Since their first contract for Meta in Luleå, Sweden in 2013, NOVENCO Building & Industry has been on a growth journey. John Jørgensen, Director of Global Data Center Sales, shares some perspectives on Novenco’s growth journey, and what the data center contracts have meant for their business.
While Novenco’s data center journey started with Meta in 2013, the true breakthrough happened five years later. In 2019, Novenco announced that they were contracted to supply cooling solutions for two new Meta data center sites in the United States.
It took five years to be approved as a vendor for American projects, but today, Novenco is the only non-American manufacturer to supply cooling solutions to Meta’s data centers in the United States.
After continued growth since then, Novenco has invested in new production facilities and moved to a new domicile in December 2023. John Jørgensen summarizes: “We have invested in the necessary development projects to be able to continue supplying the required quality, while still optimizing the energy efficiency of our products. Our production facility has been optimized to deliver on time and with zero defects.”
Sustainability and energy efficiency are of the essence.
Sometimes, you are the right place at the right time. Or, in Novenco’s case, you have the right product and the right people willing to invest in the future. Jørgensen tells us that Novenco’s patented ZerAx® axial flow fans are the most energy efficient on the world market. This, combined with a high recyclability rate (98%), help ensure the product has a low carbon footprint.
Energy efficiency is essential for the data center industry, and recent legislation has underscored the importance of minimizing energy usage in data centers. Historically, data centers used mechanical cooling. With this solution, cooling accounted for appr. half the energy use in a data center. With the introduction of “free cooling”, energy efficiency has improved. Now, most of the energy is used for the servers while a smaller part is used for cooling.
In addition, TCO is an important factor. The technology utilized in Novenco’s ZerAx® ventilators ensures that they can run for 20+ years without service and maintenance. This is important not just in terms of scope 3 emissions for Novenco’s customers, but also in ensuring zero downtime.
Zero downtime, zero defects and supply security
While it is difficult to be approved as a supplier to the major data center hyperscalers, it can a make a significant difference for the business. This year, data center projects are projected to account for appr. 50% of Novenco’s annual turnover.
” We never would have gotten the follow-up contracts if we hadn’t been able to deliver the first projects on time and with zero defects.”
This commitment to quality has been key. As part of the approval process, Novenco committed to quality KPIs and ongoing follow-ups. They have received high scores in their ongoing quality reports.
“We are proud of being the only non-American company to deliver to Meta. For a company of our size, compared to our competitors with much more manpower, this is a major success story, ” Jørgensen concludes.
Facts about NOVENCO Building & Industry
· Founded in 1947 as Nordisk Ventilator Co. A/S in Naestved, Denmark.
· Since 2015 NOVENCO Building & Industry has been a member of SCHAKO Group.
· Now has 250 employees
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