Targeted cooling, free-cooling, liquid-cooled servers… There are many ways to reduce the cost of cooling data centers, but Montana state’s computing facility takes a different approach that’s long been used in industrial plants.

Government Computer News reports that the state contracted with Kyoto Cooling International, a Dutch maker of cooling systems, to outfit its data center with three aluminum “heat wheels,” each 16 feet in diameter. Cooling occurs when hot air from servers and other IT equipment is ferried to the spinning wheels, which are comprised of coils that cool the air as it passes over them.

The only energy cost incurred is that used to spin the heat wheels and power the fans that directs the air. In fact, Montana’s CIO says that it typically costs $0.50 per $1.50 in server energy — roughly 33 percent or a third —  to cool a data center. Kyoto’s system will reduce that cost to a mere $0.05.

Check out this post at Government Computer News for the details.

Image Credit: Kyoto Cooling International