Data Center Growth Requires Efficient, Sustainable AC Systems

Q: What opportunities exist for Stulz within Mexico’s air conditioning market? 

A: Mexico is now leading in technological development throughout Latin America. Years ago, Brazil and Chile were the benchmark countries, but Mexico has now become number one. That gives us a great advantage to continue growing as a country in the field of technology solutions.

Stulz has seen significant potential in the cooling and energy management segment, especially with the arrival of investors for hyperscale data centers. These massive data centers are now concentrated mainly in Queretaro, but there are projects to start building them in several other states that have resources such as water and energy.

Q: How has Stulz adapted to Mexico’s relatively underdeveloped energy system and infrastructure?

A: Our goal is simple: we want to provide air conditioning systems that cool more while consuming less energy. We do this by focusing on innovation. Each year, Stulz allocates a percentage of its global profits to developing more efficient technologies. We work together with our implementation and distribution partners to design customized solutions, helping clients and the industry as a whole in facing challenges such as the shortage of energy, water, and other key resources. The goal is to avoid oversized or excessive systems, which become completely inefficient. The main consequence of that inefficiency is higher energy consumption and greater harm to the ozone layer.

Q: How is Stulz innovating in response to the growing demand for hyper efficient cooling systems used in data centers? 

A: A different system is needed to manage the large amounts of heat generated by this kind of data processing. Year on year, data centers are consuming more energy, not less. What we aim for is to make the cooling solutions we implement increasingly efficient in a single system. Our goal is for a data center to use energy more efficiently, while processing more information. This involves optimizing airflow to reduce thermal load while consuming less electricity. In a data center, the largest energy consumer is air conditioning, which can use up to 30%–40% of the total energy. As such, our ongoing objective is to reduce that consumption by increasing the cooling capacity of the equipment.

Stulz is focusing on a technology called liquid cooling, which cools the chip directly. With this method, we can dissipate loads of up to 100kW or more in a single standard 42-unit rack cabinet. Another solution for these high-demand systems is Fan Wall technology, which are large air conditioning units that help manage significantly greater thermal loads. 

Q: What other benefits do your clients observe when implementing your solutions? 

A: Our machines take up less space:their footprint is smaller, measured in centimeters rather than meters. For example, if a 2-by-2 machine can dissipate 30kW of heat, the same machine with the next generation of technology can provide 12% to 15% more cooling within the same footprint. Our goal is to make better use of space and reduce the energy consumption of the systems we manufacture.

Q: Can you give us an overview of your corporate sustainability strategy? 

A: Our corporate sustainability strategy focuses on two main areas. We are required to submit quarterly reports on how each subsidiary is addressing sustainability. Stulz Mexico aims to minimize its environmental impact. Our facilities are fully equipped with automated LED technology. The company fleet is transitioning to electric and hybrid vehicles. 

On the other hand, we are increasingly investing in developing new refrigerants. The average Global Warming Potential (GWP) of any precision equipment can range from 600 to 800 units, but the goal is to reduce that number as much as possible. Our goal is to reduce that to 400–450 units to lessen environmental impact.

Q: What are Stulz’s targets for the next few years?

A: Stulz holds a 44% share of the Mexican market. Over the next three years, the company aims to increase that share to about 60%. We are confident that our partnerships with various manufacturers, such as those present at Stulz Oktoberfest, will create greater synergy in consolidating these solutions. 

Stulz is also growing its presence in Peru, Panama, and Colombia. Through an established distribution network, the company aims to raise its brand share in these countries to 25% over the next three years.