Thermal design workbench · v2.0

Data Center Cooling
Design Calculator

Size the thermal envelope for server rooms, colocation halls, and AI-ready zones. Get cooling capacity, airflow, rack density, liquid-loop sizing, resiliency, sustainability metrics, and practical design guidance in seconds.

Design inputs

Live model

1 · IT heat load

Use measured or nameplate IT load. Electrical power consumed by IT equipment is converted to heat inside the space.

Current IT load kW

Future growth %

Rack count qty

Average rack power kW/rack

Highest rack power kW/rack

Target PUE ratio

2 · Room & environment

White-space area m²

Clear height m

Supply air setpoint °C

Return air target °C

Design outdoor temp. °C

Indoor relative humidity % RH

People in room qty

Lighting density W/m²

Envelope / misc. gain kW

Design safety margin %

3 · Cooling architecture

Primary cooling medium

Air / CRAHRear-doorDirect liquid

Air unit net capacity kW/unit

System COP ratio

Liquid-cooled IT share % of IT load

CDU net capacity kW/unit

TCS design ΔT K

TCS supply temperature °C

FWS supply temperature °C

Resiliency strategy

Hot-aisle / cold-aisle containment planned

4 · Operating economics

Annual operating hours h/year

Electricity rate $/kWh

Grid carbon factor kg CO₂/kWh

Free-cooling hours h/year

Water usage effectiveness L/kWh IT

Calculations update as you type

Thermal design brief

Base case · future design point with selected safety margin

Thermal path & parameter maplive design point

Air path: —Rack density: —Liquid path: —

Design cooling load

—

kW thermal

Refrigeration capacity

—

RT · tons of cooling

Required supply airflow

—

m³/h at ΔT

Cooling modules

—

including resilience

DCiE—

Survivable headroom—

Airflow CFM—

Annual water—

CUE—

Balanced thermal design
Inputs are within common early-stage design ranges.

EARLY DESIGN

Capacity & efficiency

Rack density—

Estimated PUE contribution—

Future IT design load—

Non-IT sensible gains—

Annual cooling energy—

Annual cooling cost—

Engineering signals

Recommended direction

Cooling approach—

Air ΔT / design basis—

Free-cooling window—

Rack strategy—

Operating impact

Estimated facility power—

Cooling share of facility—

Cooling CO₂e—

Resilient capacity—

Liquid cooling loop

For liquid-cooled IT, the CDU separates the facility water system (FWS) from the technology cooling system (TCS).

Liquid design load—

CDU modules—

TCS flow—

CDU headroom—

FWS → TCS supply—

Resilience & decision gate

One-failure capacity—

Failure screen—

Thermal risk score—

Water intensity—

Facility energy cost—

Show calculation method & assumptions

—

This is an early-stage engineering estimate, not a stamped HVAC design. Validate airflow distribution, psychrometrics, water temperatures, equipment derating, acoustics, controls, fire strategy, and local code with the selected OEM / consulting engineer. The model assumes IT load becomes heat in the white space and treats listed non-IT gains as sensible heat.

Prepared with Data Center Cooling Design Calculator · Verify with project-specific CFD, psychrometric, and equipment selection calculations.

Abbreviations used in this tool

Quick reference

Abbreviation	Meaning	How it is used here
AI	Artificial intelligence	High-density compute workloads and GPU-ready zones.
CDU	Coolant Distribution Unit	Separates and manages FWS and TCS for liquid cooling.
CFM	Cubic feet per minute	Imperial airflow equivalent.
CRAC	Computer Room Air Conditioner	Refrigerant-based room cooling.
CRAH	Computer Room Air Handler	Chilled-water air-handling unit.
CFD	Computational Fluid Dynamics	Follow-up analysis for airflow, recirculation, and hot spots.
DCiE	Data Center infrastructure Efficiency	100 ÷ PUE, shown as a percentage.
FWS	Facility Water System	Primary building-side cooling loop.
IT	Information Technology	Server, storage, and network equipment load.
PUE	Power Usage Effectiveness	Total facility power ÷ IT power.
RDHx	Rear-Door Heat Exchanger	Rack-level heat rejection option.
TCS	Technology Cooling System	Secondary loop serving cold plates or RDHx.
WUE	Water Usage Effectiveness	Site water use per IT kWh.
CUE	Carbon Usage Effectiveness	Early-stage grid carbon per IT kWh.
ΔT	Temperature difference	Return minus supply temperature or TCS loop rise.

ThermalLM

Data Center Cooling Calculator