Compass & Schneider Launch Prefab Pod for AI Data Centers
During Yotta 2025, I had a chance to sit down with Joe Reele, vice president – solution architects at Schneider Electric, to chat about the company’s new Prefabricated Modular EcoStruxure™ Pod Data Center, built in partnership with Compass Datacenters.
Designed to simplify the notoriously complex white space build-out process by delivering a factory-tested, ready-to-install pod that integrates power, cooling, and IT networking into a single modular unit.
“This is about delivering resilience, sustainability, and speed in a world where clients can’t afford to wait,” Joe said. “Prefabrication is the next step in that journey—and it’s only the beginning.”
Why Prefabrication Now
Joe pointed to three pressures shaping customer expectations: speed, simplicity, and consistency.
“The market really drove us this way,” he said. “Clients need facilities that are delivered faster, at lower cost, and with no risk—while ensuring performance is predictable and repeatable. Meeting those demands is what led us to rethink how white space is designed and deployed.”
The goal isn’t just speed, but repeatability at scale. As he noted, “Low cost only matters until you have a major incident. And when clients have hundreds of data centers, the last thing they want is 100 different one-off designs.”
Flexibility on a Standard Platform
The pod is delivered as a standardized base unit, but with options baked in for cooling architectures, cabling, and power distribution. That balance between uniformity and flexibility was deliberate.
“It’s like the Ford F-150,” Joe said. “They have one chassis, but 35 different models—from basic to luxury. We’ve baked adaptability into the base design, so when a client comes with a request, the answer becomes much easier.”
Sustainability Lens
Sustainability factored into the design process as much as speed. Schneider Electric and Compass have emphasized reducing embedded carbon in packaging and shipping, as well as eliminating waste in installation.
“When we say we are serious about sustainability, we mean that from how we make and produce our product, to what earth minerals we’re using, to how much energy it takes to build it,” Joe said. “Over the years, we’ve taken more and more carbon out of packaging, shipping, and manufacturing. Each piece may seem small, but together they add up.”
He also acknowledged the challenge customers face in balancing growth with net-zero commitments: “Our clients’ growth is going through the roof, but they also have aggressive net-zero goals. Prefabrication helps them scale while keeping sustainability in focus.”
Partnership Dynamics
Compass and Schneider have collaborated for years, and Joe pointed to that history as a key factor in making prefabrication viable.
“You can’t do this kind of work without trust,” he said. “The Compass team gave us the opportunity to earn that trust, and that’s been essential. Both companies check egos at the door and focus on solving problems together. That’s how you move from concept to reality.”
Looking Ahead
Joe believes prefabrication will become the industry standard for white space fit-outs, but he also sees a larger shift on the horizon: software-driven integration.
“The next step is software—the digital thread,” he said. “When power, cooling, and IT are stitched together on one network, data centers can move toward autonomous operations. And when that happens, data centers won’t just consume power—they’ll help stabilize the grid. Mark my words: the data center will become the great grid stabilizer of the world.”
TechArena Take
Prefabricated white space isn’t new—making it a first-class, configurable product is the shift worth watching. From an operator’s perspective, the appeal is schedule determinism, repeatability, and risk reduction, with sustainability layered in. The open questions we’ll track:
How well density envelopes and serviceability hold up in production
Whether lifecycle carbon reductions materialize versus conventional builds
How quickly the “digital thread” vision linking IT and OT becomes real
During Yotta 2025, I had a chance to sit down with Joe Reele, vice president – solution architects at Schneider Electric, to chat about the company’s new Prefabricated Modular EcoStruxure™ Pod Data Center, built in partnership with Compass Datacenters.
Designed to simplify the notoriously complex white space build-out process by delivering a factory-tested, ready-to-install pod that integrates power, cooling, and IT networking into a single modular unit.
“This is about delivering resilience, sustainability, and speed in a world where clients can’t afford to wait,” Joe said. “Prefabrication is the next step in that journey—and it’s only the beginning.”
Why Prefabrication Now
Joe pointed to three pressures shaping customer expectations: speed, simplicity, and consistency.
“The market really drove us this way,” he said. “Clients need facilities that are delivered faster, at lower cost, and with no risk—while ensuring performance is predictable and repeatable. Meeting those demands is what led us to rethink how white space is designed and deployed.”
The goal isn’t just speed, but repeatability at scale. As he noted, “Low cost only matters until you have a major incident. And when clients have hundreds of data centers, the last thing they want is 100 different one-off designs.”
Flexibility on a Standard Platform
The pod is delivered as a standardized base unit, but with options baked in for cooling architectures, cabling, and power distribution. That balance between uniformity and flexibility was deliberate.
“It’s like the Ford F-150,” Joe said. “They have one chassis, but 35 different models—from basic to luxury. We’ve baked adaptability into the base design, so when a client comes with a request, the answer becomes much easier.”
Sustainability Lens
Sustainability factored into the design process as much as speed. Schneider Electric and Compass have emphasized reducing embedded carbon in packaging and shipping, as well as eliminating waste in installation.
“When we say we are serious about sustainability, we mean that from how we make and produce our product, to what earth minerals we’re using, to how much energy it takes to build it,” Joe said. “Over the years, we’ve taken more and more carbon out of packaging, shipping, and manufacturing. Each piece may seem small, but together they add up.”
He also acknowledged the challenge customers face in balancing growth with net-zero commitments: “Our clients’ growth is going through the roof, but they also have aggressive net-zero goals. Prefabrication helps them scale while keeping sustainability in focus.”
Partnership Dynamics
Compass and Schneider have collaborated for years, and Joe pointed to that history as a key factor in making prefabrication viable.
“You can’t do this kind of work without trust,” he said. “The Compass team gave us the opportunity to earn that trust, and that’s been essential. Both companies check egos at the door and focus on solving problems together. That’s how you move from concept to reality.”
Looking Ahead
Joe believes prefabrication will become the industry standard for white space fit-outs, but he also sees a larger shift on the horizon: software-driven integration.
“The next step is software—the digital thread,” he said. “When power, cooling, and IT are stitched together on one network, data centers can move toward autonomous operations. And when that happens, data centers won’t just consume power—they’ll help stabilize the grid. Mark my words: the data center will become the great grid stabilizer of the world.”
TechArena Take
Prefabricated white space isn’t new—making it a first-class, configurable product is the shift worth watching. From an operator’s perspective, the appeal is schedule determinism, repeatability, and risk reduction, with sustainability layered in. The open questions we’ll track:
How well density envelopes and serviceability hold up in production
Whether lifecycle carbon reductions materialize versus conventional builds
How quickly the “digital thread” vision linking IT and OT becomes real
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