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AI-ready data centers depend on more than faster servers. Their cooling, power, construction, location and relationship with nearby communities all shape whether they can support growing AI workloads. A Data Center Knowledge feature by Alyse Burnside, published March 9, 2026, profiles three leaders working on those connected challenges: Nancy Novak and Amy Marks of Compass Data Centers, and Helen Munro of Pulsant Data Centers.
Why AI changes data-center design
GPU clusters can produce heat loads that challenge conventional air cooling in some environments. Nancy Novak, Compass Data Centers’ chief innovation officer, told Data Center Knowledge that “in many environments, GPU clusters can exceed 50 kW per rack,” and that traditional air cooling is insufficient for the thermal density of those systems. Those are Novak’s observations, not universal thresholds or independently measured specifications.
The practical consequence is that AI readiness involves the whole facility: how heat is removed, how power is secured and managed, how quickly capacity can be built, and where it is placed. The right response depends on the site, workload and local constraints; the feature does not suggest one design suits every data center.
How the three leaders approach the challenge
Nancy Novak: make cooling upgrades incremental
Novak describes a hybrid cooling platform developed with Vertiv. It is designed to let operators add direct-to-chip cold plates or row-level liquid distribution alongside existing air systems as AI demand grows. In her words, the approach lets a customer “plug into liquid cooling when their AI workloads scale, without ripping out existing infrastructure.”
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A staged transition can help a facility serve mixed workloads without replacing all existing cooling equipment at once. It also brings added engineering complexity, serviceability needs and staff-training requirements. Operators must plan how air- and liquid-cooled systems will work together and how technicians will maintain them.
Helen Munro: expand high-density capacity beyond London
Helen Munro, head of environment and sustainability at Pulsant Data Centers, points to the company’s Milton Keynes (Linford Wood) expansion as an example of high-density capacity outside London intended to serve AI, machine learning and accelerated computing. Munro says the investment is meant to meet demand for high-performance infrastructure in UK technology regions.
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The site is deploying closed-loop cooling. The feature does not provide site-level performance results for the expansion; detailed metrics are expected in later sustainability reporting. Building outside a major hub may support regional technology ecosystems and take advantage of available grid capacity, but each project still has to address latency, permitting and local acceptance.
Amy Marks: use repeatable, factory-based construction
Amy Marks, Compass Data Centers’ senior vice president of innovation and sustainability, focuses on facilities that can adapt as compute requirements change. The feature describes standardized, factory-based construction using prefabricated multi-trade pipe racks, water skids, treatment systems and rack-level cooling modules.
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Prefabrication can make assemblies more repeatable and reduce some work on site. Its practical limits include the need to customize components for particular sites and reliance on vendor ecosystems. Marks says sustainability is one of the lenses Compass uses when evaluating design improvements; that is a company approach, not an independently assessed standard.
Cooling, water and the limits of the reported claims
The feature presents closed-loop designs as a way to reduce or avoid water consumption for IT cooling in normal operations. Novak says the described approach is intended to avoid competing with local communities for water. The claim concerns IT cooling under normal operations; it does not establish that a whole data center uses no water for every purpose or under all conditions.
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Data Center Knowledge reports Compass’s claim that its closed-loop design uses no water for IT cooling in normal operations. It does not supply independently measured site results. Likewise, Pulsant’s Milton Keynes project is described as deploying closed-loop cooling, but the feature gives no performance figures for that site.
What the construction figures do—and do not—show
Data Center Knowledge reports the following Compass figures. They are company-reported comparisons, not independent benchmarks:
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- More than 80% of Compass facilities incorporate prefabricated equipment, assemblies or precast components. The feature does not define the facility denominator in the excerpt.
- Compass reports roughly 18% lower embodied carbon against its own baseline methodology.
- Compass reports about 25% less on-site build time.
These figures illustrate the improvements Compass attributes to its design and construction approach. They do not show that another operator or project would achieve the same results, and the reported embodied-carbon comparison should not be treated as an industry-wide benchmark.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Power and community are part of readiness
Data centers need dependable power, but adding capacity also affects utility planning and local infrastructure. Novak argues that operators should move from passive energy consumption toward active participation in the grid. That is an executive’s view of the sector’s direction, not a description of a particular grid program or regulatory requirement.
Community effects matter alongside engineering. Energy demand, water, land use and infrastructure can all draw public scrutiny. Novak and Marks both stress being a good neighbor, while Munro describes shared values as an urgent concern. For any proposed project, the relevant questions are specific: whether grid capacity is available, how the project will affect local resources, what permitting requires, and whether residents see a credible local benefit.
What readers should take away
- AI readiness is a facility-design challenge as well as a computing decision: cooling, power, construction and location all matter.
- Hybrid air-and-liquid cooling offers one possible staged path for facilities adapting to changing workloads, but it adds operational complexity and is not established as suitable for every site.
- Regional capacity can broaden where high-density computing is available, but latency, grid access, permits and community acceptance shape whether a location works.
- Prefabrication may support repeatable construction, while the quantified benefits cited here remain Compass-reported results rather than independent findings.
Read Alyse Burnside’s feature in Data Center Knowledge. Compass also published a company account of the initiative; it corroborates Compass’s participants and high-level descriptions but is not independent validation.
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