Johnson Controls R&D lab focused on data center sustainability

Tucked away in southern York County, engineers are working with data center companies to improve efficiency and reduce energy waste.

Johnson Controls opened what it says is the largest research and development center in the world in 2018 and has been partnering with large scale data companies and smaller support companies to develop new technology to keep data centers cooled in a more sustainable way.

On a first-ever tour of the 250,000-square-foot JC Advanced Research and Development Center in New Freedom Aug.15, Katie McGinty, vice president and chief sustainability and external affairs officer, said the company is looking at sustainability in all aspects of running data centers.

At the core is reducing the amount of electricity required to keep the centers cooled while continuing to operate around the clock.

Demand for new technology is so great, Chris Paraskevakos, vice president of Global Product Line Management, Chiller Solutions, said Johnson Controls is looking to fill 40 new engineering positions in the lab.

McGinty said data centers use four percent of U.S. electric consumption, a figure that is expected to double by the end of the decade with the increased use of AI.

“This comes at a time when there is an increased use of electric vehicles and heat pumps all against an aging infrastructure,” she said. “This is new technology versus the electric grid.”

Johnson Controls, which has a presence in Allentown, is confident that it can resolve the problem with clean energy, McGinty said, noting that 40% of the electricity demand from data centers come from HVAC systems.

Todd Grabowski, president, global data center solutions, Johnson Controls, said the facility has 20 labs overseen by 250 employees where its chillers and compressors are set up in a controlled environment to customer specifications.

Johnson Controls can then show customers how the units perform in data centers, Grabowski said. He explained that data centers are built in all types of environments, so chillers need to operate with efficiency to meet the weather conditions. They also need to run quietly for those centers built near residential areas, he said.

The chillers can provide liquid cooling for AI chips and air cooling for the rooms, Grabowski said.

The tour of the $150 million lab consisted of a computer room with Air Handling Unit testing labs; an air cool chiller area which includes four testing facilities with different capabilities, including acoustics and low temperature testing, specific to data center markets; and a large-scale chiller water cool testing area, which includes nine different facilities with capabilities ranging from 200 to 3,200 tons.

Tour guides also showed an air handling unit with both high and low temperature ranges, showing performance functions for all workload capabilities and a gas block compressor testing area with the company’s products that use a new refrigerant the company said is climate friendly.

“We are the market share leader on water chillers and air-cooled systems,” Grabowski said.

With the lab space, Grabowski said Johnson Controls can validate the performance of countless air handling configurations, along with air-cooled chillers, water-cooled chillers and chiller components in conditions that simulate real life applications.

“We can differentiate what the chips need versus what people need and deliver products that can reduce energy consumption by 78%,” McGinty said.

Johnson Control engineers design systems for a worst day scenario to show they can work that hard, even though they shouldn’t, McGinty said.

“With the digital platform, we can optimize for actual conditions which saves energy,” she said. “Even on the worst days, we can cut consumption 14%.”

McGinty said Johnson Controls has created a magnetic-bearing compressor in partnering with data and chip companies which reduces the heat chips generate.

“As we get rid of systems that handle oil, we can cut the footprint of the machine dramatically,” she said.

The mag compressor, which reduces friction, creates 44% less embodied carbon than regular options, McGinty said, adding they are also very quiet.

Grabowski said the mag compressor reacts to a lot of forces, allowing it to correct itself under changing conditions. It creates no friction, so it takes no energy.

The facility has labs that can test units in temperatures to 120 degrees on the high side and minus 20 degrees on the low side.

Grabowski said both screw compressors and mag compressors can be tested in the temperature-controlled labs. He said the screw compressors are louder and are used in areas where sound is not an issue.

Tom Bise, who works with the units to see how much sound the system will emit, said the crew can test air flow, sound and heat emissions all at the same time.

“We simulate the sound that is generated so we know how much reverberation we get so we know what neighbors will hear,” he said during the tour.

“It’s very scientific to put a chiller in a sound room and get real information on it,” said Lei Schlitz, vice president and president of global products.

Schlitz said Johnson Control’s customer centered approach allows it to meld its ideas with industry trends.

“Our goal is to help customers reduce the cost of ownership of their buildings over their lifespan with a guarantee of no down time,” Schlitz said. “A lab like this gives us a competitive edge.”