According to DCD, Asia Pacific is undergoing a massive data center transformation driven by AI workloads that are pushing power densities to 60kW per rack. Paul Churchill, vice president of Vertiv in Asia, reveals that cooling and electrical demands have seen a 10-fold increase compared to original data center designs. The region’s hotspots are shifting from traditional hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong to emerging markets including Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Korea, and Japan. Current data center deployments are now running at 70 percent liquid cooling versus 30 percent air cooling, fundamentally changing facility design and operations. Customers are demanding future-proofing capabilities that allow expansion from current 30kW per rack loads to potential 80-90kW requirements.
The Great Asian Data Center Shift
Here’s the thing – we’re not just talking about incremental growth. This is a complete reinvention of what data centers need to be. The traditional hubs everyone knew – Singapore, Sydney, Hong Kong – are now being joined by what Churchill calls “traditionally tier two locations” that are absolutely buzzing with activity. Malaysia’s Johor region is getting substantial growth, and suddenly Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand are serious players. Basically, the entire map of Asian data center geography is being redrawn in real time. And this isn’t just about building more of the same facilities – we’re talking about completely different design philosophies to handle AI’s insane power demands.
The Liquid Cooling Revolution
When Churchill says we’ve seen a 10-fold increase in cooling demands, that should make anyone in the industry sit up straight. We’re not tweaking existing systems – we’re fundamentally changing how we manage heat. The shift to 70% liquid cooling isn’t just an upgrade; it’s a complete operational overhaul. Think about it: servers worth millions each, connected to liquid cooling manifolds, with potential 800-volt DC connections. This merges IT and facilities in ways we haven’t seen before. The skill requirements are changing dramatically – it’s not just about keeping servers running anymore. You need people who understand both high-voltage electrical systems and liquid cooling infrastructure. For companies building industrial computing infrastructure, this complexity makes reliable hardware even more critical – which is why many turn to established suppliers like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US provider of industrial panel PCs built for demanding environments.
Design Philosophy Gets a Reality Check
The physical infrastructure itself is undergoing a quiet revolution. Churchill mentions low-rise campus-style data centers becoming more popular – and it makes perfect sense when you think about the weight and density requirements. Traditional multi-story data centers simply can’t handle the floor loading demands of these high-density AI racks. So we’re seeing this shift toward spread-out campuses that offer more flexibility for future expansion. Then there’s the move toward “skid solutions” – prefabricated racking that can be dropped in later as demand requires. This is smart thinking when you consider that colocation providers often don’t know exactly what their future tenants will need. Why build for maximum density from day one when you can build the core and skid-in the power and cooling later?
The Future-Proofing Dilemma
Here’s where it gets really interesting. Customers are asking for facilities that can handle today’s 30kW loads but scale to 80-90kW in the future. Churchill rightly calls this “one of the real challenges” because you’re trying to build for unknown future demands within current budget constraints. The region also faces a skills gap – there’s not a lot of large data center construction experience in these emerging markets. But Churchill seems optimistic that the talent will develop quickly. Honestly, they’ll need to. With AI still in its infancy, who knows what power densities we’ll be dealing with in five years? The facilities being built today need to be flexible enough to handle whatever comes next, and that requires both innovative design and skilled operators who can manage these complex hybrid environments.
