McKinstry

Waste Heat to Warm Cities: Using Micro-Data Centers to Decarbonize Seattle

This project focused on the need to assess whether small, distributed data centers could support lower-carbon heating in Seattle’s dense urban core, where district steam and natural gas systems contribute significantly to building emissions. The student team explored micro-data centers as part of a block-level eco-district strategy, using recovered computing heat as a potential neighborhood energy source while supporting growing data center demand. The project focused on a candidate downtown block or building and examined heating and cooling loads, electrical demand and service capacity, and available space to assess feasibility. The resulting concept includes a block load model, preliminary sizing for the data center and core energy infrastructure, a plan for connecting recovered heat to nearby buildings, and an evaluation of potential energy and carbon benefits, with a conceptual economic review where feasible.