Case Study: Data Center Heat Recovery in Residential Buildings
Data centers produce a significant amount of heat from their IT equipment. In this case study, we explored the potential of integrating data centers into high-rise residential buildings to enable heat recovery. This approach not only improves energy efficiency but also significantly reduces operating costs.
The study focuses on a 40-storey residential building in Toronto, where a data center was added as one of the floors in the building. By capturing the waste heat generated by the data center’s IT equipment and repurposing it to meet the building's heating needs, energy costs were reduced by 11% for the residential building and 3% for the data center. This led to a combined annual savings of nearly $60,000 and a 15% reduction in combined facility emissions.
The key takeaway is that co-locating data centers with residential buildings presents a viable technical solution to lower energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. While this approach is popular and sometimes mandated in Europe, it remains rare in North America, offering significant opportunities for innovation and adoption.
To learn more about this exciting development, check out the full study at the link below:
