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As AI workloads surge, data centers are generating unprecedented amounts of heat around the clock. By capturing this byproduct through thermal energy networks, campuses and communities can turn what was once waste into a reliable, renewable energy resource.
Civil Engineer
sransbottom@wendelcompanies.com
1.877.293.6335
AI-driven data centers are among the most energy-intensive facilities ever built. Racks of GPUs and specialized processors deliver extraordinary computing power but generate an equally extraordinary amount of heat. Virtually all the energy consumed by the data center equipment is converted to heat, creating a continuous, 24-hour thermal output typically vented into the air or dissipated through water-intensive coolers.
Modern liquid cooling strategies, including direct-to-chip cooling, rear-door heat exchangers, and aisle containment, are advancing rapidly. Still, most facilities operate in hybrid environments, where liquid systems manage roughly 80 percent of the load and air systems handle the rest. In either case, the energy does not disappear. It becomes heat, ready and waiting to be utilized.
Treating this heat as a waste stream is an expensive missed opportunity. When captured and redirected into a thermal energy network, it becomes a predictable, renewable energy source for nearby buildings. Even a single high-density data center can continuously reject hundreds of therms of recoverable heat, enough to warm multiple labs and classrooms, an entire office complex, or dozens of residential buildings.
Because data centers operate year-round, their waste heat offers a constant and stable supply. Unlike solar or wind, the source does not fluctuate with the weather. This makes data centers uniquely suited to anchor community or campus energy networks.
Thermal energy networks are insulated water loops that move heat in and out of multiple buildings. Each building uses heat pumps to draw from or contribute to the loop. Data centers fit naturally into this system because rather than discarding heat into the atmosphere, they feed it into the network.
That heat can be used immediately for space heating, hot water, or industrial loads. It can also be stored in shallow boreholes underground, where the earth acts as a thermal battery. Stored heat can be retrieved by ground source heat pumps weeks or months later, smoothing seasonal demand with low-temperature geothermal technology. In this way, a network can achieve efficiencies of up to eight heating or cooling units for every unit of electricity consumed.
Campuses of all types, including universities, healthcare systems, research facilities, and corporate headquarters, are ideal environments for thermal energy networks. They combine diverse building types with different heating and cooling loads. A laboratory might need cooling year-round, while residence halls or office blocks require winter heat. Connecting these uses through a common loop allows one building’s byproduct to meet another’s demand.
For example, a data center large enough to serve a mid-size research university can offset millions of kilowatt-hours of energy use across academic buildings and housing. A similar facility could reduce or eliminate reliance on combustion-based boilers on a corporate campus. The model scales up or down, starting with a single data center and a handful of connected buildings, then expanding as infrastructure and demand grow.
The benefits extend beyond energy. Redirecting waste heat into a thermal energy network avoids this evaporation. Existing networks show annual savings equivalent to the water use of thousands of buildings, a critical advantage for campuses in regions facing water scarcity.
By integrating data centers into thermal energy networks, institutions can reduce reliance on fossil fuels for heating, improve grid resilience by lowering peak electricity demand, capture long-term cost savings through higher efficiency, preserve water resources, and align with decarbonization commitments visibly and measurably.
At Wendel, we help clients turn these opportunities into working systems. Our teams conduct feasibility studies with test boreholes, design and engineer thermal loops, optimize existing systems, and integrate heat pumps into district networks. Each project is customized to the campus, whether a university seeking carbon neutrality, a healthcare system aiming to cut operating costs, or a corporate client planning for resilience.
The rise of AI has accelerated demand for computing power, but it has also given us a new opportunity. With the right planning and engineering, data centers can shift from being energy burdens to becoming community energy assets, delivering digital power and physical warmth and resilience to the neighborhoods and campuses they serve.