Top 10: Sustainable Data Centre Cooling Companies

The data centre sector is one of the fastest growing in the world economy today.

According to McKinsey, the demand for AI-ready data centres will grow by 33% each year, from 2023-2030, with its carbon footprint growing in lock step.

What's more, data centres are very energy intensive pieces of technology. The computational power required to support the demands of the internet and AI is huge and this energy naturally produces heat as a by-product.

But for data centres to function properly, they cannot overheat. This means that these sites have to be constantly cooled, which requires a great deal of energy.

In the past, cooling has been done using conventional air conditioning systems. Recently, however, liquid cooling technologies have started to emerge as more sustainable alternatives.

This approach is generally regarded as more effective than air cooling, offering a compelling solution for organisations aiming to balance ecological concerns with operational demands.

This week, we look at 10 of the most innovative companies that are leading the charge to decarbonise one of the most energy-thirsty industries of them all.

10. Asperitas

CEO: Rutger de Haij

Founded: 2014

Headquarters: The Netherlands

Dutch innovator Asperitas took inspiration from an unlikely source for its flagship data centre technology.

The team observed the natural convection principles of cloud formations to develop its Immersed Computing technology.

The Asperitas system utilises a passive approach which eliminates the need for pumps and minimises moving parts, which helps to make the system more reliable overall.

The system's natural circulation design enables exceptional heat recovery quality, capturing thermal energy at temperatures directly usable for facility heating without energy-intensive conversion.

9. Submer

CEO: Daniel Pope

Founded: 2015

Headquarters: Spain & US

Barcelona-based firm Submer has attracted attention not just for the cooling performance of its tech but for its ambitious sustainability agenda.

Submer's SmartPod immersion system was born out of Founder Daniel Pope's frustration with the environmental impact of conventional data centres.

Beyond impressive energy efficiency, Submer designed its system from the ground up using circular economy principles, prioritising components that can be repaired, refurbished and, ultimately, recycled.

Submer's biodegradable dielectric coolant addresses concerns about potential environmental contamination that have worried potential adopters.

8. DCX Liquid Cooling Systems

CEO: Maciek Szadkowski

Founded: 2019

Headquarters: Poland

Founded by former nuclear cooling engineers, DCX Liquid Cooling Systems has a team that brings unique expertise to data centre thermal management.

DCX's modular immersion technology incorporates filtration techniques originally developed for critical infrastructure, resulting in exceptional fluid longevity even in demanding environments.

This approach has proven particularly valuable for remote computing installations where maintenance accessibility is limited. 

DCX's phased implementation model allows organisations to strategically target liquid cooling deployments based on workload demands rather than forcing facility-wide conversions.

7. Green Revolution Cooling

CEO: Peter Poulin

Founded: 2009

Headquarters: US

When a major Texas university installed Green Revolution Cooling's (GRC) first commercial system in 2010, many considered liquid immersion too exotic for mainstream adoption.

Thirteen years later, though, GRC's ICEraQ and ICEtank technologies have established immersion cooling as a practical solution for conventional data centres.

GRC's approach stands out for its compatibility with standard off-the-shelf servers, meaning that no specialised hardware is required. This has made GRC particularly successful in helping existing facilities manage density transitions without major reconstruction.

Their ElectroSafe™ fluid's biodegradable composition has also addressed environmental concerns that previously limited immersion cooling adoption.

6. Iceotope

CEO: Jonathan Ballon

Founded: 2005

Headquarters: UK

UK-based company Iceotope has taken a rather unconventional approach to liquid cooling by focusing on chassis-level immersion, rather than room, rack or chip-level solutions.

Iceotope's system essentially wraps each server in its own sealed cooling environment, eliminating air as a thermal transfer medium entirely.

This strategy has proven particularly valuable for edge computing deployments in harsh environments – from desert-based telco facilities to offshore wind farm monitoring stations.

Iceotope's modular technology is also useful for urban data centres, where space constraints and noise restrictions make conventional cooling problematic.

The sealed design provides an additional security benefit, physically isolating critical systems from environmental threats and unauthorised access.

5. CoolIT Systems

CEO: Steve Walton

Founded: 2001

Headquarters: Canada

CoolIT Systems began in the performance PC market before its foray into data centres.

The company's 'Split-Flow' direct liquid cooling technology has become particularly valuable for high-performance computing installations where thermal management directly impacts processing capability.

By focusing on standardisation and manufacturing consistency, CoolIT has overcome one of liquid cooling's historical challenges: reliability at scale.

For organisations handling intensive AI workloads, CoolIT's ability to maintain precise operating temperatures translates directly to improved algorithm performance and extended hardware lifespan.

4. Gigabyte

CEO: Pei-Chen Yeh

Founded: 1986

Headquarters: Taiwan

Taiwan-based firm GigaByte might be better known for consumer hardware, but its enterprise division has recently emerged as a surprising innovator in the data centre cooling sector.

Its technology takes a practical approach to cooling, focusing on implementation simplicity and compatibility with existing infrastructure.

Unlike competitors demanding complete system overhauls, GigaByte's solutions can be deployed incrementally, targeting thermal hotspots while maintaining air cooling where appropriate.

This pragmatic strategy has won favour with mid-market data centres previously priced out of liquid cooling adoption.

3. LiquidStack

CEO: Joe Capes

Founded: 2012

Headquarters: US

Born from a Bitcoin mining innovation, LiquidStack's DataTank technology represents one of the industry's most fascinating cooling breakthroughs.

Its two-phase immersion approach submerges servers in an engineered fluid with a carefully calibrated boiling point. As components generate heat, the surrounding fluid boils, naturally carrying heat away through vapour that subsequently condenses and returns to the system.

The genius lies in its simplicity – no pumps are required.

This passive design has shown cooling energy reductions exceeding 90% in production environments.

Several high-profile cryptocurrency operations have embraced the technology, but its real future may lie in AI computing clusters where heat density has made traditional cooling practically impossible.

LiquidStack's water-free design has proven particularly valuable in water-stressed regions.

2. Vertiv

CEO: Giordano Albertazzi

Founded: 1946

Headquarters: US

When Vertiv introduced its Liebert XDU liquid cooling distribution units, the company fundamentally changed how data centres approach thermal management.

The firm's hybrid approach – intelligently balancing traditional air handling with targeted liquid cooling – has proven especially effective for organisations gradually transitioning to higher-density computing.

By adopting closed-loop engineering principles, Vertiv is addressing one of data centres' most criticised environmental impacts: excessive water use.

Vertiv's systems have been deployed across several European hyperscale facilities, where recovered heat energy is now being channelled into district heating systems.

It's a practical approach to sustainability which extends beyond the data centre itself, transforming waste heat into a valuable community resource while dramatically cutting operational costs.

1. Schneider Electric

CEO: Olivier Blum

Founded: 1836

Headquarters: France

Industry giant Schneider Electric has built a reputation beyond power management with its impressive liquid cooling portfolio. Its rear-door heat exchangers and direct-to-chip solutions have become go-to options for data centres facing growing thermal challenges.

What really matters is Schneider's integration strategy – cooling hardware works in concert with its EcoStruxure management platform to optimise performance in real-time, based on actual workloads.

By enabling straightforward retrofitting into existing facilities, Schneider has removed adoption barriers for operations wanting to cut energy use without starting from scratch.

Tests at multiple enterprise deployments show cooling energy reductions approaching 30% compared to traditional air cooling, while supporting rack densities that would otherwise require twice the floor space.

Explore the latest edition of Sustainability Magazine and be part of the conversation at our global conference series, Sustainability LIVE. 

Discover all our upcoming events and secure your tickets today.

Sustainability Magazine is a BizClik brand