In the context of the rapid development of the global digital economy, the energy consumption and environmental impact of electronic equipment rooms and data centers, which are the core infrastructure of computing power, have become an important issue for global sustainable development. According to the Global Data Center Energy Report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2024, the annual power consumption of global data centers has exceeded 600 billion kWh, accounting for 3% of the total global power generation, and continues to grow at a rate of 10%-12% per year. From a regional perspective, data centers in Europe and the United States present high-density, high-energy consumption characteristics: U.S. data centers account for only 18% of the global number, but consume 25% of the global data center power. The EU has put forward the mandatory requirement of “achieving climate neutrality for all data centers by 2030” in its Digital Strategy, which is accelerating the implementation of green technologies in data centers.

As a key component of the physical architecture of the data center,the raised access floor not only bears the basic functions of equipment load bearing and cable management, but also becomes a breakthrough point for the construction of green data centers through technological innovation, helping the digital industry to achieve the goal of energy consumption optimization and carbon emission reduction. In this article, we will analyze how raised access flooring can meet the construction needs of global green data centers from the three dimensions of innovative energy-saving design, application of environmentally friendly materials, and full life cycle costing.

I. Innovative Designs of Energy-Saving Access Flooring

The regulation of data center energy efficiency around the world has formed a mature system -- the U.S. through the Energy Star (Energy Star) for data centers to set PUE ≤ 1.4 certification standards, the EU in the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) in the requirements of the new data centers after 2027 PUE shall not exceed 1.3. In this context, the traditional “passive load-bearing” type flooring can no longer meet the stringent requirements, and energy-savingraised access flooring with the functions of “heat preservation, wind control and airflow optimization” has gradually become the mainstream choice in the global market.

(1) Low Thermal Conductivity Insulated Substrates

The space beneath raised flooring serves as the core channel for air conditioning supply in data centers. Conventional steel flooring has a high thermal conductivity of up to 45W/(m·K). In winter or environments with significant temperature differences, cold air under the flooring easily exchanges heat with warm indoor air, leading to a cold air loss rate exceeding 15%. Calcium sulfate panels, primarily made from desulfurized gypsum, have a thermal conductivity only 1/180 that of steel plates. Combined with a polyurethane insulation layer and covered with galvanized steel plates on both sides to form a "sandwich" structure, the overall thermal conductivity of the substrate can be controlled below 0.3W/(m·K).

(2) Adjustable Airflow Panels

Traditional data centers use fixed-airflow flooring, where air supply cannot be adjusted according to changes in equipment load. This causes "uneven temperature distribution"—insufficient cold air in high-load areas and excess cold air in low-load areas—forcing air conditioning systems to operate at high power to compensate for local airflow deficiencies. Energy-saving adjustable airflow flooring achieves dynamic air control through the following innovations:

• Mechanical Adjustment Structure: A rotating air damper is installed on the panel surface, allowing manual or electric adjustment of the airflow opening (0-100%) for precise control of air supply volume.

• Intelligent Linkage System: Integrated with the data center’s dynamic environment monitoring system, temperature sensors beneath the flooring continuously monitor regional temperatures. When equipment load increases, the damper opening automatically expands; when load decreases, the opening automatically reduces.

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(3) Auxiliary Under-Floor Hot Aisle Containment

Traditional data centers adopt open airflow configurations such as "top supply, bottom return" or "bottom supply, top return," where cold and hot air easily mix, reducing the efficiency of air conditioning and refrigeration. Energy-saving access flooring leverages the under-floor space to build a "hot aisle containment" system, creating a directional airflow path:

• Physical Separation: Sealing baffles are installed under server racks to divide the under-floor space into "cold aisles" (in front of racks) and "hot aisles" (behind racks).

• Negative Pressure Guidance: Return air holes are added to the flooring in hot aisle areas, creating negative pressure with air conditioning return vents. This draws hot air exhausted by servers directly back to the air conditioning system through the under-floor hot aisle, preventing the mixing of cold and hot air.

II. Eco-Friendly Materials and Recycling

The global advancement of "dual carbon" (carbon peaking and carbon neutrality) goals has entered a phase of "mandatory policies + market-driven incentives": the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) requires carbon footprint accounting for imported data center-related building materials starting in 2026, while the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) offers tax credits of up to 30% for enterprises using recycled materials. In this context, data center construction must not only focus on energy consumption during operation but also control carbon emissions from building materials at the source. By using industrial by-products and recyclable metal materials, raised access flooring builds an eco-friendly system of "low-carbon production and circular utilization," becoming a key contributor to carbon reduction in green data centers.

(1) Calcium Sulfate Flooring: Turning Industrial By-Products into Valuable Resources

Calcium sulfate flooring uses desulfurized gypsum—an industrial by-product—as its main raw material (accounting for >80%), replacing traditional cement substrates. Producing 1m² of calcium sulfate flooring consumes 0.15 tons of desulfurized gypsum, reducing industrial solid waste landfilling while lowering the demand for natural limestone mining. Currently, leading international flooring enterprises have achieved large-scale production of calcium sulfate flooring. These products have a formaldehyde emission ≤ 0.02mg/m³, a fire resistance rating of Class A, and are widely used in data center projects with strict environmental requirements, such as those in the financial sector and government agencies.

(2) Aluminum Alloy Flooring: 100% Recyclable

With its advantages of high strength, light weight, and recyclability, aluminum alloy flooring is the material of choice for high-end data centers. Its environmental value is mainly reflected in:

• Full-Lifecycle Recycling: Aluminum alloy materials can be 100% recycled and reused. The energy consumption of the recycling process is only 5% of that for virgin aluminum production (virgin aluminum production consumes approximately 14,000kWh per ton, while recycled aluminum consumes about 700kWh per ton). Each ton of recycled aluminum can reduce CO₂ emissions by approximately 12 tons.

• Long Lifespan Reduces Replacement Frequency: Aluminum alloy flooring has a service life of over 20 years—more than twice that of conventional steel flooring (8-10 years)—reducing waste generation and resource consumption from flooring replacements.

III. Trusted Manufacturers of Data Center Access Flooring

• Founded in 1999, Jiangsu Huilian has grown into a world-leading access flooring manufacturer with nearly 30 years of expertise. It has established long-term and stable strategic partnerships with internationally renowned brands such as TATE (U.S.), ASM, and KINGSPAN. The company focuses on providing high-quality raised flooring solutions for the data center and office markets, and is renowned for its premium products, strong production capacity, and extensive global influence.

• As one of the few enterprises in the industry with large-scale production capabilities for a full range of products, Huilian’s core competitiveness lies in its ability to mass-produce three mainstream types of raised access flooring—full-steel, calcium sulfate, and aluminum alloy—simultaneously. Based on this, it has built a diversified product line covering multiple scenarios: whether for computer rooms and data centers with strict anti-static requirements, office buildings and offices needing flexible cabling, or electronic equipment production workshops and cleanrooms with high standards for cleanliness and stability, Huilian can provide highly tailored, high-quality raised flooring solutions.

• In terms of technology and quality assurance, Huilian’s strength is particularly prominent: it holds over 70 patents (including 10 invention patents), leading the industry in technological innovation. As the first enterprise in the industry to build its own anti-static laboratory, it can independently conduct full-process key tests such as central load, rolling, impact, and anti-static performance, ensuring product quality from the source. Furthermore, it has deeply participated in the formulation of industry standards for calcium sulfate flooring, transforming its independent research achievements into universal industry norms and leading the high-quality development of the industry.

• In terms of certification and production & delivery capabilities, Huilian also demonstrates global competitiveness: its products have passed testing against two international authoritative standards—CISCA (U.S.) and MOB (U.K.)—and their quality is recognized in global markets. Currently, its products are exported to more than 20 countries and regions in Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific. Relying on two modern production bases with a total area of 140,000 square meters, Huilian not only has strong large-scale production capabilities to efficiently support large-scale projects but also offers competitive Minimum Order Quantities (MOQ) to meet both bulk orders and personalized needs, providing stable and efficient delivery guarantees for global customers.

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IV. Conclusion: Raised Access Flooring—A Key Piece in Global Data Center "Decarbonization"

In the process of global data centers moving towards “climate neutrality”, the raised access floor system seems to be a “tiny component”, but contains a “huge energy”. In the journey towards “climate neutrality”, raised-access floors may seem like a “tiny component” but contain “huge energy” - not only can they directly reduce the cooling capacity of server rooms, but they can also reduce the number of rooms that have to be cooled. -Not only can it directly reduce the cooling energy consumption of computer rooms by 15-30%, but it can also reduce the carbon emissions of the whole life cycle of building materials through material innovation. For European and American enterprises, this is a “necessary choice” to meet policy requirements and win market trust; for the global data center industry, this is a “key piece of the puzzle” to achieve “parallel growth in computing power and carbon emission reduction”. For the global data center industry, it is a “key piece of the puzzle” to realize “parallel arithmetic power growth and carbon emission reduction”.

In the future, with the continuous iteration of technology and global carbon market linkage, the raised access floor will no longer be just a “server room component”, but will become an important manifestation of the “green competitiveness” of the data center. Only by integrating the innovation of this “small part” into the “grand strategy” of global sustainable development can we truly realize the low-carbon transformation of the data center industry and contribute to the global “dual-carbon” goal. Contribute to the global “dual-carbon” goal.