Engineering the Future of Data Centers: Why Efficiency Starts with Smarter Water Management

As AI, cloud computing, and digital infrastructure accelerate, data centers have become one of the fastest-growing segments of the built environment. But meeting this demand requires more than adding capacity. Designers must balance performance, reliability, energy consumption, and water use while supporting the ever-increasing demands of modern computing.

For more than 65 years, Cator Ruma & Associates has designed high-performance, mission-critical facilities across healthcare, laboratories, higher education, and large-scale data centers. According to Cator Ruma & Associates, the key to designing sustainable digital infrastructure is understanding the connection between water and energy and evaluating systems as part of a larger ecosystem.

"When you think holistically about the water that might be consumed in a data center, it's very worthwhile to do an analysis and say, 'Is this the right system to apply for this data center in this location? What are the resource constraints? Where does water fit into that? How does power fit into that?'"

This systems-based approach is becoming increasingly important as AI workloads drive larger campuses and higher cooling demands. Rather than treating water and energy as separate challenges, engineers must understand how decisions in one area impact the other, helping owners optimize both sustainability and performance.

For firms like Cator Ruma, this requires collaboration with technology partners that provide efficient products, technical resources, and application expertise throughout the design process.

"What we appreciate is the responsiveness and the ability to communicate at multiple levels with Grundfos and really understand how a particular technology or pump is going to apply to the system that I'm designing."

When evaluating technologies for mission-critical facilities, reliability, responsiveness, and technical expertise are just as important as product performance.

Cator Ruma also highlights the value of engineering resources available to support design teams.

"The application guides and the selection tools that are built into the website are fabulous, and the understanding that the pump is going to be fully tested before it gets to my critical application is huge for our designers."

Why Pumping Efficiency Matters

While cooling towers often receive the most attention in conversations about water use, pumping systems play a significant role in overall facility performance.

According to Cator Ruma, efficient pumping technology helps eliminate wasted energy across chilled water and condenser water systems, creating benefits that extend throughout the data center ecosystem.

"Having the most efficient pumping technology, pumps that are responsive, the distributed pumping concept, and the distributed pumping systems that are being introduced into the market now, all of that is about driving out electrical energy consumption waste."

As operators strive to maximize performance while reducing resource consumption, these system-level gains become increasingly significant.

Saving Energy Means Saving Water

One of the most powerful ideas emerging across the data center industry is the concept of the water-energy nexus: the understanding that reducing one resource often helps reduce the other.

For Cator Ruma, the relationship is straightforward.

"You save water when you save energy."

They continue:

"It doesn't matter whether you're talking nuclear or prime generation, or anything else, you're absolutely saving water when you save energy."

This perspective highlights the broader impact of efficient building systems. Every kilowatt-hour avoided not only reduces operational costs but can also reduce upstream water consumption associated with power generation.

Designing for What's Next

As chip architecture evolves and new cooling technologies emerge, the future of data centers may look very different from today's facilities. Engineers are already exploring pathways that could reduce water consumption even further while supporting ever-higher computing densities.

Despite the pace of innovation, the underlying mission remains unchanged.

"We are always thinking about minimizing waste."

And that responsibility extends beyond technical performance.

"It's our duty to make sure that the systems we design are as optimal as possible, and that definitely includes resources like energy and water."

Building a More Sustainable Digital Future

As data centers become foundational infrastructure for the AI era, success will depend on more than processing power alone. It will require thoughtful engineering, responsible resource management, and collaboration across the industry to achieve both performance and sustainability goals.

"Many designers are tempted to start with things that have worked for them in the past. Start with systems that the client is most familiar with, and we would challenge colleagues to really embrace as many hybrid technologies as they can that are going to reduce the consumption of limited resources in their geography."

For firms like Cator Ruma & Associates, high-efficiency pumping systems can be one element of a broader strategy to reduce energy consumption, improve system performance, and support smarter water management. As the industry continues to evolve, evaluating technologies through both energy and water lenses will be increasingly important to creating sustainable digital infrastructure.

Learn More

For more information about Cator Ruma & Associates and their approach to mission-critical facility design, contact:

Jedediah Moore
jmoore@catorruma.com