An information handling system can include cooling devices that are organized into zones. A method of using an information handling system can include setting a cooling level for each cooling device. Each zone can be associated with thermal data or regions within the information handling system, and a cooling demand can be determined for the thermal data or regions. A zone cooling level for each zone corresponds to a higher cooling demand from each zone's associated thermal regions, and a cooling device cooling level corresponds to a higher zone cooling level from each cooling device's associated zones. The method can be embodied as machine executable code for an information handling system. An information handling system can include cooling devices associated with zones, and can operate to set a cooling level for each cooling device by determining cooling demands in response to information regarding thermal energy generated by an electrical sub-assembly.