Business PickupWhen we think about carbon footprints, IT equipment doesn’t always top the list of emissions culprits. Yet from laptops and monitors to servers and smartphones, these devices quietly contribute to your organization’s overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. If you’re working toward corporate sustainability or ESG goals, accurately calculating the carbon footprint of your IT assets is an essential step.
Why IT equipment matters
A carbon footprint measures the total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly or indirectly by an activity or product. While emissions from travel or manufacturing tend to get the spotlight, IT equipment represents a significant and growing source of carbon output, particularly as digital infrastructure expands and refresh cycles accelerate.
Quantifying these emissions not only helps identify reduction opportunities but also ensures transparency in sustainability reporting and aligns with environmental compliance and ESG targets.
What contributes to the carbon footprint of IT equipment?
The carbon footprint of IT equipment includes:
- Embodied emissions: These result from the raw material extraction, manufacturing, and transportation of devices before they even reach your office.
- Operational emissions: Energy consumed during the use phase, often depending on the efficiency of the device and your electricity source.
- End-of-life emissions: The impact of disposal, recycling, or landfilling, including the potential emissions avoided through responsible recycling or donation.
These emissions can be both direct (from electricity use) and indirect (from production and disposal) and vary widely by device type. Servers, for instance, typically have a much larger footprint than smaller devices, such as laptops.
A step-by-step guide to calculating your IT equipment’s carbon footprint
Inventory your IT assets
Start by cataloging all IT devices: laptops, desktops, servers, monitors, network equipment, and mobile devices. For each, note the number of units, make and model, age, and expected lifespan.
Estimate embodied emissions
Manufacturer data or lifecycle assessment (LCA) databases like ecoinvent are good sources for approximating emissions from production and shipping. With that in mind, here are some example emissions by product type:
- Laptop: 200–350 kg CO₂e
- Desktop PC: 600–1,000 kg CO₂e
- Monitor (LCD/LED): 150–300 kg CO₂e
- Tablet: 70–110 kg CO₂e
- Smartphone: 60–100 kg CO₂e
- Office Printer (Laser): 300–500 kg CO₂e
- Server (1U or 2U): 800–2,000+ kg CO₂e (depending on size and configuration)
- Network Switch (24–48 port):300–600 kg CO₂e
- Wi-Fi Router: 50–150 kg CO₂e
- External Hard Drive (1TB–4TB): 50–100 kg CO₂e
- Data Storage Array:1,500–4,000+ kg CO₂e
Measure operational emissions
Next, estimate the annual electricity consumption per device. Multiply the kilowatt-hours (kWh) by your local grid’s emissions factor (available through your utility provider) to calculate operational emissions. For instance, the following estimates are used based on Canada’s average electricity emissions factor for 2024, ~0.11 kg CO₂e per kWh (though significant provincial variations exist):
- Laptop
- Electricity use 30–75 kWh/year
- Operational emissions: 3.3–8.3 kg CO₂e/year
- Desktop PC:
- Electricity use: 200–400 kWh/year
- Operational emissions: 22–44 kg CO₂e/year
- Monitor (LCD/LED):
- Electricity use: 50–120 kWh/year for a 24” monitor
- Operational emissions: 5.5–13.2 kg CO₂e/year
- Tablet:
- Electricity use: 10–15 kWh/year
- Operational emissions: 1.1–1.65 kg CO₂e/year
- Smartphone:
- Electricity use: 2–6 kWh/year
- Operational emissions: 0.22–0.66 kg CO₂e/year
- Office Printer (Laser):
- Electricity use: 100–300 kWh/year
- Operational emissions: 11–33 kg CO₂e/year
- Server (1U or 2U):
- Electricity use: 800–2,000+ kWh/year
- Operational emissions: 8–220+ kg CO₂e/year
- Network Switch (24–48 port):
- Electricity use: 200–600 kWh/year
- Operational emissions: 22–66 kg CO₂e/year
- Wi-Fi Router:
- Electricity use: 50–100 kWh/year
- Operational emissions: 5.5–11 kg CO₂e/year
- External Hard Drive (1TB–4TB):
- Electricity use: 10–30 kWh/year
- Operational emissions: 1.1–3.3 kg CO₂e/year
- Data Storage Array:
- Electricity use: 2,000–5,000+ kWh/year
- Operational emissions: 220–550+ kg CO₂e/year
Account for end-of-life emissions or offsets
Once you’ve determined emissions and energy use, factor in emissions from landfilling or recycling. If devices are donated, refurbished, or responsibly recycled, you may be able to deduct avoided emissions. Proper reuse can dramatically offset environmental impact.
Calculate totals
Lastly, add together embodied, operational, and end-of-life emissions to determine each device’s total footprint. Here’s an example for a standard business laptop with a lifespan of four years:
- Embodied CO₂e = 300 kg
- Annual energy consumption × emissions factor × years
- (50 kWh/year × 0.11 kg CO₂e/kWh × 4 years)
- Operational CO₂e = 22 kg
- End-of-life emissions
- Standard disposal: 10 kg CO₂e
- If recycled, subtract avoided emissions (e.g., −5 kg CO₂e)
- End-of-life CO₂e = 5 kg (net)
- Total CO₂e = Embodied + operational + end-of-life
- = 327 kg CO₂e
You can then use this data to identify patterns, like emissions per employee per year, and pinpoint areas for improvement.
Conclusion
Once you’ve quantified your IT emissions, you can use the insights to inform smarter purchasing, extend equipment lifespans, and choose low-impact disposal methods. These actions not only reduce your environmental impact but also contribute to corporate sustainability strategies and credible ESG reporting.
Quantum’s GHG reduction calculator and reporting tool measures GHG reductions achieved by reusing and recycling raw materials and electronics with credible data from research studies. If you choose to partner with Quantum, you’ll receive an estimation of emissions saved in CO2e, with breakdowns for reuse and recycling, which can be used to inform future ESG initiatives and back up your claims. Find out more about our electronics recycling solutions here.