Edinburgh: Edinburgh University to use waste heat from data center to warm up buildings

Edinburgh University has announced plans to use waste heat from its data center to warm up its buildings and has has received grant funding of just under £2.1 million ($2.62m) to support the energy-saving project at its Kings Buildings campus.The university will also invest £520,000 of its own money in the scheme.

This project will see a heat recovery pump installed at the Mary Somerville data center, which is housed in the James Clerk Maxwell building on the campus. The recovered heat will then be used in the campus heating network, which is currently powered by gas.

“The climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges we face,” said Catherine Martin, vice principal for corporate services at the University of Edinburgh. “The University of Edinburgh has a clear commitment to take positive action to address our impact on the climate and ultimately reach our institutional goal of being net zero by 2040. We need a coordinated approach to these activities and the funding from the Scottish government will support our efforts to generate solutions and sustainably adapt the way we operate.”