Water Usage is Vital for Sustainability in Data Centers

Story by Chris Tozzi

Key Points:

• Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) is a metric that measures how efficiently data centers use water. WUE is calculated by comparing the total water consumed by a data center to the energy consumed by its IT equipment.
• This means that WUE isn’t a measure of how much water a data center consumes in total. Instead, it’s a means of assessing how much water a facility uses relative to the volume of IT equipment housed in the building.
• The main way that data centers use water is for cooling purposes. While water-based cooling systems for data centers vary in design, most work by using water to absorb heat from IT equipment.
• For example, if your data center uses 100,000 liters of water per day and 50,000 kilowatt hours of energy, your WUE calculation would be: 100,000L / 50,000kWh = 2.0 L/kWh
• Calculating WUE provides several key benefits: Assessing sustainability, Reducing costs, Optimizing cooling system efficiency, Improving community relations. Thus, tracking WUE is important not just for sustainability, but also for advancing data center business goals.
• Arguably, the most significant challenge is that WUE doesn’t differentiate between different sources of water, even though water sourcing can play an important role in sustainability efforts.

Welcome to Data Center Knowledge Discoveries!

You already know that every day at Data Center Knowledge brings advice, trends and strategies for data center professionals on how to design, build, and manage world-class data centers.

That means original reporting from our team of journalists and unique commentary you won’t see anywhere else! But in case you missed them, here are some of our other must-read favorites from this week:

Keep an Eye on These Data Center Conferences in 2025

Story by Henry Chapman

Key Points:

• Get your lanyards ready: 2025 promises to be chock-full of online and in-person data center events across the globe showcasing innovations and offering opportunities to hear from – and network with – leaders and experts in the data center industry.
• Founded in 2021 and acquired by InfraXmedia last year, events platform Data Center Nation will host conferences in Riyadh, Milan, Warsaw, and Zurich focused on infrastructure demands and opportunities, IT innovations, and the business of data centers. A data center event in Paris is also scheduled for 2026. Read more.
• UK and Ireland’s annual data center infrastructure conference comes as hyperscalers have pledged to invest a combined ￡25 billion in new facilities in the next five years. Past expert speakers include managers and directors from Google, Arup, Ethos Engineering, and elsewhere. Read more.
• Here’s a rundown of some of the biggest data center events in 2025, which we will update throughout the year as new expos and conferences are announced.

How Will AI Impact Data Center Builds in 2025 and Beyond?

Story by Koen ter Linde

Key Points:

• According to a May 2024 outlook published by 高盛 , AI implementations are now expected to force up to a 160% spike in data center power demand, demonstrating the increased urgency in managing this growth as the race for resources heats up.
• The IEA estimated that globally, data centers consumed 460 TWh of electricity in 2022 (PDF), consuming about 2% of all generated power – and that number is expected to double by 2026.
• The number of inventive enterprise uses for AI is going parabolic – we have barely scratched the surface of AI’s impact on commerce, science, and society itself. Ironically, the biggest innovation in decades is making its influence felt in ever-increasingly small ways through the enterprise space.
• From location to scale, hyperscale and MTDCs alike will need to scale up their fiber capabilities while scaling down their fiber’s physical profile, adopt new cooling technologies, and take a fresh look at how they buy and use electrical power.

More Power and Sites for AI Data Centers

Story by Robert Walton

Key Points:

• President Biden on Tuesday?(January 14) signed an executive order?to accelerate the development of data centers to enable artificial intelligence, while also ensuring the new facilities are powered by emissions-free electricity.
• The order directs the US Department of Defense and US Department of Energy to lease sites for gigawatt-scale AI data centers and power generation facilities, and “to facilitate this infrastructure’s interconnection to the electric grid, fulfill permitting obligations expeditiously, and advance transmission development around federal sites.”
• Growth of AI could lead data centers to?consume 9% of the United States’ electricity by 2030, according to the Electric Power Research Institute.
• Biden’s executive order, however, gives more subsidies to big tech companies while sending consumer power bills higher, one clean energy advocate warned.

What's Next for AI in 2025?

Story by Rick Dagley

Key Points:

• This time last year, AI — generative AI, specifically — was mostly hype. A lot has changed in one year. As one industry insider put it: "In 2023, organizations were exploring and experimenting, and in 2024, they were implementing AI at scale.
• Because of the widespread implementation, in 2025, we will see an emphasis on ROI." Another calls generative AI the most important tech trend of 2025.
• Our 2025 tech predictions are in, complete with "anti-predictions" — highlighting trends widely expected to dominate the IT landscape but viewed differently by our experts. Not surprisingly, a number of our predictions revolve around artificial intelligence — including a bearish outlook about expanded AI adoption by businesses in 2025.
• Now it's IT leaders' and industry insiders' turn to share what they are expecting from AI in 2025. Check out their predictions in the story above.

Chip Watch: Commentary of the Week

Story by JB Baker

Key Points:

• AI-driven advancements are placing unprecedented strain on semiconductor manufacturers, with the rapidly growing demand for chips capable of supporting complex workloads like deep learning and natural language processing.
• Geopolitical tensions, especially between the U.S. and China, are putting even more pressure on the already struggling semiconductor industry. For example, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company ( 台积公司 ), a major player in chip production, is caught in the middle of these disputes.
• The semiconductor shortage is impacting businesses, particularly those reliant on AI technologies. Cloud service providers hosting a significant portion of AI workloads are facing delays and higher costs, which are being passed on to their customers.
• The ongoing semiconductor shortage underscores the need for foresight and collaboration to ensure a stable and sustainable supply of chips. By prioritizing critical industries, investing in innovative chip design, and fostering global cooperation, stakeholders can create a more resilient semiconductor ecosystem.

Latest Major Tech Layoff Announcements

Original Story by Jessica C. Davis, Updated by Brandon Taylor

Key Points:

• As COVID drove everyone online, tech companies hired like crazy. Now we are hitting the COVID tech bust as tech giants shed jobs by the thousands.
• Updated January 17, 2025 with layoff announcements from ShareChat , Meta and 微软 .
• Check back regularly for updates to InformationWeek's IT job layoffs tracker.

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