: add up all embedded emissions.

• Use: multiply kWh consumption by the CO₂ factor of your grid mix.

• End-of-life: estimate how much is recycled or incinerated.
  With 2,000 devices this easily turns into dozens of hours of number crunching and checking.

Step 4. Validate the method
Check that the calculation aligns with GHG Protocol and ESRS. Only then is it usable for CSRD. Often finance and sustainability both need to review it — another set of hours.

Step 5. Report and compare scenarios
Document the results and compare scenarios: extend, replace, or refurbish. A complete scenario report for a single site usually adds another 10–20 hours of work.

How much time does this really take?

On paper it sounds simple: five steps and done. In reality it takes much longer.

• Small site (20–50 servers, limited workplaces): 15–25 hours.

• Medium site (200–400 servers + workplaces): 40–80 hours.

• Large sites (500+ devices): 100+ hours.

And it has to be done every year. Just collecting data and checking assumptions can take weeks across multiple departments.

Why it’s difficult in practice

Data is fragmented, CO₂ factors are inconsistent, and reports must be repeated annually. For organizations that need to be CSRD-compliant, this becomes an ongoing process that demands significant time and attention.

That’s why many companies choose to start small — for example, by analyzing a single site. This already gives a representative picture of the impact and highlights where the biggest savings can be made.

Conclusion

Calculating the CO₂ emissions of hardware takes far more than adding up kilowatt-hours. It’s complex, time-consuming, and full of pitfalls. But when done correctly, it gives organizations real control over costs, CO₂, and compliance.

Call to Action

Curious what this looks like for your organization? With the CSRD IT Lifecycle Quickscan we provide a free analysis for one location, mapping out CO₂, costs, and e-waste. Within weeks you’ll have a clear picture — without spending weeks doing the calculations yourself.

👉 Request your free CSRD IT Lifecycle Quickscan and see how much your organization can save.