- nLighten Deutschland GmbH and noris network AG received awards for the most innovative data centre projects
- Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Lippert, Director of the Jülich Supercomputing Center, received the eco Innovation Leadership Award 2026
- Dr Béla Waldhauser received the eco Lifetime Achievement Award 2026 for his life’s work
The winners of the eco Data Center Award 2026 have been announced: at yesterday’s awards ceremony on the eve of the Data Center Expert Summit 2026, an independent six-member expert jury honoured innovative data centre projects and outstanding figures in the data centre sector. With this award, eco recognises concepts and initiatives that actively shape the digital infrastructure of tomorrow through technological excellence, sustainability, energy efficiency, resilience and innovative strength.
Award-winning innovations: the 2026 winning projects
With the project “A flagship project for sector coupling in the heart of the Rhine-Main region”, nLighten Deutschland GmbH secured the award in the category Most Innovative Data Centre Project under 3.5 MW. The data centre, located in Eschborn, will in future supply the municipal Wiesenbad and neighbouring residential buildings with around 3.6 GWh of greenhouse gas-neutral waste heat per year. This is expected to save around 1,200 tonnes of CO₂. The jury recognised this project as a scalable blueprint demonstrating that economically viable heat utilisation can make a decisive contribution to the municipal energy transition, even in densely built-up areas.
In the category over 3.5 MW connected load, noris network AG was honoured for the project “From Enterprise IT to Extreme AI Systems: NBG6 BA3 – Consistent Modularity in Data Centre Construction”. The modular, AI-compatible colocation data centre combines hybrid enterprise and high-density workloads of up to 1,000 kW per rack with a PUE of <1.15, Heat-Recovery-Readiness and a build-on-demand approach. In the jury’s view, noris network AG is setting new standards for technology integrated under one roof with its hybrid approach. With a space-saving three-storey design, the company is creating a future-proof blueprint for the AI factories of tomorrow.
eco honours pioneers of digital infrastructure
With the eco Innovation Leadership Award 2026, the jury honours Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Lippert, Director of the Jülich Supercomputing Center and Professor of Modular Supercomputing and Applied Quantum Computing at Goethe University. The high-performance computer in Jülich is regarded as a technological pioneer for the commercial, operational data centre operations of tomorrow. Through his commitment and achievements in innovation and fundamental research, Lippert has shaped the data centre landscape and anticipated technological disruption before it reaches the mass market.
Dr Béla Waldhauser received the eco Lifetime Achievement Award 2026 for his decades of commitment to Germany and Europe as data centre locations. Waldhauser is regarded as a visionary pioneer and location architect who, among other things, as CEO of Telehouse Germany, drove the expansion of high-availability infrastructures throughout his career and played a decisive role in shaping Frankfurt in particular as a fundamental infrastructure location. In his work with the eco Association, including as Leader of the Data Centre Expert Group and as long-standing spokesperson for the eco Alliance for the Strengthening of Digital Infrastructures in Germany, Waldhauser also served as a knowledgeable point of contact for politicians, partners and colleagues. He received this special award for his life’s work and his tireless commitment on behalf of the Internet industry.
About the eco Data Centre Award 2026
The eco Data Centre Award 2026 took place for the second time as part of the eco Data Centre Expert Summit on 10 June 2026 in Dreieich and recognised outstanding concepts, solutions and individuals driving the development of high-performance, sustainable and resilient digital infrastructures.
An independent expert jury carried out the evaluation. It comprised Prof. Sandra Thomas (Di4 e.V.), Mareike Jacobshagen (DE-CIX), Ulrike Ostler (DataCenter-Insider), Gerd Simon (Simabra GmbH), Harald A. Summa (eco Association) and Ralph Hintemann (Borderstep Institute). The evaluation focused on the degree of innovation, technological excellence, sustainability, energy efficiency, resilience and the relevance of the submitted concepts to future requirements for modern data centres.
