Northern Virginia has had enough with data centers

Fri Jun 23 23:43:38 UTC 2023

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-the-noise/

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