Water consumption has become one of the most debated aspects of the data center industry, as concerns mount over usage.
As pressure heats up on companies to cater to AI demand, so too does their environmental responsibility. Tuan Hoang, who leads the product development and innovation team for Schneider Electric’s cooling business, is well-versed in water and cooling discussions being a firm priority.
“Water usage for cooling has been around and leveraged for decades to provide efficient cooling, but that has shifted,” he explained during a recent DCD>Talks interview. “AI and accelerated compute have brought it to the forefront.”
It’s important to understand all aspects of water usage and efficiency in terms of what it means, how much the industry is consuming, what it’s being used for, and how new technologies and new compute workloads can reduce reliance on water and energy consumption.
For Hoang, that balance must be taken into account as the industry looks at data center efficiency. Particularly as these conversations come during a time of immense public pressure and resistance to data centers.
