Trane Feature: Pioneers of Data Center Cooling Sustainability

Scaling Up Cooling Solutions

Chillers have long been a cornerstone of data center cooling for over 25 years. However, the scale of operations has dramatically increased in recent years. Where once a few chillers sufficed, now entire infrastructures require hundreds of these critical components.

“We're not building small widgets,” Danielle continues. “We’re building tractor trailer-size devices with hundreds and thousands of components. We’re having very different conversations than before.”

This shift towards larger-scale infrastructure underscores the need for bespoke solutions that help with exceptional performance, efficiency, and sustainability. Collaborative design is becoming increasingly important to meet these evolving demands.

Commitment to Sustainability

Sustainability should be at the heart of modern data center operations. Initiatives like Trane Technologies’ Gigaton Challenge aim to help customers save a gigaton of emissions by 2030.

“We’re not only trying to increase our sustainability but help our customers to do it as well,” Danielle explains. “It’s in a lot of our innovation. We have a lot of projects from an innovation standpoint that are all sustainability-focused.”

The focus on sustainability extends beyond individual products to entire cooling systems, where enhancement and control play crucial roles. This holistic approach offers that data centers can help maintain high efficiency while helping to minimize their environmental impact.

Improving Performance and Helping to Reduce Downtime

One of the most integral parts of data center operations is helping facilities operate at enhanced levels with minimal downtime. Key to this is HVAC controls, which provide visibility into every component while helping to improve efficiency.

As data centers continue to increase in size, facilities are equipped with multiple chillers, making it crucial to have controls that can coordinate an entire system to help prevent issues like hotspots, especially during extreme weather conditions.

“For example, London got to 40°C two summers ago, and most data centers at the time were designed for a maximum of 35°C. That prompted a big problem because yes, the units overheated, but the units in the middle of multi-chiller systems got very hot. How do you control that? How do you load shed, how do you swap between groupings? It’s important to  improve operations day-to-day for efficiency, but during periods of extreme heat, it’s really important to improve it so you don't have downtime,” Danielle shares.

The Importance of Predictive Maintenance

Predictive maintenance is crucial for helping the longevity and reliability of HVAC systems. This helps involve performance monitoring and equipment condition monitoring during regular operations to help address issues before they escalate into failures, preventing deteriorating performance and costly downtime.

“If you don’t change the oil in your car, it’s going to seize at some point,” Danielle adds. “Yes, it will work fine for however many thousand miles, but at some point, it’ll start to not work as well. Things will start to break, and then ultimately it will completely fail. Now there is more recognition that maintenance is so important.”

This analogy highlights the importance of maintaining your data center cooling equipment.

Collaborating to Innovate Data Center Operations

In the business of optimizing performance, collaboration with innovative partners is key. One noteworthy collaborator is LiquidStack , a next-generation liquid immersion provider. Strategic investments in such collaborations help to enhance cooling efficiency and performance, addressing the challenges of rising heat and higher rack densities.

“We did a Series B in LiquidStack last year, learning a little bit more about that market over the last couple of years and discussing the different technologies and what's being used,” Danielle says.

By staying closely connected with clients within the mission-critical cooling market, the industry can anticipate changes and evolve technologies and solutions accordingly. “This isn’t a large industry,” Danielle explains. “It’s a large industry in size, but not in terms of the number of customers. We want to keep the best relationship with our customers as we can, but more importantly, we want to make sure that they’re fixing their problems and getting what they need.”

A Bright Future for Data Center Cooling

Looking ahead, maintaining current strategies while anticipating and adapting to emerging trends and technologies is crucial. “We will continue to work with our customers in collaborative design to aim to be state-of-the-art and doing the things needed of us, specifically by our customers,” Danielle concludes.

“There’s so much happening. Because of this, the team is growing. In the next 18 months to two years, there’s definitely going to be changes in the market. We’ll strive we’re on top, and not just when it comes to product—controls, services, and energy services, we’re going to improve it as much as possible for customers.”

There’s no sign of slowing down when it comes to providing high-quality solutions while embracing innovation and staying responsive to evolving market demands. “There’s a lot of different technologies out there that are very interesting and there’s very specific applications. The people that want them, love them. Between new technologies and optimizing existing technologies, we will make sure that we remain a leading solutions provider in data center cooling.”