Month: July 2026

We’re helping solve our customers’ big challenges by innovating and delivering solutions that are better for their business and for the environment. Through our Gigaton Challenge, we aim to reduce 1 gigaton of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from our customers’ footprints by 2030.

Project At-a-Glance:

The opportunity:

Demonstrate how an energy-intensive data center facility can become a clean, circular energy system.

The solution: 

Trane® XStream™ RTWF high-temperature, high-efficiency heat pump technology.

Sustainability outcomes:

• At full capacity, the system enables Infomaniak to recover 1.7 MW of heat — enough to warm 6,000 energy-efficient homes during winter months or provide 20,000 five-minute showers each day in summer.
• Annual carbon savings of 3,600 tons compared to natural gas combustion or 5,500 tons compared to wood pellet combustion (which also eliminates 200 heavy vehicle delivery trips).

When the sprawling underground Infomaniak Data Center complex officially inaugurated in January 2025, it set a new benchmark for sustainable digital infrastructure. The transformation, which has been operational since November 2024, was accomplished using leading-edge, high-efficiency heat pumps from Trane, a Trane Technologies company. The system allows Infomaniak to recover thermal energy that would otherwise be wasted and use it to supply the nearby residential district’s heating network.

A case study in waste heat re-use

Infomaniak is an atypical data center in that it is located entirely underground, beneath a park in an eco-neighbourhood in Geneva, Switzerland. Designed to accommodate around 10,000 servers, the data center comprises roughly 19,000-square-foot space.

The center is powered entirely by locally-sourced renewable energy, 100% of which is subsequently recovered as heat. In other words, all the electricity consumed by the center’s servers, inverters, ventilation and other components is entirely recovered as heat at approximately 40–45°C (104–113°F).

This remarkable achievement is made possible by a high-performance waste heat recovery system, which uses the recovered heat to supply the nearby residential district’s heating network.

“The Infomaniak site in Geneva demonstrates a model that can influence cloud infrastructure developments worldwide, proving that performance and sustainability can go hand in hand.”

Lauri Salmia
Applied Portfolio Manager, Trane Technologies

Data center energy efficiency by design

Infomaniak’s underground location beneath a residential development presented both a challenge and an opportunity. The data center was designed to integrate seamlessly with its surroundings, turning what could have been a source of noise and waste heat into a valuable community asset that reduces the environmental impact normally associated with data centers.

“For a very long time, we have chosen to power our data centers exclusively with renewable electricity,” said Thomas Jacobsen, Infomaniak Spokesperson. “Since 2013, we have eliminated the use of dedicated air conditioning systems for our infrastructure. The biggest lever we had left to further reduce our environmental impact was to recover all the heat we release into the atmosphere after using electricity for storage, computing and AI. That’s the logic behind this thermal recovery system: using Trane’s high-efficiency, heat pump technology to connect our facility to the district heating network and make energy recovery central to our operations.”

This data center achieves an average Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.09, among the best in the world, compared to the European average of 1.6. Its Energy Reuse Factor (ERF) averages 0.95, meaning 95% of consumed energy is reused as heat.

The industry-leading efficiency of our heat pumps wasn’t the only reason Trane Technologies was selected for the Infomaniak project. XStream™ equipment operates on near-zero global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants. The implementation team at Trane Technologies also worked closely with architects, designers and contractors to solve other issues on site, such as potential noise pollution.

Two modes of operation

Infomaniak’s cooling system was designed to work without traditional chillers. Instead, two Trane® XStream™ RTWF heat pumps capture server heat and raise its temperature from 45°C to 67°C (113°F to 152.6°F) in summer and up 85°C (185°F) in winter, making it suitable for the district heating network’s seasonal requirements. The cold released during the compression process is simultaneously used to cool the servers back to around 28°C (82.4°F)—meaning the heat pumps serve a dual purpose: heating the district network and cooling the data center. The system operates entirely in a closed loop, with no water consumption and no atmospheric discharge.

In summer, the recovered heat is used for domestic hot water production. If the heat pumps are temporarily unavailable—for example, during maintenance or when the heating network temporarily cannot absorb the recovered energy—the system switches to direct free cooling using filtered outside air, a backup method Infomaniak has relied on across its data centers since 2013.

Massive carbon savings

At full capacity, Infomaniak’s system recovers 1.7 megawatts of heat continuously—enough to warm 6,000 energy-efficient homes in winter or provide 20,000 five-minute showers each day in summer.

The system annually generates an estimated 14.9 GWh of output. Compared to natural gas combustion, this saves 3,600 tons of carbon per year. Compared to wood pellet combustion, the savings jump to 5,500 tons—a figure that excludes the additional emissions and particulate pollution from the 200 heavy vehicle trips needed to transport those pellets.

Infomaniak is currently operating at 50% capacity but is expected to reach full operational capacity by 2028. It is estimated that the center will be supplying heat to Geneva’s district heating network for at least two decades.

“Infomaniak serves as a powerful model for data center designers worldwide,” said Lauri Salmia, Applied Portfolio Manager at Trane Technologies. “It demonstrates how energy-intensive facilities can be transformed into sustainable community resources and how major digital infrastructure can integrate seamlessly into urban environments.”

The project’s impact has been widely recognized, earning both the Swiss Ethics Prize and the Cantonal Sustainable Development Prize. More importantly, it proves that high-performance digital infrastructure and environmental responsibility aren’t competing priorities—they’re complementary goals that, with the right data center cooling solutions and vision, can be achieved together.

See how we’re making sustainability scalable. Read our latest Sustainability Report.

LEEDS, England, July 30, 2026 /3BL/ – Antea Group UK is pleased to announce that Eoin Coughlan, Junior Consultant, Land and Water Quality, and Olivia Hanley, Junior Flood Risk Consultant, have been appointed to the Environment Analyst UK Early Careers Advisory Board.

Established by the Environment Analyst Leadership Network, the UK Early Careers Advisory Board brings together early career professionals from across the environmental and sustainability consulting sector to help address one of the industry’s most pressing challenges: attracting, developing, and retaining the next generation of talent.

According to Environment Analyst market research, the global environmental and sustainability consulting sector will require an additional 126,000 full-time employees by 2027, including approximately 18,000 in the UK. The Early Careers Advisory Board was created to help tackle this challenge by promoting career opportunities, sharing professional development advice, and helping students and young professionals better understand careers within the sector.

As members of the board, Eoin and Olivia will collaborate with peers from across the industry to engage with schools, universities, and individuals beginning their careers, helping raise awareness of the diverse opportunities available in environmental and sustainability consulting.

“I wanted to become part of the Early Careers Advisory Board because I recently transitioned from education into employment myself and understand many of the challenges and uncertainties that young people face when starting their careers,” said Eoin. “I’m a strong advocate for knowledge and experience sharing and believe diverse perspectives can play a significant part in both personal and professional growth. I hope to extend a small part of the guidance and encouragement that has helped shape my career so far with those exploring their own career paths.

“I’m also passionate about encouraging people to apply an environmental and sustainability lens to whatever career they choose to pursue. I look forward to collaborating with fellow board members to showcase the wide range of opportunities available across our industry and inspire more people to consider careers that make a positive impact.”

Olivia added: “I wanted to be part of the Early Careers Advisory Board because I know from my own experience that getting into the environmental sector isn’t always easy. There can be a lot of uncertainty when you’re starting out, and the support and opportunities I received really helped me build my confidence. I want to help make the sector feel more accessible, raise awareness of the different career paths available, and encourage more people to consider a career in the environment and sustainability sector. I’m excited to work with the rest of the board to help create opportunities and make a positive difference for people starting their careers.”

These appointments reflect Antea Group UK’s commitment to investing in people, supporting professional development, and helping shape the future of the environmental and sustainability profession. Through their involvement with the Environment Analyst Early Careers Advisory Board, Eoin and Olivia will contribute valuable insight into attracting and developing the next generation of environmental professionals. Their participation will also strengthen Antea Group UK’s own approach to early careers, talent development and industry collaboration, ensuring the business continues to evolve its people strategy while helping inspire more young people to pursue rewarding careers tackling today’s most pressing environmental challenges.

To learn more about careers at Antea Group UK, visit Antea Group UK’s careers page.

About Antea Group UK

Antea® Group is an environment, health, safety, and sustainability consultancy. By combining strategic thinking with technical expertise, we do more than effectively solve client challenges; we deliver sustainable results for a better future. We work in partnership with and advise many of the world’s most sustainable companies to address ESG business challenges in a way that fits their pace and unique objectives. Our consultants equip organisations to better understand threats, capture opportunities and find their position of strength. We maintain a global perspective on ESG issues through not only our work with multinational clients, but also through our sister organisations in Europe, Asia, and Latin America and as a founding member of the Inogen Alliance.