As the worldwide demand for information centres continues to surge – pushed not solely by AI but additionally by the decentralisation of digital infrastructure – operators are going through mounting strain to stability efficiency, sustainability, and compliance.
In Europe and Asia, the pattern towards smaller, regionally distributed amenities is accelerating, spurred by issues over information sovereignty and safety.
On this aggressive panorama, the place hyperscalers and regional gamers vie to fulfill enterprise, environmental, and legislative calls for, water administration has emerged as a essential issue. Cooling alone can account for 10% to 40% of a knowledge centre’s vitality prices, and communities are more and more vocal concerning the environmental footprint of those amenities – notably relating to water use and vitality consumption.


Water is in all places in a knowledge centre – from rooftop renewables to underground boreholes, from wastewater therapy to district heating. Its omnipresence makes strategic water system design important for operational effectivity, environmental duty, and value management.
Forward of the IoT Tech Expo in Amsterdam (September 24 – 25), we spoke with Dario Menini and Igor Chodaton of Xylem, international chief in water know-how.
With a powerful monitor document within the information centre section in North America and Asia, Xylem is now extending its built-in water options all through Europe. Constructing on its established presence in lots of sectors, the corporate gives a complete portfolio below the Lowara model – famend for high-performance pumps and superior fluid administration applied sciences – tailor-made to fulfill the demanding wants of mission-important infrastructure.


Xylem’s method goes past part provide, offering a full-service, consultative mannequin for information centre operators, builders, and consultants. Its remit covers the whole lot from cooling and warmth restoration to HVAC, firefighting, and wastewater administration. In essence, it’s a one-stop store for water and thermal techniques in trendy information centres.
With a powerful monitor document of tasks – together with collaborations with AWS on large-scale water restoration – Xylem is well-positioned to fulfill Europe’s distinctive regulatory and environmental challenges. Its native presence ensures low transport overheads (due to manufacturing in Italy), quicker response instances, and tailor-made assist for regional wants.
One standout instance is Xylem’s implementation of warmth distribution techniques that channel extra warmth from information centres to close by communities for residential and business heating – returning cooled water again to the ability. The sort of round system not solely reduces waste but additionally creates tangible group advantages.
Navigating Europe’s fragmented regulatory panorama is one other space the place Xylem has a bonus. Simply as within the US, the place state-by-state guidelines fluctuate, Europe lacks a unified environmental normal for information centres. Xylem’s experience helps operators keep forward of evolving laws, guaranteeing compliance and future-proofing investments.
As sustainability turns into a central pillar of knowledge centre technique, having a accomplice that understands the complete spectrum of water and warmth administration is not non-compulsory – it’s important.
Wish to be taught extra about information centres from business leaders? Try Knowledge Centre Congress going down in Amsterdam, California, and London. The excellent occasion is a part of TechEx and co-located with different main know-how occasions. Click on right here for extra info.
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