
The opposition claim that data centers create unacceptable noise pollution treats all facilities as identical, conflates interior server hall noise with exterior community noise, and ignores the engineering controls that modern facilities deploy as standard practice. Understanding how acoustic science actually works — and what regulators actually measure — is essential for effective public advocacy. The facts support properly engineered facilities.
Fairfax County, Virginia: The Compliance Framework
Fairfax County, Virginia, adopted on September 10, 2024 what is widely regarded as the most comprehensive data center noise and siting ordinance in the United States. It was developed after months of contentious public hearings, [...]
Immersion & Liquid Cooling: The Near-Silent Data Center
The fundamental source of data center community noise complaints is air movement: the high-speed fans required to push large volumes of air through server racks and exhaust heat to the exterior. These fans are noisy [...]
Amazon Web Services Great Oak Retrofit
The Amazon Great Oak data center complex in Prince William County, Virginia, represents the most thoroughly documented noise response case in U.S. data center history. It is not a success story without complications — and [...]



