Johnson Controls introduces absorption chiller guide for AI data centers, cutting cooling power by over 90%

Johnson Controls just dropped what might be the most consequential infrastructure blueprint nobody in crypto is talking about yet. The company’s latest AI Factory Reference Design Guide focuses on absorption chiller technology that can increase data center cooling capacity by up to 97 MW, all while slashing chiller electricity consumption by more than 90%. Johnson Controls’ absorption chillers harvest waste heat to drive the cooling process instead of consuming grid electricity. A single absorption chiller can deliver 2 MW of cooling capacity while drawing roughly 25 kW of electrical input, compared to a conventional electric chiller that would need over 500 kW to operate. This latest guide is the third installment in Johnson Controls’ Thermal Management Reference Design Guide Series, which launched in February 2026. The first guide covered water-cooled chiller plants designed for AI factories scaling up to 1 GW of total power, with specific recommendations for 220 MW compute quadrants and 105 MW central cores. The second guide, released on May 5, 2026, tackled air-cooled solutions using YORK YDAM and YVAM centrifugal chillers. Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) has been manufacturing YO...