An often-overlooked truth is that historically most of the compute workloads now placed in large-scale data centers formerly resided in the wrong places. These included the basements or back offices of banks, manufacturing companies, hospitals, retail chains, and various other businesses not designed for computing at all. This resulted in wasted energy and water use, along with decreased computing resiliency and efficiency. As we continue to digitize more parts of our economy, centralizing and aggregating these workloads into larger digital infrastructure suited for this purpose is far more efficient in terms of overall energy consumption and other resource use. It also provides our country with the digital security, resilience, and scale required to maintain our leadership position in AI and other technologies.
The reality is that we live in an increasingly digital world where our leadership in digital infrastructure has significantly boosted global productivity and GDP and improved the daily lives of individuals worldwide. From online banking and streaming entertainment to virtual meetings, digital identification, telemedicine, and the like, these services have become indispensable to the growth and security of our country. Simply put, everything we do, consume, enjoy, or experience on our phones lives in a data center somewhere. If we value these conveniences, we must move beyond the narrative that portrays the infrastructure enabling them as a burden. Instead, we need to find ways to strengthen our digital infrastructure in a way that benefits all, striking a balance between innovation and sustainability to meet growing demands while minimizing environmental impact.
Data centers can be powerful catalysts for growth and opportunity in local communities. For example, data centers can drive significant economic development, including job creation and business relocation. These can create a ripple effect in the housing, retail, and services industries. Another benefit is tax revenue. A recent article published by CBRE stated, “In Northern Virginia’s Loudoun County, tax revenue from computer equipment purchases for data centers surged by 170% to $582 million in 2023 from $215 million in 2021—two and a half times the tax revenue from motor vehicle sales. This boost in revenue has provided significant funding for public education, infrastructure, public health initiatives, capital improvement programs, and parks and recreation amenities.”
In addition, hyperscalers in general are some of the most aggressive and ambitious among Global 2000 companies in their environmental stewardship and sustainability efforts and their associated climate commitments. For example, Amazon has pledged to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its entire operation by 2040, and Google is working toward running on 24/7 carbon-free energy on every grid where it operates by 2030. The data center industry is and will continue to be one of the major consumers and catalysts for the development of renewable energy projects across the nation. These efforts have been – and will continue to be – a benefit to all.
Several groundbreaking innovations are emerging in the digital infrastructure industry, poised to tackle sustainability challenges. For instance, water neutral and water positive cooling is not “years away” — it’s in active use in several data centers. Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta have publicly stated their commitment to becoming “water positive” by 2030, meaning they aim to return more water to the environment than they use in their data center operations. At CleanArc, our own cooling is near “net-zero water.” Our water consumption will be comparable to a small office building. Our efforts have been closely coordinated with the local utilities and will not have adverse impacts to water supply impact to the community.
Confidentiality is crucial in the early stages of many large infrastructure development projects and expecting companies to forgo protecting their economic interests at the early stages of development planning is unrealistic. Conducting anonymous due diligence, such as assessing community support, local infrastructure, and zoning impacts benefits all parties before significant investments are made. Certainly, when data centers are located in close proximity to residential communities, there needs to be additional consideration of potential impacts and increased collaboration to mitigate or minimize those impacts. There are many good actors in the space who are committed to community engagement and working through infrastructure development that is aligned with maintaining community growth, vibrancy, and integrity. In many ways, data center development is no different than any other type of industrial or commercial development. For example, the evaluation of how a new shopping mall impacts local traffic patterns or a new manufacturing plant impacts sight lines and nighttime light pollution is a standard part of the community involvement in any development process.
At CleanArc, we choose to acknowledge the realities, address the challenges head-on, and focus on effectively supporting the growing demand for efficient and resilient digital infrastructure. We believe data centers can and must play an integral role in creating a brighter, more sustainable future for everyone. We are committed to embracing innovative solutions that balance growth with sustainability.
