Overheard: Is there a market for the heat created by a data center?

The designers of the new mall worked out a plan to connect their heat pump system to the data center of a near by Telco facility. During the winter, the data center heats the mall and during the summer, the mall uses the heat generated by the server room to preheat a local hotel’s water system. kstroh, Selling Heat

Mercursenteret is a shopping mall established in an old telegraph building in Trondheim, Norway. The shopping mall is cooled and heated by a heat pump system. In the winter during the heating period, the heat pump uses the cooling distribution system of the telecommunication centre in the next-door building (Teknisk Telehus) as the heat source. In the summertime, the heat pump operates mainly for cooling. Excess heat from the heat pump system is sold to pre-heat sanitary water in a hotel in the neighbourhood. The seasonal performance factor is 3.5 for heating and 2.5 for cooling.