Ecological and economical aspects in a comparison of desktop computers intended to be used by public authorities, under consideration of the user behaviour

The aim of the project was to improve the data basis needed to derive future-oriented recommendations on the establishment of environmentally-friendly desktop computers (dPC) in public authorities. (A) On the basis of a literature review, and with the support of experts from industry data gaps that have been identified for components such as hard disks, bare PCBs, and processors should be closed. (B) For the calculation of the environmental impact of the dPCs, assumptions on useful life, frequency and intensity of use and other parameters were needed. For this purpose, existing proposals (e.g. Energy Star, ecodesign process) and measurement standards were systematically evaluated. As a result of an expert consultation and own investigations, a proposal on an accepted usage scenario was made. C) The final step comprised ecological and economical comparison calculations on the basis of A) the variants that have been investigated in the framework of b) the developed usage scenario. In order to enable the formulation of consensual recommendations, this process was accompanied by selected experts. The result was a future-oriented ecological recommendation based upon newly generated, neutral and generic data to figure out which desktop computer equipment made most sense in relation to the protection of climate and resources under consideration of the user behaviour.