Why Data Centres Belong in Nursing Homes (Not Isolated Warehouses) with David from Leafcloud

Architect Tomorrow

In this episode, Oliver speaks with David Kohnstamm from Leafcloud about a fundamental shift in how we think about data centre locations. Forget remote warehouses - the future of sustainable computing lies in nursing homes, apartment complexes, and anywhere with constant heat demand.David reveals why traditional data centres waste enormous amounts of energy cooling servers, while distributed computing can turn that "waste" heat into free heating for communities. The key insight? It's all about matching your infrastructure to locations with 24/7 heat requirements.- Why nursing homes are perfect data centre locations (constant heat demand, 24/7 operations)- The fatal flaw with office-based edge computing (weekends, evenings, seasonal gaps)- How Leaf Cloud delivers servers that literally pay their rent with waste heat- Why PUE metrics actually reward throwing heat away- The difference between heat recovery that works vs. heat recovery that fails- Why hot water heating beats space heating for consistent demand- How distributed computing can scale to meet 50% of residential heating needsThe Bottom Line: Location strategy for data centres should follow heat demand patterns, not just connectivity or land costs. When you place servers where constant heat is needed, you solve both sustainability and cost challenges simultaneously.#SustainableTech #DataCentres #GreenComputing #HeatRecovery #DistributedComputing