The 1°C Advantage: Quantifying Thermal Efficiency in Data Center Cooling

Authors: Emery Heber, Ben Kohrn

Field of Study: Industrial and Systems Engineering

Program Affiliation: SCALE

Faculty Mentors: Srikanth Rangarajan

Easel: 13

Timeslot: Afternoon

Abstract: As artificial intelligence workloads intensify demand on data centers, thermal management of semiconductor packaging has emerged as a critical engineering challenge. This study examines the cascading economic, environmental, and societal implications of achieving a 1°C reduction in Central Processing Unit (CPU) junction temperature through advances in semiconductor packaging design. Using a 100,000 server data center as the theoretical unit, this work quantifies the downstream effects of this thermal improvement across three frameworks. Reliability gains are modeled via the Arrhenius equation, which relates temperature reduction to extended component lifespan. Leakage power savings are derived from empirical CPU thermal characterization data, yielding a reduction of 0.35W per chip per degree. Facility-level savings are then compounded using Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE). Finally, annualized financial and carbon impact are calculated using regional electricity rates and EPA grid emissions data. Findings demonstrate that a single degree of thermal improvement produces outsized, measurable returns at scale.