Nortek DCC Advocates Adaptable Cooling Designs for Rising AI Rack Densities
DataNews Editorial Team
Nortek Data Center Cooling has outlined its approach to AI-era thermal management, favouring configurable, upgradeable and hybrid cooling architectures over fixed standard designs. In an interview, CTO Thomas Steen highlighted liquid cooling and rear-door heat exchangers as part of a practical transition path for existing data centers.
- Nortek DCC is positioning configurable and upgradeable cooling systems as an alternative to fixed standard designs for AI workloads.
- The interview cites rack densities rising from rarely above 120 kW three years ago to routinely above 300 kW today, measured as IT load.
- One-megawatt racks are presented as a future prospect, not as evidence of deployed systems.
- Hybrid cooling, including rear-door heat exchangers, is presented as a transition option for legacy data centers.
- The material is a supplier’s technology position and does not disclose a specific project, contract, deployment schedule or delivery volume.
Nortek Data Center Cooling has set out a cooling strategy centred on adaptability as AI workloads raise rack thermal densities beyond the assumptions of conventional air-cooled designs.
The supplier argues that rigid, standardised cooling projects can become obsolete quickly as density requirements change. Its C-Force™ framework is intended to involve Nortek DCC engineers alongside the customer through design, implementation and operation, with systems configured for later adaptation and expansion.
In the interview, Steen pointed to a sharp change in rack-density expectations. Racks rarely exceeded 120 kW three years ago, according to the figures cited in the article, while they now routinely exceed 300 kW of IT load. One-megawatt racks were described as a future prospect rather than an operating deployment.
For legacy facilities, Nortek DCC identified hybrid cooling approaches, including rear-door heat exchangers, as a practical bridge between conventional air cooling and more extensive liquid-cooling infrastructure. Such approaches could allow operators to address higher-density deployments without immediately replacing all existing cooling infrastructure.
The discussion also links cooling design to resource use. The source cites large air-cooled data centers as consuming up to 5 million gallons of water per day and refers to a projected 56% gap in global freshwater supply by 2030. However, the available material does not provide the methodology, geography or underlying sample for either estimate.
The interview does not announce a data-center project, customer contract, deployment timetable or supply volume. Its significance is instead as an indication of technology demand: cooling suppliers may face increasing demand for modular systems that enable phased migration from air cooling to liquid cooling, particularly in operating facilities where a full infrastructure replacement is difficult.
Rising AI rack densities are making heat rejection a primary constraint on data-center expansion. Nortek DCC’s position reflects a broader shift toward liquid and hybrid cooling architectures that can scale over time, support retrofits, and manage lifecycle cost where full infrastructure replacement is difficult.
- — / October 1, 2026 · EnglishSource →
This article was prepared by the DataNews editorial team based on the sources listed above.