Facebook announced on June 5 that it will deploy a novel data center cooling system that can handle more extreme conditions. The company’s StatePoint Liquid Cooling (SPLC) system was developed with Nortek Air Solutions and allows Facebook to put data centers in places where direct cooling is not possible. The system uses a liquid-to-air energy exchanger where water is cooled as it evaporates through a membrane separation layer. The cold water is used to cool the air inside the data center. According to Facebook, the SPLC system can reduce water use by more than 20% for data centers in hot and humid climates and 90% in cooler areas, compared to its previous indirect cooling systems. (Source: HVAC&R Industry News, June 7, 2018)