Fichter, K. & Hintemann, R. (2014). Beyond Energy. The Quantities of Materials Present in the Equipment of Data Centers. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 18 (6), 846-858.

The paper is based on the first study worldwide to analyze materials present in the equipment of data centers. The study develops a methodology which allows the calculation of the number of data centers of the various size classes and their average equipment with IT components and infrastructure elements, such as air-conditioning systems and power supplies. This enables detailed statements to be made on the materials present in the equipment of approx. 53,000 data centers in Germany.