The Next Generation of AI Infrastructure Design Starts with Efficiency
Data Center Knowledge, Monday, September 28th, 2026
AI data centers need a systems-level design that weighs power, cooling and compute together, measured by more than PUE alone.
The article argues that AI workloads make power, cooling and compute decisions interdependent, so efficiency can no longer be handled by one team in isolation, since a change in power architecture affects cooling and cooling choices affect water and energy use.
Average PUE has improved from 2.50 in 2007 to 1.52 in 2026, so the author recommends a broader scorecard that adds water usage effectiveness, carbon usage effectiveness, energy reuse and compute utilization.
With more than 1,500 U.S. data centers in development, operators are urged to design these efficiencies in from day one rather than retrofit them later.