CREDIT: ECOLAB
A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO DATA CENTRE COOLING
Fundamentally, Rob advocates for a holistic view that recognises the interdependence of water, energy and thermal management.
“ We’ re heading towards this convergence,” summarises Rob.“ I think that we have to view these as cooling systems versus cooling assets. You can’ t optimise to provide the best solution if you’ re not thinking holistically about the cooling process.”
The transformation of data centre cooling infrastructure shows no signs of slowing. As liquid cooling becomes mainstream – potentially outnumbering traditional cooling towers within the near future – the ability to adapt quickly whilst maintaining operational reliability will separate industry leaders from laggards.
For Rob, the path forward is clear:“ Liquid cooling is growing so fast. The thing is, it’ s only going to evolve even more quickly. The winners will be the ones that can adapt and scale the fastest. This collaboration in the water space is going to be something that we need to continue – this will define who the winners will be. But this depends on collaboration, speed and the ability to adapt to these new technologies as fast as possible.”
Legacy infrastructure and future technologies The industry’ s evolution must also account for existing facilities. Not all data centres can be purpose-built for liquid cooling, creating demand for hybrid approaches that leverage existing infrastructure.
Rob points to Amazon Web Services’ recent announcement of in-row liquid-to-air cooling as an example of this practical reality.
“ There is a lot of data centre space in operation today that is not set
140 December 2025