“Everything we do is filtered through the lens of innovation, scalability, and consistency,” he said.

To do that, the company is taking a top-down view by evaluating industry trends and pairing them with customer feedback and demands. This includes optimizing the thermal chain, accelerating time to value, and unlocking “stranded power” that is often desired for data centers using on-site power generation.

Seiler said the company’s top 10 customers account for 35% of the S&P 500, so it’s a matter of providing reliable solutions worldwide.

Among the products leading the way is the York YDAM air-cooled magnetic-bearing centrifugal chiller. With 3.5 megawatts of cooling, YDAM delivers up to 20% increased capacity density in a compact footprint. It fits on a standard 53-foot flatbed trailer, making it easy to ship and minimizing transportation, rigging, and lifting costs. Shipments will begin in late 2026.

On the commercial side, Aaron Lewis, chief commercial officer for global data center solutions, said it’s been just as important to work on reducing water usage, with AI data centers having a reputation for using vast quantities.

“We’re aligning with the localities and making sure that we’re providing sustainable solutions,” he said. “Lower power usage, lower water usage, less sound, but also aligning with what the actual data center customers need.”

One of those solutions, which will be released in the summer and shipped next year, is the York YK-HT, a two-stage economized centrifugal chiller. Its high-lift compressor enables the use of dry coolers in place of traditional cooling towers, eliminating water consumption.

For comparison, a typical 2,000-ton chiller operating in Las Vegas consumes approximately 8 to 9 million gallons of cooling-tower water annually. By reusing thermal energy that would otherwise be wasted, the YK-HT can offset the equivalent of the heating demand for approximately 350 single‑family homes per hour.

On-site cooling is generally how companies are working through electrification and decarbonization mandates. As a result, data centers are popping up in centrally located states, allowing contractors nationwide to capitalize on the booming business.

“Their demand is really outpacing the traditional building growth, and that’s driven a lot of our investment,” said Mihir Nandkeolyar, director of technology strategy, data center thermal management products.

Cooling Still Needed for Data Centers

The HVAC industry experienced a hiccup when Nvidia revealed its Vera Rubin platform last month, which boasted chilling at 45°C, eliminating the need for water chillers in data centers. 

“We're basically cooling this supercomputer with hot water. It is so incredibly efficient,” said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang during the Consumer Electronics Expo.

As a result, stocks for companies like Johnson Controls took a dip as the market reacted and investors worried that the boom in HVAC-related data center business was ending. 

Nandkeolyar noted that it's important to delineate at what temperature to cool data centers versus whether they need cooling.

He likened graphics processing units to exotic cars — they’re expensive and high-performing, but odds are the owner isn’t going to drive it at its max capacity all the time. As a result, the GPUs will still need to be cooled as their activity ramps up.

“Anytime [the air] is more than 80 degrees Fahrenheit, you need mechanical cooling to kick in, or evaporate water, which is generally not an option,” he said. “So we’re not really seeing that impact with Nvidia’s design. What it’s improving is the number of hours they can operate infrequently, which in the net of the year saves energy.”

While data centers are generating a lot of business and innovation, Johnson Controls officials said the results will mean better, more efficient equipment across the board, including in pharmaceuticals, life sciences, manufacturing, hospitals, and universities.

“The great thing is the scale and the demand driven by the data centers is going to positively affect all of the other verticals too,” Lewis said.