A methodology is proposed for on-line monitoring of cooling load supplied by Telecommunication (TLC) cooling systems. Sensible cooling load is estimated via a proportional integral controller-based input estimator, whereas a lumped parameters model was developed aiming at estimating air handling units (AHUs) latent heat load removal. The joint deployment of above estimators enables accurate prediction of total cooling load, as well as of related AHUs and free-coolers energy performance. The procedure was then proven effective when extended to cooling systems having a centralized chiller, through model based estimation of a key performance metric, such as the energy efficiency ratio. The results and experimental validation presented throughout the paper confirm the suitability of the proposed procedure as a reliable and effective energy monitoring and diagnostic tool for TLC applications. Moreover, the proposed modeling approach, beyond its direct contribution towards smart use and conservation of energy, can be fruitfully deployed as a virtual sensor of removed heat load into a variety of residential and industrial applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.