Our data center does not use evaporative cooling, so waste heat from AI workloads does not consume massive amounts of water, as it does in many other data centers. Vermont's climate compounds this benefit, since cool ambient temperatures for much of the year allow us to cool the data center with outside air. When mechanical cooling is required, our chillers use a next-generation refrigerant that does not damage the ozone layer and has a very low Global Warming Potential.
The electricity powering the VACC is also unusually clean. Vermont's grid is among the least carbon-intensive in the country and is dominated by hydroelectric, wind, and other renewable sources. As a result, each GPU-hour consumed here emits less CO₂ than the same workload run on a grid powered primarily by natural gas or coal.
By combining energy-efficient infrastructure, water-conscious cooling, and low-carbon electricity, the VACC enables researchers to pursue cutting-edge discovery while reducing the environmental impact of high-performance computing and AI.