Data centres have now emerged as a critical piece in solving the challenge of increasing demand for digital services. They power several industries, from finance to healthcare, to AI development. However, despite the benefits they provide, data centres require a lot of electricity, much of which is ultimately dissipated as heat. For many years, this heat has been treated as a byproduct to be managed or eliminated. What if we reversed the situation?

The waste heat generated by data centres presents an untapped opportunity to develop a consistent energy source. Capturing and redirecting this heat to nearby community buildings can provide real environmental and economic value. It is a practical example of circular thinking: using energy twice and lowering emissions in the process.

A shared opportunity
There is growing momentum behind this idea. In cities across Europe, data centre heat is already warming homes, offices and even greenhouses. In the UK, we are still at the early stages, but interest is rising quickly as councils, utilities and operators look for cost-effective ways to decarbonise heat.

Data centres are well-suited to this role. They regularly produce low-grade heat, operate all year, and are increasingly being built near urban areas to improve latency and resilience. Collaborating with local partners has made it possible to trap this heat and transfer it to nearby public buildings via heat exchangers, pipes and water loops.

This method provides several advantages:

• Carbon savings – reusing heat helps displace fossil fuels like gas, reducing direct emissions from heating systems.
• Energy efficiency – the overall energy performance of the data centre improves, curbing its environmental impact.
• Local resilience – public buildings can reduce their dependence on volatile energy markets.
• Community value – waste heat can support leisure centres, schools, libraries and housing, making digital infrastructure an active part of local regeneration.

Making it work in practice
Salute and Deep Green are already putting this into action. A new project currently under construction at Move Urmston Leisure Centre in Manchester demonstrates the potential. It involves a modular, high-performance data centre hosted within the leisure centre’s plant room. The heat generated by this data centre will be captured and used to warm the site’s swimming pool, significantly reducing gas consumption and running costs.

The solution will use immersion cooling and a closed-loop water system, which will transfer heat directly into the pool’s heating circuit. At full output, the 400 kW unit will deliver tens of thousands of pounds worth of heat annually. Over its projected lifetime, the system is expected to save hundreds of tonnes of carbon emissions.

This model is replicable. It opens the door to small-scale, high-density data centres co-located with public buildings. By avoiding the need for long heat networks, it reduces cost and complexity. It also supports the government’s push to decarbonise public estate heat in line with net zero targets.

While the reuse of waste heat may not solve all problems, it can significantly contribute, especially for public buildings that are grappling with increasing energy bills and carbon emission goals.
 

Barriers and solutions
Of course, there are still challenges to wider adoption. Planning, regulation and investment models need to catch up. Many legacy data centres were not built with heat reuse in mind. Newer designs are far more flexible, especially those using liquid cooling, which allows heat to be captured more efficiently.

Another hurdle is coordination. These projects rely on close collaboration between data centre 

operators, local authorities, technology partners and energy teams. They require shared goals, clear ownership and often a shift in thinking from isolated assets to integrated infrastructure. This level of coordination can be complex, but with an experienced delivery partner it becomes a managed process rather than a barrier.

The commercial model also needs to work for everyone involved. That might mean heat purchase agreements, shared investment, or co-location strategies where all parties benefit. As more successful case studies emerge, confidence in these models will grow.

Looking ahead
The UK is currently at a critical juncture regarding the heating of data centres. Decarbonising heat is one of the most challenging aspects of achieving net zero emissions, urging innovative and bold thinking at a local level. At the same time, the demand for data centre infrastructure is also growing. By addressing these two integrated issues, we could transform a perceived challenge into a viable solution.

While the reuse of waste heat may not solve all problems, it can significantly contribute, especially for public buildings that are grappling with increasing energy bills and carbon emission goals. With the right support and joint efforts, data centres can play a pivotal role in the solution, providing digital services while simultaneously energising local communities.

We believe this is just the beginning. As the technology matures and awareness grows, we expect to see more data centres designed from the ground up with heat reuse in mind. With careful planning, each new facility could support both the digital and energy needs of its community – not just in concept, but in real-world, measurable outcomes.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are strictly those of the author only and are not necessarily given or endorsed by or on behalf of the Energy Institute.

• Further reading: ‘Heat for less in UK social housing trial’. The heat generated from cooling data servers, among other low-carbon technologies, is being used to warm the homes of social housing tenants in a government-funded trial project in south-east England. The project is providing access to cutting-edge technology that would normally cost thousands to eligible tenants at no cost.
• Find out more about China’s first offshore wind-powered undersea data centre.