Data Centers in the AI Era
This online engineering PDH course examines the rapid expansion of data centers in the AI era, focusing on their energy demands, cooling requirements, electrical infrastructure, and grid impacts, based on insights from the 2025 report Data Centers in the AI Era.
This course explains how AI and high-performance computing workloads are driving significant increases in rack density, power consumption, and cooling intensity, while highlighting the associated engineering and planning challenges.
This course focuses on the technical, operational, and policy factors shaping next-generation high-density data centers. It explores advanced cooling technologies such as liquid and immersion cooling, evaluates performance metrics like PUE, and analyzes constraints related to energy scalability, transmission capacity, and renewable integration. It also examines grid stress drivers including peak load clustering and permitting delays and assesses solutions such as demand response, load shifting, and 24/7 clean energy matching.
Moreover, this course covers grid integration challenges and sustainability considerations by bridging data center design with real-world utility planning and infrastructure development. It evaluates carbon metrics such as PUE, CUE, and LCCI, examines energy reporting practices, and analyzes embodied carbon impacts. Additionally, it explores broader implications of digital infrastructure growth, emphasizing transparent sustainability strategies and balanced, data-driven approaches to support both innovation and grid reliability.
This 3 PDH online course is applicable to engineers, energy professionals, as well as other professionals who are interested in understanding the AI-era data center challenges.
This PE continuing education course is intended to provide you with the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Understanding the technical drivers of AI data center growth and their impacts on energy use, power density, and infrastructure
- Evaluating power consumption factors, including rack density, PUE, cooling systems, and electrical distribution
- Analyzing advanced cooling technologies such as liquid, direct-to-chip, and immersion systems
- Assessing grid impacts, including transmission constraints, peak loads, and interconnection challenges
- Examining siting, permitting, and infrastructure limitations affecting large-scale data center deployment
- Evaluating sustainability metrics, carbon impacts, and renewable energy integration strategies
- Assessing innovative solutions such as microgrids, energy storage, and load shifting for efficiency and grid support
- Applying engineering judgment to compare design strategies, performance metrics, and infrastructure planning decisions
In this professional engineering CEU course, you need to review the course document titled,
"Roadmap to Net-zero Carbon Concrete in Canada by 2050", which is based on the Global Efficiency Intelligence, LLC, " Data Centers in the AI Era: Energy and Emissions Impacts in the U.S. and Key States".
To view, print and study the course, please click on the following PDF attachment:
Upon successful completion of the quiz, print your Certificate of Completion instantly. (Note: if you are paying by check or money order, you will be able to print it after we receive your payment.) For your convenience, we will also email it to you. Please note that you can log in to your account at any time to access and print your Certificate of Completion.