Johnson Controls has announced a multi-million dollar strategic investment in Accelsius, a US-based company specializing in two-phase, direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology for data centers. The investment supports Johnson Controls' focus on advancing energy-efficient solutions for high-density computing environments.
Accelsius’ technology uses non-conductive fluids in two-phase systems that rely on phase change—from liquid to vapor—to remove heat directly at the chip level. According to the company, this method offers 35% operational expenditure savings over single-phase direct-to-chip cooling and 8–17% savings in total cost of ownership, addressing rising demand from AI and high-performance computing workloads.
Data center cooling represents a significant portion of total energy usage, accounting for 30% to 40% of overall consumption. Johnson Controls aims to reduce this footprint through integrated thermal management systems. The company has developed several technologies including the YORK® YVAM magnetic bearing chiller, which reportedly consumes 40% less power annually than other available systems and uses no on-site water. Its Silent-Aire Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU) platform supports scalable cooling capacities from 500 kW to over 10 MW.
“With the sharp growth in AI, cooling innovation has become a front-line imperative to meet the increasing demands of high-density data centers,” said Austin Domenici, vice president and general manager, Johnson Controls Global Data Center Solutions.
“Our two-phase, direct-to-chip (D2C) cooling solutions use non-conductive fluids in highly efficient loops to stay ahead of the demanding power-dense AI and HPC workloads,” said Josh Claman, CEO of Accelsius.