The impact of AI on rack management will be explored at Bisnow’s DICE event on December 3

The West Coast is seeing a major expansion in data center capacity, particularly in Northern California, where the market is expected to reach nearly 1,948 megawatts by 2029, up from 993 MW in 2022.

One of the downsides of this massive growth in data centers is the large amount of energy consumed. As tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft adopt energy-intensive tools like artificial intelligence to store and process large amounts of data, there is a need to move toward more sustainable methods.

Global energy management company Schneider Electric, which operates in Northern and Southern California, has seen data center owners prioritize reducing their environmental impact.

“As California leads the way in environmental regulations, West Coast data centers are increasingly focused on energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and reducing carbon footprints,” said Vance Peterson, solutions architect at Schneider Electric. “At Schneider, we are doing our part to help data center operators achieve their sustainability goals. »

Peterson will speak at by Bisnow DICE West event at the Santa Clara Marriott in Santa Clara, CA on December 3. He and other panelists will discuss data center rack management, high-density cooling, and data center cooling installations. Click here to register.

Bisnow spoke with Peterson about data center trends on the West Coast, the role of AI, and how Schneider will move forward in this rapidly evolving market.

Bisnow: What data center trends are you seeing on the West Coast?

Peterson: I see more focus on edge computing as businesses demand lower latency for real-time applications: the Internet of Things, gaming, and AI-based services. Smaller, distributed data centers, closer to end users, are becoming more common.

We are also seeing strong activity in hybrid adoption, combining on-premises data centers with public cloud platforms and multicloud adoption. It provides flexibility and redundancy by leveraging different cloud providers, especially in tech-focused regions like Silicon Valley, Portland, and Seattle.

Bisnow: In your opinion, what current issues will be discussed during by Bisnow DICE West event?

Peterson: Some of the key topics that I believe will be covered at this event are critical issues impacting the data center industry, particularly power and cooling solutions, which are becoming more and more vital in due to the increasing density and complexity of operations. Innovations in these areas, such as liquid cooling and high-performance computing, or HPC, infrastructure, will be at the forefront, especially as AI-driven applications continue to increase power demands and cooling.

Other important discussions will include data center infrastructure management, DCIM, tools to reduce operational costs, and site selection for new data centers, especially in power-constrained regions like California from the North.

Bisnow: What does the demand for higher electrical rack densities look like on the West Coast?

Peterson: I see a significant increase in demand for higher power densities in data centers, primarily driven by advances in technologies such as AI, machine learning and HPC. These applications require more computing power, leading to denser deployment of servers, graphics processing units and other specialized hardware in data centers.

Demand for higher power densities is expected to continue, particularly as edge computing and IoT networks expand and more advanced applications require real-time data processing capabilities. This means that data centers will need to continually innovate power and cooling solutions to meet growing computing and energy needs.

Bisnow: How will AI continue to support these new architectures, and what strategies does Schneider Electric have to manage these innovations?

Peterson: AI will continue to play a transformative role in supporting new architectures needed for higher power densities in data centers. AI is used to monitor and manage energy consumption in real time. By predicting energy consumption patterns, AI can optimize cooling and energy distribution, thereby reducing waste and improving energy efficiency in high-density environments.

It can also adjust cooling systems to avoid overheating in specific areas, thereby reducing operational costs. AI-based tools enable predictive maintenance by analyzing performance data to detect potential equipment failures before they occur, helping to minimize downtime, especially in high-volume environments. application where servers run intensive AI and HPC workloads. It is also an effective tool for distributing workload between servers to help allocate resources correctly and avoid overloading in different areas of the data center.

Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure IT platform is a comprehensive solution that leverages AI and machine learning to monitor, analyze and optimize data center infrastructure. This cloud-based solution helps manage power consumption, cooling, and overall performance of the IT infrastructure. AI-driven insights enable real-time decisions to keep data centers running efficiently, even as energy densities increase.

Bisnow: What advice would you give to data center owners and operators considering more efficient rack management and cooling in daily operations?

Peterson: For data center owners and operators looking to improve rack management and cooling efficiency in their daily operations, there are several concrete strategies to consider, including implementing dynamic rack monitoring and cooling, adoption of liquid cooling for high density racks, use of hot and cold aisle containment. and leveraging AI for predictive cooling adjustments.

By integrating these strategies into daily operations, data center owners and operators can achieve better rack management, more efficient cooling, and reduced operational costs while maintaining the performance required for modern, high-density workloads. .

Bisnow: How will Schneider continue to stay ahead in this rapidly evolving industry?

Peterson: Schneider Electric is positioning itself to stay ahead in this evolving industry with its EcoStruxure IT platform, offering tools to optimize energy consumption, improve efficiency and integrate renewable energy sources into data center operations. It will also help optimize edge data center operations as edge computing becomes more prevalent.

Schneider continues to collaborate with manufacturers, hyperscalers, colocation providers and enterprises to help them adopt more scalable and flexible architectures. We can support a wide variety of data center designs, from hyperscale to micro-edge deployments, allowing us to remain a leading player in the rapidly evolving data center market.

Click here for more information about the event.

This article was produced in collaboration between Studio B and Schneider Electric. The Bisnow press team was not involved in the production of this content.

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