technologyScore 45/100Research
Hybrid cooling infrastructure becoming standard; traditional chillers remain critical but supplemented by higher-temperature, direct-cooled designs and trim coolers
Giordano Albertazzi· Vertiv· AI· 2026-02-19· about Vertiv Holdings (VRT)
“Clearly uh advantages helpful. Let's all uh remember that that doesn't rule out uh heat rejection. Heat rejection will continue to exist...we thinking more and more about a hybrid uh cooling and uh thermal chain infrastructure...what we call trim cooler. So a chiller that is really optimized to operate uh high temperatures but also with a flexibility uh for lower temperatures that again coexist in systems.”
Why it matters
Thermal architecture is becoming hybrid and heterogeneous. Traditional chillers, trim coolers, direct liquid cooling, and free cooling are coexisting in the same data center. This increases thermal system complexity and total content per megawatt.
Investment implication
Companies providing trim coolers, variable-speed compressors, heat rejection equipment, and hybrid cooling management software should see demand acceleration. Single-technology chiller vendors may see market share pressure.