Johnson Controls invests S$60m in Singapore AI hubs

Johnson Controls will invest up to S$60 million to expand its Innovation Centre in Singapore as it targets rising demand across Asia-Pacific for more energy-efficient data centres.

The expansion will focus on next generation cooling, thermal management and intelligent automation for facilities that support artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The company aims to address the rapid growth of hyperscale and colocation data centres as operators face tighter sustainability requirements and higher power consumption.

Data centres already account for an estimated 7% of Singapore's national electricity use. Government projections indicate that this share could rise to 12% by 2030. Asia-Pacific holds about 30% of global data centre capacity and industry forecasts suggest significant further build-out as organisations expand digital and AI-led services.

Five-year investment

Johnson Controls plans to deploy the S$60 million over five years. The company will increase its engineering workforce at the Singapore Innovation Centre to between 90 and 100 roles over the same period. The enlarged teams will work on thermal management research and the development of advanced cooling strategies that aim to reduce energy use in data halls.

The expanded site will also develop and test new prototypes in collaboration with universities, technology partners and commercial customers. Separate workstreams will focus on digital connectivity and automation systems for data centres. The company expects these efforts to support more secure and resilient operations and to improve uptime in large-scale facilities.

Singapore economic agencies have promoted the city-state as a hub for sustainable digital infrastructure under national green building and smart facilities plans. The latest move by Johnson Controls aligns with a broader push to limit the energy and carbon footprint of the next wave of AI-ready data centres while maintaining service levels for cloud and digital platforms.

Cindy Koh, Executive Vice President at the Singapore Economic Development Board, said the latest expansion reflected continued investor interest in the sector.

"Johnson Controls' latest expansion of its innovation centre adds new capabilities and jobs in sustainable building solutions in Singapore, for which data centre is a key growth area. It reflects the company's continued confidence in Singapore as a leading innovation hub, where industry players can leverage Singapore's strong talent base to develop and scale innovative solutions to support the region's growing demand," Koh said.

AI-driven demand

AI workloads have increased rack densities and raised cooling requirements inside modern data centres. Operators are assessing alternatives to traditional air-based systems, including liquid cooling and hybrid approaches, as they seek to manage higher heat loads and constrained power allocations in markets such as Singapore.

Johnson Controls said the enlarged Innovation Centre will prioritise efficient thermal management technologies suited to these conditions. The facility will examine system designs for hyperscale and colocation environments in Asia's tropical climates. The work will consider local regulations, land constraints and grid capacity limits.

Anu Rathninde, President, Asia Pacific, Johnson Controls, linked the project directly to AI-related energy pressures.

"As AI workloads surge and data centres demand more energy, sustainability has become an imperative," said Anu Rathninde, President, Asia Pacific, Johnson Controls. "The expansion of our Innovation Centre in Singapore is key in helping hyperscalers and colocation providers achieve their carbon reduction goals while ensuring performance and consistency at scale. It also underscores our long-term investment in Singapore as a cornerstone of our APAC strategy, leveraging the nation's innovation ecosystem as the ideal hub for leading these advancements across ASEAN," said Rathninde.

Regional role

Johnson Controls has operated globally for more than 140 years and has maintained partnerships in Singapore for over four decades. The Innovation Centre already works on digital building management, automation and security for commercial and industrial sites.

The company's digital portfolio includes the OpenBlue platform, which supports intelligent building operations and predictive analytics for maintenance and energy use. It also offers a Cooling-as-a-Service model that links energy performance to commercial contracts. These products form part of the toolkit that the firm intends to extend into data centre environments through the expanded centre.

Over the past year, Johnson Controls has carried out proof-of-concept projects in Singapore alongside higher education institutions and industry partners. These pilots have tested new approaches to cooling optimisation and digital monitoring in live environments. The company said the results validated prototype benchmarks and aligned with national objectives under Singapore's Green Building Masterplan and Smart Facility Management agenda.

The enlarged Innovation Centre will act as a regional base for Johnson Controls' work on sustainable and digital infrastructure for data centres across Asia-Pacific.