Development of server energy efficiency over the past decade
Energy Efficiency of Servers

Coroamă, V. C., Hinterholzer, S., Dumbravă, O., & Hintemann, R. (2025). Energy Efficiency of Servers. Zürich, Berlin: Roegen Centre for Sustainability & Borderstep Institute. 

Due to current trends in computing, the data stored and processed in data centers (DCs) will continue to grow substantially. These trends include cloud computing, video streaming, the Internet-of-Things (IoT), and in particular artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Mitigating the growing demand, efficiency gains are able to partly offset it and limit the growth of data center energy consumption.

How can the energy efficiency of servers be assessed?

As servers are the main devices responsible for electricity demand in data centers, their energy efficiency is particularly relevant for both the current status and future developments. For several reasons, however, it is notoriously difficult to assess, e.g.:

  • miscellaneous types of hardware and computing workloads,
  • lack of standardized methodologies and assumptions,
  • consistent system boundaries,
  • technological dependencies with other physical and software components, and
  • the dynamic nature of the data center domain and rapid innovation cycles.

The main objective of this study is thus to provide insights into the development of server energy efficiency over the past decade.

Here you can download the publication Energy Efficiency of Servers free of charge and learn more about the study.

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Studies on Data Center Energy Efficiency

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The authors

Vlad Coroamă, Roegen Centre for Sustainability

Simon Hinterholzer is an engineer specializing in renewable energy and a research associate at the Borderstep Institute. His research focuses on the sustainability impacts of digitisation, particularly the assessment of data centers and cloud computing, as well as the reduction of CO₂ emissions in the building sector through digital technologies. He works on research projects for the European Commission, German federal ministries, and state governments.

Oana Dumbravă,  Roegen Centre for Sustainability

Dr. Ralph Hintemann is a partner and senior researcher at the Borderstep Institute for Innovation and Sustainability. With a background in engineering and economics, his research focuses on the megatrends of digitisation and sustainability. Ralph Hintemann is an internationally recognized expert on the sustainability of digital infrastructures, particularly data centers. At a time of profound transformation, he provides scientifically grounded insights and practical recommendations through his interdisciplinary perspective.

Publisher

Borderstep Institute for Innovation and Sustainability

Commissioned by

EDNA Platform of the 4E TCP

Suggested citation

Coroamă, V. C., Hinterholzer, S., Dumbravă, O., & Hintemann, R. (2025). Energy Efficiency of Servers. Zürich, Berlin: Roegen Centre for Sustainability & Borderstep Institute.

Borderstep's expertise in Digitisation & GreenIT

For more than a decade, Borderstep has been conducting research on the resource-efficient use of digital products and services. Its work covers all aspects of this field, which is often referred to as Green IT. On the one hand, the term describes ICT products whose manufacturing, operation, and end-of-life management require less energy and fewer resources („Green in IT“). On the other hand, and of even greater significance, it refers to digital solutions that help reduce resource consumption across all sectors of the economy and areas of everyday life („Green through IT“).

Data centers are a core component of digital infrastructure. Since 2007, the Borderstep Institute has been analyzing the electricity consumption of data centers in Germany and across Europe. This work is based on a proprietary structural model that has been regularly updated since 2010.

The model provides a detailed representation of data centers by size, technology, and operating model—including cloud, edge, and traditional data centers. It also takes into account different server types, age structures, and building technologies such as cooling and power supply systems. This enables Borderstep to provide robust data and scenarios on the development and sustainability of digital infrastructures.

Through projects such as TEMPRO, DC2HEAT, DCESS, and EUDCEAR, the Borderstep Institute develops solutions to support climate-friendly and energy-efficient digitisation.

View all current projects in the Digitisation & Green IT research area.

Topics

Data Centers • Generative AI • Energy Efficiency • Waste Heat Recovery • Edge–Cloud Continuum • Carbon Footprint • New Energy Concepts for Data Centers • AI Resource Requirements • Water Consumption of AI and Data Centers • Digital Handprint • Green IT / Sustainable IT • AI for Good

  • Simon Hinterholzer, Dr. Ralph Hintemann
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