Johnson Controls has joined the National University of Singapore's Sustainable Tropical Data Centre Testbed 2.0 (STDCT 2.0), a research program designed to evaluate AI-ready data center technologies under real-world tropical conditions. The move underscores growing industry interest in solving the twin challenges of rising computing density and tightening resource constraints in one of the world's most land-scarce and climate-stressed data center hubs.
The testbed, hosted by NUS' College of Design and Engineering on Jurong Island, is examining how higher-density computing infrastructure can be deployed while managing constraints around power, water, cooling, and space. Johnson Controls will contribute thermal-management technology, smart controls, engineering expertise, and data center operating experience to the program, which aims to generate findings applicable to Singapore and other tropical markets.
According to company modeling, an integrated thermal-management design could reduce non-IT energy consumption by up to 50 percent compared with conventional cooling methods. In a separate 1-gigawatt reference design, Johnson Controls said that using waste heat for absorption chilling could enable up to 97 MW of additional AI computing capacity while reducing cooling-related electrical demand by up to 44 percent. The company noted that these figures are based on its own modeling rather than results from the NUS testbed.
The collaboration is intended to produce insights that can inform data center designs across Singapore and other tropical regions, where high ambient temperatures and humidity traditionally drive up cooling costs and energy consumption. STDCT 2.0 will also support research, workforce training, and industry collaboration as Singapore continues to add low-carbon data center capacity in line with its sustainability goals.
Johnson Controls Joins NUS Tropical AI Data Center Testbed to Cut Cooling Energy by Up to 50%
By: IDCNOVARegion: Southeast Asia