White Paper: Utilization of Waste Heat in the Data Center

Industry 4.0, autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, social networking, video streaming – more and more and increasingly powerful applications require more and more computing power in data centers. The demands are growing to such an extent that, despite significant advances in the energy efficiency of information technology and data center infrastructure, the power requirements of data centers are increasing continuously.

If climate protection is to be taken seriously, waste heat from data centers should be utilized sensibly. Many national and international examples already demonstrate that this is possible. There are a wide variety of possible uses for waste heat from data centers. They range from the use of waste heat for adjacent office buildings, to the connection of data centers to local and district heating networks, through to its use for greenhouses and “vertical farming”.

This white paper is intended to present possibilities for utilizing waste heat from data centers in Germany cost-efficiently. This is intended to help overcome the challenges currently faced by data center operators.

Possible uses for waste heat from data centers
- District and local heating
- Utilization of waste heat from data centers in neighborhood facilities
- Direct utilization in own building
- Potential for refrigeration from waste heat
Use of heat pumps
Innovative technical approaches to waste heat utilization
- Multifunctional high-performance heat recovery systems
- Waste heat utilization with water-cooled IT systems
Summary and conclusion

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Utilization of Waste Heat in the Data Center

A white paper by NeRZ in collaboration with eco – Association of the Internet Industry

Data center operators have long been committed to sustainability

Content of the White Paper

Download the white paper free of charge