Good Cooling Makes Good Neighbors

Two weeks ago, Amazon pulled the plug on a greenfield build in Louisa County, VA — the third AWS campus proposed as part of a $35B data center expansion project. The key catalyst? Community pushback: local residents voiced concerns of potential light, air and noise pollution — the latter caused by the “constantly whirring megafans required to cool the servers”  — emitted from its facilities. 

After weeks of protests and public meetings, AWS said it would “reevaluate the project” due to the “robust input” brought forward by county residents. After AWS’ announcement, a Louisa County supervisor said: “This proves, by this withdrawal, that when citizens get involved, they can have an impact.”

Lately, the data center industry has gained mainstream attention — not always for the better. While we’re rightfully lauded as enablers of this AI era, capable of tremendous innovation and collaboration to empower our digital world, local communities have started to feel the impacts of our breakneck growth — environmentally, yes, but also financially. Unsurprisingly, they’ve started to push back on a national level. A recent report by Data Center Watch found that “$64 billion in U.S. data center projects have been blocked or delayed by a growing wave of local, bipartisan opposition.”

This poses two tricky dilemmas: local communities increasingly rely on data centers for their data; however, local communities increasingly don’t want new data centers to be built. Meanwhile, data center operators need to push performance to its limit to enable next-gen AI and HPC workloads; however, data center operators need to push performance to its limit without wasting energy or ignoring sustainability mandates.

There’s an enormous opportunity for a solution that can solve this seemingly impossible problem — a technology that can simultaneously fulfill a data center’s performance and sustainability initiatives for years to come. In turn, this technology will be able to bridge the divide between “company” and “community”; by reducing the energy and financial spend for data centers, it’ll also reduce the environmental and financial impact on local taxpayers.

Wouldn’t it be incredible if a technology like that existed?

Well, look no further.

Consume Less To Cool More

It’s no secret — energy is in short supply these days. Given current levels of spend, Gartner predicts that power scarcity will constrain 40% of existing AI data centers by 2027, and significantly limit the growth of new AI data centers by 2026. Meanwhile, with the recent announcement of NVIDIA’s forthcoming 600kW+ racks, it’s clear that the demand for available energy will soon reach a fever pitch — if it hasn’t already.

This rising demand for power comes with a rising price tag, and it’s often local residents that foot the bill. Virginians’ electric bills are expected to increase up to 70% in the next five years to accommodate new data centers, experts warn. This trend extends nationwide: The New York Times reports that American homes on average already pay $30 more per month for electricity than they did five years ago — and their rates are set to “climb higher still.”

With traditional cooling taking up to 40% of a data center’s power, any advancements in cooling can lead to higher efficiency and lower costs — for company and community alike. Our NeuCool™ two-phase direct-to-chip platform will critically aid in limiting these price hikes by delivering 50% energy savings vs. traditional air cooling and 32% energy savings vs. single-phase direct-to-chip (or 1PD2C). This reduction in energy largely contributes to a 32% lower yearly OpEx vs. 1PD2C, according to Jacobs Engineering.

We’ve employed our technology to optimize efficiency across the industry. Currently, our in-row MR250 plays a critical role in an Department of Energy ARPA-E COOLERCHIPS project meant to drastically reduce total cooling energy consumption to less than 5% of a data center’s IT load. Yes, our constant goal to cut energy costs allows companies to use more watts where they’re needed most (i.e., compute). But it also reduces the potential heavy strain on local grids — which can, in turn, make new data centers a stronger sell to nearby residents.

Turning Down the Tap

The basic science behind our 2PD2C technology also reduces our industry’s reliance on water. NeuCool’s nonconductive dielectric fluid saves facilities from heavy water usage, not only reducing the risk of droughts exacerbated by data centers in places like Phoenix, but also preventing homeowners from reportedly experiencing a total loss of water pressure in areas around Atlanta.

NeuCool’s waterless cooling carries a whole host of corollary benefits for your data center and its surrounding community:

• Higher facility water (FW) temperatures further limit water usage. At 8℃ higher inlet temperatures, NeuCool allows data centers to reduce their dependency on cooling infrastructure like evaporative towers — which consume huge amounts of water — to maintain desired FW temperatures.
• 2PD2C boosts the frequency of free cooling. Studies have indicated that 2PD2C can enable free cooling in tropical areas like Singapore up to 97% of the year — vs. 24% of the year for 1PD2C.
• Zero waste created by water treatment. Unlike water-based cooling systems, our dielectric refrigerant doesn’t require constant treatment to prevent corrosion or biogrowths. This treatment process typically involves removing “blowdown water” for proper cleaning, consequently raising a system’s overall water footprint.

We can accomplish all of the above with a solution that doesn’t skimp on performance, either. In fact, it sets the industry standard: at 4500W per socket, you can prepare your data center for the next generations of AI without needless strain on your local water supply.

Cooling That Cares

At a time when companies are under considerable pressure to deliver higher performance with fewer resources, NeuCool proves that operators don’t have to choose between power and responsibility. Our two-phase, direct-to-chip solution will allow you to empower the future of AI and high-density computing while safeguarding the water and energy that local communities rely on.

With NeuCool, you’ll become a “force for good” and a “force to be reckoned with” — achieving cooling that’s sustainable without compromise.