Keeping Data Centers Cool: Discussing Building Optimization At Bisnow's May 20-22 DICE National Event

Artificial intelligence capabilities can help commercial real estate investors with automating tasks and interpreting property and market information to aid decision-making. Although AI has already had a profound impact on the industry, it elevates power demand considerably.

By 2030, global power demand is expected to rise by 165%, largely driven by AI, according to Goldman Sachs. This is pushing the envelope when it comes to data center cooling solutions.

Embracing air or liquid cooling methods can help to accommodate high power loads and regulate temperatures. While air cooling involves circulating air to take away heat, liquid cooling uses a coolant like water.

While the cooling method used is up to the user, geographic location should be a factor in that decision, Johnson Controls Vice President Matt Kightlinger said.

“The heat projection in somewhere like Phoenix, Arizona, will look a lot different than the heat projection in Minnesota,” he said. “Depending on the data center’s location, you’re going to get less capacity in either a higher elevation or a very hot climate because you end up losing capacity in these high ambient conditions. In colder climates, customers typically deploy chillers with free cooling technology to take advantage of free cooling hours.”

Kightlinger will represent Johnson Controls at Bisnow’s Data Center Investment Conference and Expo May 20-22, which will bring more than 100 speakers together for a deep dive into data center trends and opportunities. He is participating in the Data Center Operations and Management panel.

Click here to register and purchase tickets.

In a conversation with Bisnow, Kightlinger discussed the importance of having cooling infrastructure, different cooling technologies and how Johnson Controls helps walk clients through which technologies can be right for them.

Bisnow: Why is cooling infrastructure important for data center management, especially given the rise of AI?

Kightlinger: Managing a data center involves addressing rising heat densities in AI applications and maintaining set temperature points for maximum efficiency. Adhering to service level agreements is crucial, as owners must meet particular cooling specifications for water or air temperatures or face penalties for noncompliance.

For high-heat-density AI applications, many data centers use water-cooled solutions like direct-to-chip liquid cooling, making water temperature monitoring essential. Coolant distribution units are integral to the cooling infrastructure, delivering cooling directly to the chip. Designing an efficient cooling system while ensuring a robust, redundant thermal management system is key to preventing downtime.

Bisnow: What cooling infrastructure and systems are necessary for data centers to operate efficiently and sustainably?

Kightlinger: Many systems are direct-to-chip due to data center densities reaching 40, 50 or 60 kilowatts per rack, which are considered high densities. Cooling these data centers requires solutions at both the rack and chip levels.

The chiller infrastructure is critical to system design, whether air-cooled or water-cooled, depending on user preference, environment or location. Given that chillers are significant energy consumers, understanding the technology is vital, especially regarding power usage effectiveness and peak power draw, which impact the overall electrical system design.

In addition to chillers, air handlers and coolant distribution units are essential. These units act as heat exchangers and pumping systems, separating the data center's large primary cooling loop from the secondary technical water loop that supplies cooling to the rack or chip level in high-density applications.

The primary and secondary loops work together to maintain optimal temperatures within the data center. The primary loop handles the large-scale heat removal, while the secondary loop focuses on precise cooling at critical points. This separation allows for more efficient and targeted cooling for these high-density racks. 

By using both loops, data centers can achieve a balance between robust cooling capacity and localized temperature control, ensuring that high-density applications run smoothly without compromising the reliability of the entire system.

Ultimately, the cooling technology chosen by users for high-density loads at the row, rack and chip levels is crucial.

Bisnow: How can building owners decide which type of cooling method is right for their data center, and how does Johnson Controls assist clients in this decision?

Kightlinger: We have an array of different technologies when it comes to chillers, including both water-cooled and air-cooled machines. By comparing them side by side, we can see that air-cooled machines, such as magnetic bearing versus screw chillers, have distinct advantages. Magnetic bearing machines require less peak power than screw machines, providing more power for the IT load. Each technology has its benefits, depending on the application and the location of the data center.

Additionally, free cooling options allow the chiller to shut down the compressor when outside ambient temperatures are low enough to provide free cooling to the data center. Although the equipment may cost more upfront, there's a payback depending on the area's climate.

There are always trade-offs between actual efficiency and power usage effectiveness over an entire year. Balancing upfront capital cost versus operating cost is a critical analysis for our customers. We help our users and consulting engineers understand the advantages and disadvantages of each option according to their overall design needs.

Bisnow: What are you looking forward to most about attending DICE National and participating in the Data Center Operations and Management panel?

Kightlinger: I’m looking forward to the bouncing around of ideas. Everybody's trying to find solutions to something that maybe the industry hasn't dealt with in the past: the densities we talked about for years are finally here.

There's a lot of creative thought and expertise going into how to solve the rack densities that are not only currently being deployed but the kind of densities that we’re projected to see in the future.

We’re all focused on ways to design a very robust cooling infrastructure system while pushing the greatest efficiency that can effectively cool these really high-kilowatt density loads that we're going to see.

This article was produced in collaboration between Studio B and Johnson Controls. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.