MELANIE NAKAGAWA
SUSTAINABILITY
Joe Kava, Google’ s Vice President of Data Centers, frames sustainability as a core operational requirement rather than an environmental nicety. Sustainability“ is not a nice to have, it’ s a must do. It’ s not just good for the world, it’ s good for business,” he states.
Johnson Controls engineers 40 % cooling efficiency gains Cooling represents roughly 40 % of a data centre’ s non-IT energy load, making it the single largest target for efficiency improvements. Johnson Controls has worked directly with hyperscalers and chip manufacturers to address temperature management challenges.
“ At Johnson Controls, we’ ve been privileged to partner with the data centre companies as well as the chip makers,” says Katie McGinty, Chief Sustainability and External Relations Officer at Johnson Controls.
Traditional approaches required chillers to produce water as cold as 5 ° C to handle server heat loads. Through engineering collaboration, Johnson Controls developed solutions that achieve the same cooling performance with water at 23 ° C, delivering substantial energy savings.“ We calculate that we’ re achieving that cooling with 40 % less energy,” Katie explains.
The efficiency focus extends across the data centre industry. Rachel Peterson, Vice President of Infrastructure Data Centers at Meta, confirms that operators beyond hyperscalers pursue similar strategies:“ Not only hyperscalers,
MELANIE NAKAGAWA
TITLE: CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER
COMPANY: MICROSOFT INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY
As Microsoft’ s sustainability chief, Melanie articulates a long-term vision where AI, despite its immediate energy demands, becomes the primary driver for achieving ambitious climate goals.
92 September 2025