Queen Mary University Turns Data Centre Waste Heat into Warmth for Campus and Student Halls

Image Credit: Queen Mary University of London

Queen Mary University of London has taken a bold step into the future with a cutting-edge data centre transformation. In partnership with Schneider Electric and their EcoXpert partner, Advanced Power Technology (APT), the university has created a modern, energy-smart facility that doesn’t just power research, it helps heat the campus too.

This innovative system now channels waste heat from the university’s data centre directly into its district heating network. That means the warmth generated by servers is being reused to provide hot water and heating to academic buildings and student housing. It’s a big leap forward in the university’s effort to cut carbon emissions and boost long-term energy efficiency.

“The support we've had from APT and Schneider Electric has been unparalleled,” said Professor Jonathan Hays of Queen Mary.

“Both companies came together to help us develop an exciting and innovative project which would enable us to provision for the future. The biggest impact is that we were able to deliver on what we promised while improving our sustainability.”

However, this is about more than just energy savings. The new setup also enhances computing capacity, improves operational reliability, and strengthens the university’s research infrastructure, vital for an institution that contributes to major global projects like the GridPP collaboration and the data analysis for CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.

With over 32,000 students and a proud history that includes nine Nobel Prize winners, Queen Mary needed a robust and scalable solution. Its old data centre, though once reliable, had become a bottleneck, struggling with inefficient cooling systems and inconsistent performance.

To address this, APT introduced Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Row Data Centre system. The package included APC NetShelter racks, InRow cooling units, environmental monitoring via NetBotz, and centralised control through EcoStruxure Data Centre Expert software. The result? A resilient, efficient setup with real-time insight and automated management that makes the system easier to run and far more responsive.

“The project at Queen Mary demonstrates how digital infrastructure can be a catalyst for net zero,” said Mark Yeeles, VP, secure power division, Schneider Electric UK & Ireland.

“By combining innovative engineering with sustainable data centre solutions, the university has developed an enhanced infrastructure platform that will meet its research computing requirements, while supporting its sustainability strategy.”

John Andrew, technical sales manager at APT, added: “Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Data Centre solutions were essential to help Queen Mary bring together its power, cooling, racks and management systems. This approach also created a platform to support its sustainability objectives via heat reuse, while enabling the university to act proactively and preventatively to intercept and remediate potential future issues.”

Now that the new centre is up and running, the university plans to migrate its server infrastructure across other buildings into this facility. This move will bring even more cost savings, greater performance stability, and added sustainability benefits, positioning Queen Mary not just as a research powerhouse but as a leader in smart campus infrastructure.