Johnson Controls has launched its Absorption Chiller Reference Design Guide.
The blueprint helps data centre operators convert the 57% of energy typically lost as waste heat from on-site power generation into productive cooling, reducing cooling-related electric demand and allocating more power available for AI workloads.
In a 1GW-scale AI Factory, those efficiency gains can support up to 97MW of additional AI computing capacity without increasing on-site power generation, creating the potential for up to $18 billion in additional revenue over the life of the facility (based on a typical US AI Factory model).
Johnson Controls global data centre solutions president, Austin Domenici, said one of the biggest untapped opportunities in data centres is the heat they generate.
“Johnson Controls helps transform recovered heat into useful work through Combined Heat and Power and absorption cooling solutions, enabling AI Factories to scale more efficiently while reducing strain on the grid and delivering value to local communities,” Domenici said.
The reference design demonstrates how operators can convert cooling efficiency gains into additional AI computing capacity or reduce cooling system CO₂ emissions by up to 43%.
It can achieve a PUE as low as 1.23 with zero on-site water use. The repeatable, modular architecture scales from 100MW campuses to gigawatt-scale AI Factories without redesign, helping bring new capacity online faster.
Built on more than 65 years of YORK absorption innovation and a global installed base of thousands of units across multiple industries, Johnson Controls has deployed this technology in some of the world's most demanding applications, including naval vessels and advanced manufacturing facilities.
With a thermal management portfolio spanning air-cooled and water-cooled chillers, liquid cooling, controls and lifecycle services, Johnson Controls helps data centre operators bring capacity online faster, improve efficiency and maximize AI computing capacity from available power.
"A vast amount of heat produced by on-site power generators is essentially thrown away — dissipated into the air. We see a huge opportunity when that energy is put to work instead," Katie McGinty, vice president and Chief Sustainability and External Relations Officer at Johnson Controls explained.
"By converting waste heat into useful cooling, we're turning a resource already bought and paid for into an asset rather than a disposal liability,” McGinty said.
“Every megawatt we can shift from cooling to computing capacity helps customers increase the revenue potential of their facilities and accelerates time to value by significantly cutting pressure on the grid.
“That's the kind of innovation that supports AI growth, lowers costs and helps communities and businesses get more from existing energy resources."