Johnson Controls has joined the Sustainable Tropical Data Centre Testbed (STDCT) 2.0, a research programme hosted by the College of Design and Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS), as the city-state looks to scale AI infrastructure more efficiently in a power-, water- and space-constrained environment.

Located on Jurong Island, STDCT 2.0 brings together industry and academic partners to evaluate next-generation AI and data centre technologies under real-world tropical conditions. It forms part of a broader initiative with JTC Corporation to turn Jurong Island into a living testbed for low-carbon, AI-ready infrastructure. The programme comes as Singapore expands its data centre capacity, including a recent allocation of an additional 200 megawatts of new capacity.

Tackling AI infrastructure constraints in the tropics

Johnson Controls is contributing its thermal management, smart controls and data centre operations expertise to help test approaches that reduce power and water consumption while increasing computing capacity from existing infrastructure. High heat and humidity make cooling performance a particular challenge for data centres in tropical markets such as Singapore.

The company said its integrated thermal management approach can reduce non-IT energy consumption by up to 50 per cent compared with conventional cooling methods in a modelled design. In a 1-gigawatt data centre blueprint, a Johnson Controls absorption chiller reference design demonstrated the potential to convert waste heat from on-site power generation into productive cooling, unlocking up to 97 megawatts of additional AI computing capacity while cutting cooling-related electrical demand by up to 44 per cent.

“Meeting the demands of advanced computing requires a new way of thinking about infrastructure,” said Austin Domenici, president, Data Centre Solutions, Johnson Controls. “As AI workloads continue to grow, success will depend not only on computing power, but on how efficiently we manage the resources behind it.”

Building research and talent in Singapore

Beyond testing new technologies, the collaboration aims to support research, talent development and industry knowledge-sharing to grow Singapore’s data centre sector.

“As AI drives a new wave of infrastructure demand across Asia Pacific, advancing research, developing talent and strengthening industry collaboration will be critical to meeting that growth responsibly,” said Ali Badreddine, vice president and general manager for Southeast Asia Business and Asia Pacific Data Centre Solutions, Johnson Controls.

“AI is fundamentally changing the design envelope for data centres, with much higher rack densities placing unprecedented demands on cooling, power, controls and resource efficiency,” said Professor Lee Poh Seng, programme director of the Sustainable Tropical Data Centre Testbed and head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at NUS’s College of Design and Engineering.

The announcement comes ahead of Data Centre World Asia 2026, taking place from 29 to 30 September at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, where Johnson Controls will showcase its thermal management and infrastructure solutions at Booth V20.