QTS data center project brings opportunities

The Dec. 2, 10 p.m. news update on the new Cedar Rapids data center triggered my curiosity to learn more by using my AI learning partner. The following information is offered to build knowledge and future focused wisdom.

While we should applaud the $1.75 billion QTS investment in Cedar Rapids, we must look beyond the price tag to the plumbing. The news that QTS will use their "Freedom" water-free cooling design is a massive victory for our aquifers. It proves that when industry innovates, our resources are protected.

But water is only half the equation. The other half is heat.

In Groningen, Netherlands, QTS uses this exact same cooling technology to do something remarkable: they capture the "waste" heat from servers and pipe it into a district heating grid, warming over 10,000 homes.

In Cedar Rapids, without a similar commitment, that valuable energy will be vented into the Iowa sky, therefore contributing to climate change in future years.

We are not asking QTS to build a heating grid tomorrow. We are asking that we don't weld the door shut today. Cedar Rapids should request that QTS install "hydraulic stub-outs" — connection valves — on their cooling loops now. This minor up-front cost ensures that in 5 or 10 years, our community will have the option to plug into that heat source rather than watching it vanish.

If we are giving this project "Community Betterment" status, let’s ensure the improvement lasts for decades. Let’s build a facility ready for 2035, not just 2025.

Dr. Al Moore

Cedar Falls