Trane adds CRAH units to DC cooling portfolio

Trane, an American manufacturer of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, has expanded its data centre thermal management range with the addition of a Computer Room Air Handler (CRAH) system. The unit is designed to maintain airflow and temperature conditions for servers and other electronic equipment, aiming to support operational uptime while reducing energy use. The CRAH system is equipped with Trane’s Symbio controller, which provides a broad capacity range and customisable configurations. The controller enables leader designation and dynamic reassignment for up to 32 units, allowing continuous operation and access to digital tools for lifecycle management. According to Trane, the new airside system is intended for both colocation and hyperscale data centre operators seeking flexible integration into existing or new-build facilities. Steve Obstein, Vice President and General Manager, Data Centres, Trane Technologies, says, “Expansion of our airside offer gives our colo and hyperscale customers greater flexibility for configuring custom systems and addresses the growing trend toward a single-source solutions provider.” Integration and lifecycle support The CRAH addition is part of Trane’s wider approach to unifying and integrating thermal management systems through smart controls. The company offers local service teams across North America and remote monitoring capabilities for predictive maintenance and operational oversight. Recent updates to Trane’s thermal management portfolio include: • Scalable liquid cooling platforms• A fan coil wall platform• Larger capacity and higher ambient temperature air-cooled chillers The CRAH system has been developed to operate alongside these technologies as part of a consolidated data centre cooling strategy, with the aim of improving efficiency, reliability, and sustainability. For more from Trane, click here.

DC BLOX secures $1.15bn for Atlanta data centre

DC BLOX, a provider of connected data centres and fibre networks, has announced that it has closed $1.15 billion (£858 million) in green loan financing for the construction of a data centre campus in Douglas County, Georgia, USA. The funds will support the development of a 120 MW data centre and include campus expansion to support an additional 80 MW, available in 2027. “Securing this capital confirms confidence in our execution track record,” comments Melih Ileri, SVP of Capital Markets & Strategy at DC BLOX. “Continuing to deliver our projects on time and with excellence has earned us the trust of our customers and investors, leading to this historic growth in our business.” This project comes on the heels of recently announced DC BLOX projects including multiple hyperscale edge nodes across the US Southeast. With additional hyperscale-ready data centre capacity available in Conyers and Douglasville, Georgia, DC BLOX believes it is set to rapidly expand its presence around Atlanta. “With this latest project announcement, DC BLOX continues to deliver on its mission to build the foundational digital infrastructure needed to drive the Southeast’s growing economy,” claims Jeff Uphues, CEO of DC BLOX. “Atlanta is the fastest-growing data centre market in the US today and we are proud to enable our customers to expand their footprint in our region.” This financing follows the prior $265 million (£197.5 million) green loan secured from industry lenders, as well as the growth equity that was committed by Post Road Group in the fourth quarter of 2024. “The DC BLOX management team has done a terrific job positioning the business for success in the Southeast, with a consistent focus on serving the customer and community,” says Michael Bogdan, Managing Partner at Post Road Group. “We are thankful to all our capital partners who have helped capitalise the company to meet the tremendous hyperscale and edge growth the company has experienced.” Those involved in the deal • ING Capital served as Structuring and Administrative Agent• ING, Mizuho Bank, and Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking (Natixis CIB) served as Initial Coordinating Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners• First Citizens Bank served as Coordinating Lead Arranger• CoBank ACB, LBBW New York Branch, The Toronto-Dominion Bank New York Branch, and KeyBank National Association served as Joint Lead Arrangers• The Huntington National Bank served as Mandated Lead Arranger• ING and Natixis CIB also served as Joint Green Loan Coordinators• A&O Shearman served as counsel to DC BLOX• Milbank served as counsel to the lenders For more from DC BLOX, click here.

Why data centres should care about atmospheric chemistry

Data centres are multiplying to satisfy the world’s appetite for computational power, driven by AI and other emerging technologies. The outcome has been an unprecedented surge in energy demand and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Here, Alexander Krajete, CEO at emissions treatment specialist Krajete, explains why data centres must look beyond their direct carbon footprint and adopt a holistic approach to multi-emission capture and valorisation: What's changed? Data centres once had a modest footprint, accounting for under 1% of global GHG emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. But rising demand from AI, streaming, and blockchain is set to more than double their energy use from 415 TWh in 2024 to 945 TWh by 2030. Some tech giants share these predictions. Google stated in its 2024 Environmental Report that “in spite of the progress we're making, we face significant challenges that we’re actively working through. In 2023, our total GHG emissions increased 13% year-over-year, primarily driven by increased data centre energy consumption and supply chain emissions.” A holistic approach to data centre sustainability Some leading tech companies claim to have purchased or generated enough renewable electricity to match 100% of their operational energy consumption. As the IEA notes, buying renewable energy or certificates doesn’t guarantee a data centre runs on clean power 24/7 due to the intermittency of renewables and potential mismatches in location or grid. A more accurate, holistic calculation also includes indirect emissions throughout the supply chain — the so-called scope three emissions. These include mining raw materials like copper, silicon, and lithium - used in a data centre’s server racks - or the production of building materials like aluminium, steel, and concrete. Complying with new sustainability regulations Although not specifically aimed at data centres, the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires organisations, including tech companies, to report on their sustainability performance, including scope one, two, and three emissions. In addition, in 2024, the European Commission adopted legislation specifically aimed at “establishing an EU-wide scheme to rate the sustainability of EU data centres.” To comply with these new legal obligations, data centre operators must examine their environmental footprint holistically. Why atmospheric chemistry matters to data centres Although reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere remains vital, we must also address other gases that can harm our ecosystems and climate. These chemicals include nitrogen oxides (NOX), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulphide (H2S), sulphur oxides (SOX), hydrocarbons, and various metals. Once released, these gases can react with one another, leading to secondary pollutants. The consequences of these are yet to be fully understood. They originate from combustion-heavy sectors like mining, cement, and energy, all contributors to scope two and three emissions. Traditionally, there have been two ways of capturing atmospheric pollutants. Take CO2 as an example. The sacrificial method uses limestone to remove CO2 and other gases, creating non-reusable carbonates. The regenerative amine-based method produces reusable amine carbamates but emits harmful, amine-based degradation products. Advanced adsorption is a low-energy, low-emission regenerative process that captures and valorises emissions at temperatures below 100°C, far lower than the 150–200°C required for amine-based methods. Pollutant gases weakly bind to a complex inorganic filter, allowing for easy separation. It can be applied at the exhaust point of any combustion process, such as cement factory chimneys or stationary diesel engines. By supporting the adoption of advanced adsorption technology throughout their supply chains, data centres can address their scope two and three emissions more effectively and meet their sustainability goals. Multi-emission capture is the key to sustainable data centres Thanks to innovative technologies like advanced adsorption, we can go beyond capturing and neutralising pollutants like nitrogen oxides. We can also transform these emissions into valuable by-products like fertilisers, supporting a circular economy. As the world’s insatiable demand for data grows, data centres must adopt holistic sustainability strategies that withstand the test of time. Multi-emission capture must be part of the solution, enabling data centres to balance the growing need for powerful AI with the needs of our planet.

BSRIA first UKAS-accredited provider for BTS 4/2024

BSRIA, a consultancy and testing organisation, has become the first organisation to receive UKAS accreditation in accordance with BTS 4/2024 for airtightness testing of Raised Access Plenum Floors (RAPFs), following a successful ISO 17025 audit earlier in 2024. The accreditation formally extends BSRIA’s scope of approved activities and introduces an industry-recognised methodology for testing RAPFs, which play a key role in airflow management in data centres. Chris Knights, BSRIA Building Performance Evaluation Business Manager and lead author of BTS 4/2024, comments, “The UKAS accreditation ensures we continue to provide independent testing to the highest standards of quality, repeatability, and traceability. "This is a significant advancement, enabling the industry to adopt a dedicated standard that supports higher-performing building services for owners and operators.” BTS 4/2024 standard The accreditation follows the introduction of BTS 4/2024 Airtightness Testing of Raised Access Plenum Floors, which sets out a methodology for measuring RAPF air leakage. The standard is designed to support efficient airflow management by ensuring conditioned air in underfloor voids is directed to the intended occupied areas rather than escaping through cavities, risers, stairwells, or other adjacent spaces. RAPFs are widely used in modern construction, particularly in data centres, where optimised airflow is important for both cooling performance and energy efficiency. BTS 4/2024 supersedes previous guidance, BG 65/2016 Floor Plenum Airtightness – Guidance and Testing Methodology, and incorporates clearer guidance and refined testing processes developed in response to industry feedback. Chris continues, “An effectively constructed and sealed raised access plenum floor is essential for achieving the air distribution performance intended during the design phase. "The methodology in BTS 4/2024 provides clear criteria and a step-by-step process for verifying as-built performance. "With increasing demand for high-performing environments such as data centres, specifying BTS 4/2024 supports effective air distribution and helps ensure RAPFs deliver on design intent.”

Macquarie, Dell bring AI factories to Australia

Australian data centre operator Macquarie Data Centres, part of Macquarie Technology Group, is collaborating with US multinational technology company Dell Technologies with the aim of providing a secure, sovereign home for AI workloads in Australia. Macquarie Data Centres will host the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA within its AI and cloud data centres. This approach seeks to power enterprise AI, private AI, and neo cloud projects while achieving high standards of data security within sovereign data centres. This development will be particularly relevant for critical infrastructure providers and highly regulated sectors such as healthcare, finance, education, and research, which have strict regulatory compliance conditions relating to data storage and processing. This collaboration hopes to give them the secure, compliant foundation needed to build, train, and deploy advanced AI applications in Australia, such as AI digital twins, agentic AI, and private LLMs. Answering the Government’s call for sovereign AI The Australian Government has linked the data centre sector to its 'Future Made in Australia' policy agenda. Data centres and AI also play an important role in the Australian Federal Government’s new push to improve Australia’s productivity. “For Australia's AI-driven future to be secure, we must ensure that Australian data centres play a core role in AI, data, infrastructure, and operations,” says David Hirst, CEO, Macquarie Data Centres. “Our collaboration with Dell Technologies delivers just that, the perfect marriage of global tech and sovereign infrastructure.” Sovereignty meets scalability Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA infrastructure and software will be supported by Macquarie Data Centres’ newest purpose-built AI and cloud data centre, IC3 Super West. The 47MW facility is, according to the company, "purpose-built for the scale, power, and cooling demands of AI infrastructure." It is to be ready in mid-2026 with the entire end-state power secured. “Our work with Macquarie Data Centres helps bring the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA vision to life in Australia,” comments Jamie Humphrey, General Manager, Australia & New Zealand Specialty Platforms Sales, Dell Technologies ANZ. “Together, we are enabling organisations to develop and deploy AI as a transformative and competitive advantage in Australia in a way that is secure, sovereign, and scalable.” Macquarie Technology Group and Dell Technologies have been collaborating for more than 15 years. For more from Macquarie Data Centres, click here.

Cresa launches DC capital markets platform

Cresa, a US-based commercial real estate advisory firm, has launched a new Data Center Capital Markets and Advisory platform following the appointment of Michael Morris, Sumner Putnam, and Matt Deutsch, previously of Newmark. The team, which has led data centre transactions across more than 50 global markets, will expand Cresa’s service offering to include advisory, transaction structuring, and capital markets services focused on major data centre projects. Michael Morris, who will lead the new platform as President, has been involved in more than 1,000 data centre real estate transactions and brings decades of experience to the role. He will be based in Cresa’s New York City office and supported by colleagues across the United States. “The data centre infrastructure expansion underway is one of the most important technological challenges of our time,” says Tod Lickerman, CEO of Cresa. “Michael and his team are true data centre leaders and provide significant, unique advantages to our clients with strong insight, advocacy, and the ability to get deals done.” Michael previously served as Vice Chairman at Newmark and established the firm’s data centre practice almost two decades ago. His past client list includes Digital Realty Trust, Verizon, CyrusOne, Memorial Sloan Kettering, CoreSite, New York University, Landmark Dividend, Chevron, and multiple hyperscale providers. He holds data centre design qualifications including Certified Power Quality Professional (CPQ) and Data Center Dynamics Cooling Professional, and an MBA in Finance from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College. “I am pleased to be joining Cresa to build a global practice,” comments Michael. “I was drawn to the firm’s shared vision, and I’m looking forward to serving as a board advisor to help shape its future.” Sumner Putnam joins as Managing Principal. He was also part of Newmark’s data centre team and previously worked at JLL. His expertise includes site selection, lease negotiation, and colocation agreements, with experience supporting clients such as CyrusOne, NYU, HSBC, Bank of America, Tumi, and Mapletree. The team also includes Cresa Senior Analyst Mackensey Gawne, and will collaborate with global data centre specialists from Cresa’s international partner, Knight Frank, with whom Morris has worked for nearly 25 years. The group will support a range of client types, including landlords, tenants, buyers, and sellers. In addition to its focus on data centre and mission-critical environments, the team will continue to support office sector clients with broader real estate requirements.

Sabey's Ashburn campus opening for tours

Sabey Data Centers, a data centre developer, owner, and operator, has announced that its Ashburn campus in Virginia, USA, will be featured as an exclusive tour stop during the 2025 Data Center Frontier Trends Summit. The off-site tour will take place on Thursday, 28 August 2025, offering attendees an up-close look at the infrastructure and sustainable design powering mission-critical IT environments. Located in in the centre of Loudoun County’s Data Center Alley, Sabey’s 38-acre campus includes two completed buildings providing more than 36 MW of power. The site features flexible colocation and powered shell space, along with access to multiple Tier 1 connectivity providers. The campus is Energy Star Certified and equipped with low PUE design and advanced cooling technologies. Attendees will tour Sabey’s secure facility and view key IT and critical infrastructure equipment. Tour details When:Thursday, 28 August 2025 | 1:30pm(Transportation departs from Hyatt Regency Reston at 12:30pm)Duration: Approximately 1.5 hours Where:Sabey Data Centers - Ashburn21741 Red Rum DriveAshburn, Virginia 20147 The tour has limited space and pre-registration is required via the Data Center Frontier Trends Summit website. For more from Sabey, click here.

Cloudera is bringing Private AI to data centres

Cloudera, a hybrid platform for data, analytics, and AI, today announced the latest release of Cloudera Data Services, bringing Private AI on premises and aiming to give enterprises secure, GPU-accelerated generative AI capabilities behind their firewall. With built-in governance and hybrid portability, Cloudera says organisations can now build and scale their own sovereign data cloud in their own data centre, "eliminating security concerns." The company claims it is the only vendor that delivers the full data lifecycle with the same cloud-native services on premises and in the public cloud. Concerns about keeping sensitive data and intellectual property secure is a key factor in what holds back AI adoption for enterprises across industries. According to Accenture, 77% of organisations lack the foundational data and AI security practices needed to safeguard critical models, data pipelines, and cloud infrastructure. Cloudera argues that it directly addresses the biggest security and intellectual property risks of enterprise AI, allowing customers to "accelerate their journey from prototype to production from months to weeks." Through this release, the company claims users could reduce infrastructure costs and streamline data lifecycles, boosting data team productivity, as well as accelerating workload deployment, enhancing security by automating complex tasks, and achieving faster time-to-value for AI deployment. As part of this release, both Cloudera AI Inference Service and AI Studios are now available in data centres. Both of these tools are designed to tackle the barriers to enterprise AI adoption and have previously been available in cloud only. Details of the products • Cloudera AI Inference services, accelerated by NVIDIA: The company says this is one of the industry’s first AI inference services to provide embedded NVIDIA NIM microservice capabilities and it is streamlining the deployment and management of large-scale AI models to data centres. It continues to suggest the engine helps deploy and manage the AI production lifecycle, right in the data centre, where data already securely resides. • Cloudera AI Studios: The company claims this offering democratises the entire AI application lifecycle, offering "low-code templates that empower teams to build and deploy GenAI applications and agents." Data and comments According to an independent Total Economic Impact (TEI) study - conducted by Forrester Consulting and commissioned by Cloudera - a composite organisation representative of interviewed customers who adopted Cloudera Data Services on premises saw: • An 80% faster time-to-value for workload deployment• A 20% increase in productivity for data practitioners and platform teams• Overall savings of 35% from the modern cloud-native architecture The study also highlighted operational efficiency gains, with some organisations improving hardware utilisation from 30% to 70% and reporting they needed between 25% to 50% less capacity after modernising. “Historically, enterprises have been forced to cobble together complex, fragile DIY solutions to run their AI on premises,” comments Sanjeev Mohan, an industry analyst. “Today, the urgency to adopt AI is undeniable, but so are the concerns around data security. What enterprises need are solutions that streamline AI adoption, boost productivity, and do so without compromising on security.” Leo Brunnick, Cloudera’s Chief Product Officer, claims, “Cloudera Data Services On-Premises delivers a true cloud-native experience, providing agility and efficiency without sacrificing security or control. “This release is a significant step forward in data modernisation, moving from monolithic clusters to a suite of agile, containerised applications.” Toto Prasetio, Chief Information Officer of BNI, states, "BNI is proud to be an early adopter of Cloudera’s AI Inference service. "This technology provides the essential infrastructure to securely and efficiently expand our generative AI initiatives, all while adhering to Indonesia's dynamic regulatory environment. "It marks a significant advancement in our mission to offer smarter, quicker, and more dependable digital banking solutions to the people of Indonesia." This product is being demonstrated at Cloudera’s annual series of data and AI conferences, EVOLVE25, starting this week in Singapore.

Joule, Caterpillar, Wheeler to power Utah DC

Joule Capital Partners, an infrastructure company, Caterpillar, a manufacturer of construction equipment, and Wheeler Machinery, a dealer of heavy construction equipment, have jointly announced an agreement to power Joule’s High Performance Compute Data Center Campus in Utah. Joule says it aims to create the largest single campus in Utah. Bringing multiple gigawatts of capacity to Utah This initiative will provide four gigawatts of total energy to the centre of the Intermountain West. The project will deliver prime power and integrated combined cooling heat and power (CCHP) systems with a by-design liquid cooling architecture. Powered by a fleet of Caterpillar’s latest G3520K generator sets and support equipment, the distributed generation system produces electricity and captures waste heat to power and cool high-density server systems. The provision includes 1.1 gigawatt hours of grid forming battery energy storage along with backup power generation served by diverse fuel sources. Due to Caterpillar’s US-based manufacturing footprint, the full generation package should be able to be delivered ahead of other generation technologies. This speed-to-power advantage could be critical for meeting the growth in demand for compute capacity. Beyond the gensets, this integrated system includes the controls, switchgear, inverters, energy storage, and CCHP, providing a total power provision for the Joule data centre. Caterpillar and Wheeler will also provide service and support for the products and systems, aiming to ensure uptime and availability targets are met. Comments “This project represents the core of Joule’s mission: to deliver artificial-intelligence-(AI)-ready compute capacity by pairing world-class data centre campuses with reliable, on-demand power,” says David Gray, President of Joule Capital Partners. “By combining Caterpillar’s advanced energy systems with Wheeler’s local expertise, we can bring gigawatt-scale capacity to market faster and more efficiently than ever before, ensuring our tenants have the power and reliability they need to thrive in the next generation of high-performance computing.” Melissa Busen, Senior Vice President of Electric Power at Caterpillar, adds, “Caterpillar is uniquely positioned to tackle the growing energy needs for artificial intelligence and the evolving needs of modern infrastructure. "This project is a perfect example of how we can deliver fast, reliable power generation to our customers through integrated energy solutions. We are proud to work with Joule and Wheeler to help bring this project to life.” Bryan Campbell, CEO of Wheeler Machinery, claims, “This strategic alliance between Joule, Caterpillar, and Wheeler brings together world-class engineering, local expertise, and visionary energy design. “We’re proud to help deliver a resilient solution ready to meet future compute demands and set a new standard for data centre infrastructure.”

F5 and Equinix expand collaboration

US technology company F5 and Equinix, a US-based data centre and colocation provider, today announced an expansion of their partnership to support secure deployment of modern applications and AI workloads across hybrid multi-cloud environments. The collaboration integrates the F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP) with Equinix’s Network Edge and Equinix Fabric with the intention of enabling global, virtualised deployment of application services without requiring physical infrastructure. The move is aimed at helping enterprises reduce the operational complexity and cost associated with managing distributed digital infrastructure, while supporting regulatory compliance and improved security. A key feature of the expanded offering is the availability of F5 Distributed Cloud Customer Edge as a virtual network function (VNF) on Equinix Network Edge. This should enable organisations to provision F5’s application delivery and security services across Equinix’s global infrastructure in near real-time, allowing for rapid scalability without physical hardware deployments. The system supports a range of AI-related use cases, including low-latency environments for inference and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), while also addressing concerns around data sovereignty and privacy. John Maddison, Chief Product and Corporate Marketing Officer at F5, comments, “AI is putting massive new demands on infrastructure, especially at the edge, where latency, security, and control are critical. "Enterprises need faster, more secure ways to deploy and connect applications and AI workloads globally without the complexity of managing physical infrastructure. Our expanded partnership with Equinix gives customers exactly that: a flexible, high-performance foundation to support AI-driven use cases and deliver exceptional digital experiences across any environment.” Key features of the offering • Support for distributed AI workloads – Enables secure, high-speed connections for AI use cases, including inference and RAG, while protecting sensitive data • Global deployment without physical infrastructure – Allows enterprises to launch application services in new locations using virtual functions, reducing time to market and capital expenditure • Improved agility and responsiveness – Provides the ability to scale and adapt infrastructure to changing demands across multiple environments • Unified policy enforcement – Supports consistent application of security and compliance policies across different regions and jurisdictions The integration also provides F5 customers with access to Equinix’s global interconnection ecosystem, including low-latency links to major cloud providers, while Equinix users can now deploy F5 services directly through the Network Edge platform. Existing purchasing agreements can be used by customers of either company to access the joint system. Maryam Zand, Vice President of Partnerships and Ecosystem Development at Equinix, says, “Organisations are racing to adopt AI, but legacy infrastructure can slow them down or expose them to unnecessary risk. "By partnering with F5, we’re giving our customers a seamless way to scale their AI applications and modern distributed workloads with built-in security, compliance, and performance. This solution can help businesses innovate faster, safeguard their operations, and maintain a competitive edge.”