Harnessing the Heat: How UK Data Centres Must Drive Cooling Innovation to Win the Sustainability Race

Data centres are no longer simply warehouses of servers. They are critical national infrastructure, underpinning every aspect of the UK’s digital economy. With the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, machine learning, high-performance computing and edge applications, the demand for data processing is forecast to grow significantly. Analysts project that UK data centre capacity could increase by almost 20% by 2030, much of it concentrated in urban areas with limited power and water availability.

Cooling is at the heart of this transformation. It directly impacts cost, energy use, resilience, and environmental performance. Today, cooling accounts for up to 40% of total facility energy consumption. Water usage, noise, emissions and heat discharge are all under close regulatory scrutiny.

Cooling has become not only an operational issue but also a reputational one.

In this article, we examine the state of cooling in UK data centres, outlining the leading innovations, highlighting regulatory and financial pressures, and show how IPS Flow Systems can support customers with integrated infrastructure solutions.

The Stakes: Energy, Water, Regulations

• Energy intensity: A typical hyperscale data centre can consume as much electricity as a medium-sized town. Cooling alone represents 25 to 40% of that consumption. Optimising thermal management is one of the most direct ways to improve Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE).
• Water consumption: In 2025, techUK and the Environment Agency reported that 64% of English data centres use less than 10,000 m³ of water per year. Over 50% now employ waterless cooling, while 89% report using closed-loop cooling that makes monitoring less relevant. These practices are driven by growing concern about water scarcity and environmental permitting.
• Regulatory pressure: The UK Government classifies data centres as Critical National Infrastructure. EU and UK regulations, including the Energy Efficiency Directive, are moving toward mandatory reporting of energy use, water consumption, and waste heat potential. Operators may soon be obliged to evaluate heat export options.
• Reputation and ESG: Investors and customers expect operators to demonstrate carbon reduction, resource efficiency and community integration. Cooling technology choices have become a visible part of the ESG narrative.

Cooling Technologies and Innovations

Traditional Air Cooling and Containment

Most legacy UK data centres rely on CRAC or CRAH units, with raised floors and hot/cold aisle layouts. While mature and well-understood, this method is reaching its limits at higher server densities. Containment systems, blanking panels and airflow management remain vital but cannot address all thermal challenges on their own.

Free Cooling and Economisers

Free cooling takes advantage of the UK’s temperate climate. By using outside air or water to offset chiller loads, operators can reduce energy use significantly during much of the year. DataCentre-UK reports that economiser systems can reduce mechanical cooling use for up to 65% of annual operating hours in southern England and more in northern regions.

Chilled Water and Adiabatic Cooling

Chilled water loops remain common in medium and large UK data centres. Increasingly, operators combine them with adiabatic cooling to reduce compressor loads. Telehouse notes that these systems can cut operating energy by up to 30% compared to conventional chillers, though water quality and treatment must be carefully managed.

Liquid Cooling for High-Density Compute

AI and HPC workloads are driving adoption of direct-to-chip and immersion liquid cooling. CBRE notes that facilities implementing liquid cooling report PUE values close to 1.1, compared to 1.5 to 2.0 in many air-cooled facilities. A University of Leeds study demonstrated that immersion cooling can maintain thermal stability at far higher rack densities, with significant energy savings. The main barriers remain capital cost and retrofit complexity, but the trend is accelerating.

Waste Heat Recovery and Reuse

Waste heat recovery is becoming a regulatory and financial imperative. Reviews of European case studies show payback periods of three to five years where district heating networks exist nearby. Denmark’s Odense facility captures 165,000 MWh annually, heating 11,000 homes. In the UK, several local authorities are exploring partnerships with operators to feed recovered heat into urban heating schemes.

Hybrid and Cascading Systems

Hybrid systems integrate air and liquid cooling or combine multiple loops at different temperatures. This allows data centres to operate at higher exit temperatures, improving the viability of heat reuse. Temperature cascading enables better matching between heat supply and demand.

Smart Control and Monitoring

Modern cooling depends on real-time sensor data and predictive control. Facilities that integrate AI-driven cooling management achieve up to 40% reductions in cooling energy use. A 10 MW London facility demonstrated energy savings of 44% after upgrading airflow management, chillers and control systems.

UK and European Case Studies

• Odense, Denmark: Indirect evaporative cooling with heat recovery supplies 165,000 MWh annually to district heating, heating 11,000 homes.
• London, UK: Airflow optimisation and smart control achieved a 44% reduction in cooling energy at a 10 MW facility.
• Southern Europe: A 1,000 kW facility exporting waste heat achieved economic viability with a payback period of 10 to 14 years depending on recovery point.
• UK water usage: 64% of English data centres use less than 10,000 m³ annually, reflecting widespread adoption of closed-loop systems.

Financial and Strategic Implications

• Energy savings: Efficient cooling reduces operational costs by 20 to 40%.
• Water savings: Closed-loop and waterless systems lower environmental risk, reduce costs, and ease permitting.
• Heat reuse revenue: Supplying heat to local networks can create new revenue streams or offset heating costs.
• Capital versus operating cost: Advanced systems require higher up-front investment but deliver faster ROI where energy and heat reuse savings are substantial.
• ESG advantage: Demonstrable reductions in PUE, carbon emissions and water use strengthen investor and customer confidence.

Best Practice for Cooling and Heat Reuse

1. Select sites near potential heat users to enable future reuse.
2. Design systems to operate at higher exit temperatures for more efficient recovery.
3. Incorporate modular and hybrid cooling to scale with density.
4. Maintain redundancy and robust leak detection for reliability.
5. Use predictive control and advanced monitoring to dynamically optimise cooling.
6. Engage regulators early to secure permits and partnerships.
7. Model ROI with carbon credits, ESG value and long-term resilience included.

Cooling in UK data centres is now a critical lever for competitiveness, compliance and sustainability.

With AI and high-density compute reshaping requirements, operators must embrace advanced solutions to reduce energy, save water, recover waste heat and improve resilience.

IPS Flow Systems is uniquely positioned to help operators meet these challenges with integrated solutions that simplify complexity and ensure long-term performance.

How IPS Products Support Cooling and Infrastructure Excellence

• High-Performance Plastic Piping Systems: IPS supplies PVC-C, ABS, PE and PVDF systems designed for chilled water loops, closed-loop cooling and adiabatic systems. These systems are lightweight, corrosion resistant and proven in critical environments.
• Double Containment Systems: DuoSafe and AgruSafe safeguard chemical dosing and water treatment, preventing leaks and protecting both facilities and the environment.
• Flow Measurement and Control: IPS provides flowmeters, sensors and monitoring equipment to deliver precise management of cooling water circuits.
• Valves and Actuation: IPS offers a full portfolio of manual and actuated valves for reliable flow control and automated system integration.
• Drainage Solutions: Through our partnership with Kessel, IPS delivers engineered drainage systems for condensate and wastewater management.
• Fire Protection Integration: IPS supplies LPCB-approved fire suppression systems, ensuring data centre resilience beyond cooling.

By consolidating these capabilities through one trusted partner, IPS enables operators to design, build and operate facilities where cooling, fire protection, chemical dosing and drainage work seamlessly together. This one-partner approach reduces complexity, improves reliability and ensures confidence from concept to operation.

📧 sales@ipsflowsystems.com 📞 UK: 0191 521 3111 📞 IRE: +353 1 2573741 🌐 www.ipsflowsystems.com

References

1. Airedale. White Paper on Cooling Efficiency, 2020.
2. techUK and Environment Agency. Data Centre Water Usage Report, 2025. ITPro.
3. Almaneea, A., Thompson, H., Summers, J., Kapur, N. Cooling system analysis for a data centre using liquid immersed servers. University of Leeds.
4. Yuan, X. et al. Waste heat recoveries in data centres: A review. Energy Conversion & Management, 2023.
5. Munters. Odense Data Centre Case Study, 2024.
6. Lu, X. Data centre waste heat to space heating. CIBSE.
7. Kao Data. UK Data Centres White Paper on Sustainability, 2025.
8. Aquatherm. Using Waste Heat from Data Centres, 2024.
9. CBRE. How Advanced Technologies Are Helping AI Data Centres Keep Their Cool, 2024.
10. DataCentre-UK. A Guide to Cooling Technologies in the Data Centre, 2024.
11. Telehouse. Data Centre Cooling Methods, 2024.