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Insight and analysis on the data center space from industry thought leaders.

As energy demand for digital infrastructure surges, the geography of data centers is shifting. Once concentrated in traditional power corridors like Northern Virginia or Silicon Valley, growth is now accelerating across secondary markets—places like Columbus, Indianapolis, and Kansas City, where land is available, fiber connectivity is expanding, and the grid still has room to grow.

But “room to grow” doesn’t mean “limitless power.” Across North America, utilities are tightening new service approvals, interconnection queues are lengthening, and local grids are nearing capacity. This reality is forcing developers to think differently about efficiency, especially when it comes to cooling, which remains one of the largest contributors to data center energy use.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, data centers already consume nearly 5% of total U.S. electricity, and that share could double by 2030. In emerging secondary markets, the challenge isn’t just finding available megawatts—it’s using those megawatts more intelligently.

Operators in these regions are designing facilities around energy partnership and sustainability from day one. Many are engaging in demand-response programs, integrating on-site renewables, and optimizing every watt spent on thermal management. These facilities are being built to operate in harmony with the grid—not against it.

As operators chase both performance and sustainability, adiabatic cooling has emerged as one of the most effective ways to bridge the gap between energy efficiency and water conservation.

Unlike traditional evaporative systems that continuously consume water, adiabatic systems use controlled, on-demand evaporation—engaging only when ambient conditions require additional cooling support. This allows them to provide the peak capacity of a wet system with the water profile of a dry one, often reducing total water consumption by up to 95% compared to open cooling towers.

When ambient temperatures are moderate, the system operates in dry mode, rejecting heat through air alone. When temperatures climb, fine water mist is introduced upstream of the coil, pre-cooling the incoming air and boosting heat rejection efficiency. The result is stable operation especially during hot summer peaks—without the continuous water draw, chemical treatment, or plume associated with evaporative towers.