Building automation
Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM
Learn how data centres are cooled and controlled: CRAC and CRAH units, chilled water, liquid cooling for AI racks, BMS, DCIM and PUE.
Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM is a free, self-paced online course from EDWartens for HVAC, BMS and facility engineers working in or moving into data centres. It has 9 modules and takes about 6.7 hours, with written notes, a practice task per module, a practical project and a final assessment of 15 questions (pass mark 60%). Learning costs nothing and needs only a free account. The optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, verifiable by code, is a one-off US$28.99 for you; it is not a vendor credential. Updated 1 November 2026.
- Free
- Intermediate
- 6.7 hours
- Self-paced
- Certificate optional
- Lab practice in your browser
No card, no trial. The course is free for good. Certificate US$28.99, optional.
- Who it is for
- HVAC, BMS and facility engineers working in or moving into data centres
- Jobs
- Roles that use this skill: building automation engineer, BMS technician, facilities engineer and controls integrator. No course guarantees a job.
- Tools
- None required. A spreadsheet for the calculations. Hardware: none.
- Updated
After this course you can
By the end you will be able to:
- Trace the heat path from chip to atmosphere
- Compare CRAC and CRAH units and containment options
- Explain direct-to-chip, rear-door and immersion cooling for AI racks
- Design BMS points and alarms that survive a single failure
- Use DCIM for capacity and change
Who it is for, and what you need first
Who it is for
HVAC, BMS and facility engineers working in or moving into data centres.
Level: Intermediate. Intermediate. You should know basic HVAC or building services: temperature, airflow, heat and power. No data centre experience is needed.
What you need
Software: None required. A spreadsheet for the calculations..
Hardware: None.. What to download, and how.
How this course works
Watch the lessons
Short video lessons, one module at a time, at your own pace.
Read the notes
Open the Reading tab for the written notes and diagrams of the module.
Practise in the 3D labOptional
Try the module in the free 3D lab, in your browser.
Check yourself
Answer the questions to see what stuck before you move on.
Final assessment
Pass the final once you have been through the modules.
Certificate, if you want oneOptional
Optional, with a page anyone can use to verify it.
What you learn
9 modules in order, at your own pace. 6.7 hours of video lessons, with written notes and a practice task in each module.
- 1How a data centre is cooled, with lab practice: 14m
- 2CRAC, CRAH and chilled water, with lab practice: 22m
- 3Data centre HVAC in depth26m
- 4Liquid and immersion cooling for AI18m
- 5Designing the power and cooling infrastructure8m
- 6BMS for data centres29m
- 7DCIM, operations and management, with lab practice: 3m
- 8Sustainability, and what comes next, with lab practice: 42m
Show the other 1 modules
- 9Final Assessment10m
Software you need
What to download, where from, what it costs and how to install it. Every link goes to the maker's own site, never a mirror.
Nothing to install
Any spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice Calc) is enough for the calculations.
Show what to download (1 tool)
Optional
Useful, not needed to finish the course.
- 01Free
LibreOffice
The Document Foundation
- Runs on
- Windows 10 or 11, macOS 11 or newer (Intel or Apple silicon), Linux
- Account
- None needed
- Size
- up to 1.5 GB of disk space on Windows
LibreOffice is free, open-source software under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, for any use including business. Calc is its spreadsheet.
Steps
- 1.Open the LibreOffice download page.
- 2.Check the page has picked your operating system, then select Download.
- 3.Run the installer (administrator rights are needed on Windows).
- 4.Start LibreOffice Calc for spreadsheet work.
- 5.Save as .xlsx if you need to share files with Excel users.
- Choose the latest main version unless your organisation asks for the older, more conservative release.
Official download pagelibreoffice.org
Checked against each maker's own page on 27 September 2026. Trial lengths and editions change; the maker's page is the final word.
Practise in the 3D lab
Walk an AI data hall, clear a hot spot with containment and air handler settings, and work out PUE from a month of meter readings.
- Safety walk and hall tourAI Data Centre labOpen in the lab (opens in a new tab): Safety walk and hall tour
- Cooling hot spotAI Data Centre labOpen in the lab (opens in a new tab): Cooling hot spot
- PUE from a month of metersAI Data Centre labOpen in the lab (opens in a new tab): PUE from a month of meters
Optional. Skip it whenever you like: it never blocks your progress or your certificate.
Course project, about 11 hours
Preparing a colocation data hall for AI racks: cooling design basis, BMS points and alarms, integrated cooling test and capacity report
Act as the mechanical and controls engineer preparing an existing data hall to take liquid-cooled AI racks beside its air-cooled customers. You clear a hot spot in the lab, then write the design basis, points list, alarm list, acceptance test and capacity report. The sample pack shows each document for one colocation hall.
- 5documents in the pack
- 6steps to follow
- Laboptional: in the 3D lab
- 6things to hand in
- 11 hof work, at your pace
- Control narrativeCooling design basis: Data Hall 3 AI row
- Points listBMS points list: Data Hall 3 AI row
- Alarm listAlarm list: Data Hall 3 AI row cooling
- SATIntegrated cooling site acceptance test: AI row
- ReportCapacity and efficiency report: Data Hall 3 after the AI row
Do it in the lab: 5 steps.
The project is optional practice. The certificate needs only the modules and the final assessment.
After the course, your next step
Show what you can do, then keep going in the same field.
A certificate you can verify
Finish the modules and pass the final assessment (15 questions, pass mark 60%) and you can add a certificate with a public verification page. One-off, US$28.99 for you. It is not a vendor credential.
Want a free certificate? Do the matching Free internship: 4 weeks, nothing to buy, with a free certificate of completion.
MEP and Building Services
Eight short weeks of mechanical, electrical and plumbing services in buildings, from HVAC and fire fighting to BIM coordination and handover: notes, diagrams, a few videos and worked exercises. Finish weeks 1 to 4 and the final, then claim a free Internship Completion Certificate with your real dates and study hours, and a QR code anyone can scan to verify it. Training, not employment.
See the internshipMore free courses
Roles that use this skill
- Building automation engineer
- BMS technician
- Facilities engineer
- Controls integrator
These are the kinds of roles where the skill is used. We make no promise of a job or an interview.
Plain notes
- Free: the whole course, the notes, the practice tasks, the final assessment and support from practising engineers.
- Paid, and optional: the course certificate, and the Engineer-verified internship (the Free internship costs nothing).
- No job promise: the course teaches a skill. It does not place you in a job.
- Lessons by: MEP Academy, Bryce Anderson. Independent creators; the lessons stream from their own channels. EDWartens wrote the study plan, notes, practice tasks and assessments.
MEP Academy · Bryce Anderson. If you are one of these creators and want a lesson removed or credited differently, write to info@edwartens.com.
Practise what you learn in the free 3D lab
Technical work is judged on what you can do: wiring, commissioning, finding a fault. Doing a task yourself teaches more than watching it a second time, and a lab lets you try it safely before you meet real equipment. It does not replace working on real hardware.
- Practise safely, so a mistake costs nothing.
- The lab checks your work like a site test, so you know when it is right.
- Free, in your browser, with nothing to install.
Why learn with EDWartens
What you get with this course, and what comes after it.
- Free from the first lesson to the final assessment.
- Practice in a free 3D lab in your browser, with nothing to install.
- Video lessons with written notes and a project.
- An optional certificate that anyone can verify online.
- Free internships to keep practising afterwards.
Common questions
Who is the Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM course for?
HVAC, mechanical, controls and facilities engineers moving into data centres, and data centre technicians who want to understand the cooling and BMS behind their daily work. Basic HVAC knowledge is assumed.
How is it different from Data Centre Electrical and Critical Power?
That course covers the electrical side: power paths, UPS, generators and electrical studies. This one covers cooling, BMS, DCIM and sustainability. Together they cover the two halves of data centre infrastructure.
Does it cover liquid cooling for AI?
Yes. A full module covers direct-to-chip cold plates, CDUs, rear-door heat exchangers and single- and two-phase immersion, with the flow calculations.
How long does the Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM course take?
About 3.8 hours of video lessons across eight teaching modules, plus the notes, practice questions, the final assessment and an optional project of around 10 hours. At a few hours a week it fits into three to four weeks.
What is the project in the Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM course?
You prepare a colocation data hall in Singapore for five 80 kW liquid-cooled AI racks: a cooling design basis, a BMS points list and alarm list, an integrated cooling acceptance test, and a capacity and efficiency report. A worked sample pack shows each document.
Do I need DCIM or BMS software?
No. The course explains what they do and how they are designed; the exercises use a spreadsheet.
Is the Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM course really free?
Yes. Every module, the notes, the project and the final assessment. The only paid item is the certificate, if you want it.
What certificate does the Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM course give?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you pass the final assessment, with a number anyone can verify on our site. It is not a vendor or Uptime Institute certification, and EDWartens is not affiliated with either.
Do I have to use the lab?
No. The lab is optional practice. You can skip it whenever you like, and it never blocks your progress, the final assessment or your certificate.
Is the lab free?
Yes. Every lab level for this course opens in your browser, free, with nothing to install.
What topics does the Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM course cover, module by module?
The Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM course has 9 modules. It opens with "How a data centre is cooled", goes through "CRAC, CRAH and chilled water", "Liquid and immersion cooling for AI", "BMS for data centres" and "Sustainability, and what comes next" and ends with "Final Assessment". The full list with minutes is under "What you learn" on this page.
What can I do after the Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM course?
After the Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM course: Trace the heat path and calculate the airflow and water flow a load needs; Compare CRAC and CRAH units, containment options and air- and water-cooled plant; Explain economisers and calculate chiller COP and kW per ton. These are the practical outcomes the course is written around, and the final assessment of 15 questions checks them.
What software and hardware do I need for the Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM course, and does it cost anything?
For the Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM course, software: None required. A spreadsheet for the calculations. Hardware: none. The course itself is free.
Is the Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM course suitable for me, and what level is it?
Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM is rated intermediate. Intermediate. You should know basic HVAC or building services: temperature, airflow, heat and power. No data centre experience is needed. It is written for HVAC, BMS and facility engineers working in or moving into data centres, and takes about 6.7 hours at your own pace.
Which jobs use the skills from the Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM course?
Skills from the Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM course (for example: trace the heat path and calculate the airflow and water flow a load needs) are used in roles such as building automation engineer, BMS technician, facilities engineer and controls integrator, and in data centre facilities engineer work. The course gives you practical evidence of the skill; it does not promise a job, and employers decide on experience and interview.
Start free today
Data Centre Cooling, BMS and DCIM, at your own pace. Add the certificate only if you want one.