Johnson Controls Expands AI Data Center Cooling Blueprint with Air-Cooled Chiller Guide
Event summary
- Johnson Controls released its second AI Factory Reference Design Guide, focusing on air-cooled chillers, on May 5, 2026.
- The guide supports zero-water cooling, eliminating cooling towers and saving 12+ million gallons of water per day.
- Design enables up to 50 MW of power returned to AI factories and a 32% improvement in annual energy consumption.
- Additional guides covering absorption chillers and direct-to-chip liquid cooling are planned.
- The guide outlines thermal cooling architecture for data centers up to 1 GW, including YORK centrifugal chillers and other components.
The big picture
Johnson Controls' expansion of its AI Factory Reference Design Guides underscores the growing complexity of cooling infrastructure for large-scale AI data centers. As AI workloads demand more power and generate more heat, the shift towards air-cooled and zero-water cooling systems represents a strategic response to rising energy costs, water scarcity, and regulatory pressures. The company's move to standardize these designs could set a new industry benchmark for efficiency and sustainability in data center operations.
What we're watching
- Adoption Pace
- How quickly data center operators will implement Johnson Controls' air-cooled chiller designs in gigawatt-scale AI factories.
- Competitive Response
- Whether competitors will develop similar comprehensive design guides to capture market share in AI data center cooling.
- Regulatory Impact
- The extent to which zero-water cooling solutions will influence environmental regulations for data center operations.
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