The Evolution of Data Center Cooling: From Water to Emerging Technologies

Energy transactional attorneys Ram Sunkara and Joshua Belcher, along with corporate attorneys Blaine Remmick and Nikolai Hood, co-authored an article in Power Magazine on how data center cooling is shifting from traditional air and water systems to more sustainable, high‑efficiency approaches. The authors trace the move toward direct‑to‑chip and immersion cooling, hybrid configurations and two‑phase systems. They also assess water scarcity and legal challenges around water rights and permitting and highlight how U.S. policy, incentives and community engagement are shaping deployment. Finally, they outline practical strategies for developers and operators, from closed‑loop and rainwater reuse to aligning water rights with tenant service level agreements (SLAs) and mitigating "Not in My Backyard" (NIMBY) risks, that can support artificial intelligence (AI)‑driven, high‑density workloads while reducing environmental impact.

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