On Fri, 23 Jun 2023, Delong.com wrote:
Northern Virginia has about 275 data centers
There’s probably close to that number in the South Bay Area of California as well.
California is well-known for its state enviromental laws and zoning, so some of the issues with the 'wild-west' zoning of rural Virginia are different. When data centers developers aren't required to add cost in NOVA, they don't. No water conservation, no air-quality controls, no off-site sound silencers. Stuff that may be required by California zoning. I remember when we specified 'hospital-grade' silencers on outdoor equipment; and the push-back about the 'extra-cost.' NOVA counties had zoning rules about decibel levels, but not sound frequencies or duration. The fan noise from the largest data centers in NOVA/Maryland have been measured up to a couple of miles away. While the noise level may be less than the legal decibel level, the 24-hour drone (frequency) seems to penetrate standard house and building construction in NOVA. Its the night-time constant fan droning noises when people are trying to sleep which cause the most complaints. As data centers proliferate, neighbors knock the noise https://wtop.com/local/2022/09/as-data-centers-proliferate-neighbors-knock-t... Data center cooling fan system noise control - low cost + efficiency gains https://invc.com/noise-control/data-center-noise-attenuation/ Science of data center noise | VERIFY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JflFFqbZ1X8