Next-Level Cooling Efficiency for Data Centres
Data centres form the backbone of our digital infrastructure. With data usage surging in both business and personal contexts, operators face mounting challenges – most critically, the rising energy demands driven by AI workloads.
Energy consumption is outpacing infrastructure growth, pushing energy availability to its limits. At the same time, operators must navigate stricter regulations for energy efficiency and CO₂ reduction.
Cooling is central to this issue, accounting for up to 30% of a data centre’s total energy use. Global cooling energy consumption is projected to rise from 136 to 257TWh by 2028, with costs expected to grow from $19bn to $36bn.
Smart cooling optimisation with NEXAIRA.Systems
NEXAIRA.Systems by ebm-papst offers a comprehensive solution to meet these challenges.
This AI-driven Cooling Supply Optimizer helps data centre operators reduce energy use, lower operating costs, and meet sustainability targets – all while ensuring system reliability.
The solution optimises the entire cooling cycle by intelligently managing and coordinating all cooling components for peak performance.
Digital twin intelligence for optimal performance
At the core of NEXAIRA.Systems is the Cooling Supply Optimizer – an AI-based energy manager that delivers the required cooling capacity at the lowest cost, without compromising safety or reliability.
It creates a digital twin of the HVAC system in the data centre’s grey space (including pumps, chillers, towers, and coolers) to simulate, predict, and calculate the most efficient setpoints in real time. It factors in variables such as weather forecasts and demand projections, enabling fully automated, closed-loop control via the BMS.
This real-time, demand- and climate-responsive control reduces energy and water consumption in the grey space while maintaining safe and autonomous operation in the white space.
The system also detects anomalies, enabling proactive maintenance, faster troubleshooting, and better ESG reporting with actionable data. As practical additions to facilitated cooling supply management, the solution offers quality of life features such as easy report generation and automatic assessments and workflows.
With NEXAIRA.Systems, operators gain full control over their cooling infrastructure: deep operational insights, real-time monitoring, proactive alerts, and advanced simulation capabilities. This results in more stable, efficient operations, lower OPEX, and a measurable ROI – all achieved without compromising cooling performance.
NEXAIRA.Systems in action
As the demand for reliable and efficient server rack cooling rises, a major data centre operator in Germany searched for a solution that would reduce the energy use in the grey space while keeping the IT floor safe and reliable.
The site in question hosts over 3,000 IT cabinets across 6,600 sqm (71,042 sq ft) and relies on a complex mix of cooling infrastructure, including chillers, pumps, heat exchangers and buffer tanks.
To enhance the efficiency, reliability and sustainability of the cooling systems, the operator decided to implement NEXAIRA.Systems and its Cooling Supply Optimizer for AI-powered management of the mission-critical cooling supply.
The result: the AI-driven Cooling Supply Optimization of NEXAIRA.Systems achieved 900 MWh/year in energy savings and 240 tCO₂/year in emissions reduction.
Following this successful deployment, the approach is scalable across the operator’s wider data centre portfolio.
