In Sustainable Development, Respecting Communities is a Core Value

The number of hyperscale data centers has doubled in the last five years, with the U.S. accounting for more than half of total worldwide compute capacity. Reports also anticipate seven GW of projects reaching completion on a global scale in 2025 alone, with more than three of those residing in North America.

Meanwhile, the scale of deployments is also increasing, with about a third of campuses projected to be above 200 MW by 2028. While strong industry growth and demand are enabling exciting new technological advancements and a range of consumer services, there is another side to this equation calling for our attention.

As an industry, we can’t pursue additional growth opportunities without first thinking about how our projects overlap with the communities in which we operate. Engaging with communities, learning about their goals and concerns, and continuing to enrich our roles as responsible corporate citizens and community partners has always been the right way forward — and it’s more important now than ever.

Communities are already asking why we’re developing where we are and what we plan to add both inside and outside our facilities. With that in mind, a site selection and development philosophy that prioritizes sustainable, long-term collaboration should be a core value for every developer.

Building Sustainably on Data Center Value

Fortunately, data centers already bring positive tax benefits with them. These large developments deliver billions in capital investment, representing significant construction-related revenue contributions and added long-term tax income for communities. This is why many regions actively seek critical infrastructure developments and the workforce development opportunities, high-paying jobs, and other programs conscientious developers and tenants cultivate.

Still, while innate contributions help, sustainable growth at our current scale requires us to keep improving our processes and policies for site selection to ensure we’re building responsibly and beneficially.

As an industry, enhancing our track record of operationally successful and communally valuable campuses will encourage enthusiasm for our mission-critical work while creating trust in how we do it. Today’s data center developers are in a position to shape new protocols that avoid past missteps with governing bodies (including some developments being based on poor rezoning decisions) and establish standards that ease development while delivering better outcomes for communities.

Cultivating this renewed trust starts during site selection and development by ensuring a “goodness of fit” up front (with a comprehensive, sophisticated vetting process) and then prioritizing a hands-on approach to local collaboration.

Meticulous site selection is what builds mutually beneficial foundations, so we take our land feasibility assessments and location strategies very seriously.

Proper Due Diligence Helps Create a ‘Site’ for Sore Eyes

On good projects, communities, developers, customers, and end users all have the same goals. They want deployments to be safe, reliable, efficient, sustainable, and deliver the most value with the least amount of disruption.

With the right strategy, critical location factors for our customers can and do match up with responsibly sited facilities that blend in well with communities. However, developers committed to this goal (as all should be) must have smart people and processes in place to meet that challenge.

At Stream, we start broadly, ensuring any land we use is unencumbered and mitigates impact on local environments. Our team also makes a point to avoid locations where rezoning for data centers just doesn’t make sense (e.g. too close to residences or where environmental constraints exist). But behind these overarching goals, there are hundreds of contributing factors, measurements, data points, and formal assessments to verify the granular details.

Our “Location Feasibility Assessment” contains nearly 200 location success factors, including endangered species and protected habitat assessments, archaeological and cultural resources assessments, and more. We also use a proprietary GIS tool for added due diligence and pursue comprehensive visual and acoustic modelling for anticipated projects. This upfront work not only helps us certify that we’re minimizing disruption, but also creates helpful data-based reassurance for communities — which raises an important note:

This process can’t occur in a vacuum. Especially now, site identification and development must involve actively reaching out to utilities, economic development bodies, and local stakeholders in prospective markets.

Long before any shovel meets dirt, our team is collaborating with local and regional utility providers to assess capacities and support upgrades so necessary resources can be accessed without straining utility systems. We’re also working alongside government agencies to outline development and investment parameters, negotiating responsible, mutually beneficial economic development opportunities — and much more.

In more constrained markets, we’ve even elected to complete cleanups and invest in the redevelopment of brownfield land. This is a great example of our win-win-win approach: We’re leading with active, participative, good-neighbor values while prepping the space needed to support local, regional, and national digital business necessities.

An Ounce of Prevention Beats a Pound of Cure

While some may worry about siting in a constrained, high-growth market, this environment encourages much-needed creativity from responsible developers, often leading to greater efficiencies and additive measures. The most thoughtful and market-attuned developers will rise to the top — a shift communities will be excited to see.

This is why, to us, starting with 100+ sites and narrowing it down to a single top candidate isn’t uncommon. Nowadays, it’s a sign to all that you’ve done your job well, vetting aggressively to land on the best location for everyone.

Yes, time to market continues to be vital. However, a sophisticated strategy with a robust list of environmental, economic, and social success factors becomes the balancing point. This strategy becomes the north star for thorough, conscientious site selection while getting developers to the right site faster and avoiding unnecessary risks for communities.

It also paves a path for building relationships based on trust and transparency.

Good Neighbors, or Just New Neighbors?

Once a site is identified as a great candidate for development, that’s just the beginning of a partnership with that community, not the end of the process. Again, while there is market excitement about data centers’ economic development (in Nebraska, estimates show data centers’ annual property taxes can be 110x greater than those from agricultural land), there is still opportunity to build collaboratively on that foundation.

Investing time getting to know a community on an individual level is not a deal sweetener, it’s a necessity. Creating space for discussion with local stakeholders, understanding their perspectives, and becoming attuned to what kind of ongoing programs they value is an increasingly important part of our job.

For this, there is no one-size-fits-all engagement approach. Some locations may benefit from educational opportunities that prime teens and young adults for technical jobs; others may be pursuing beautification efforts. The big question isn’t just “what can we add,” it’s also “what will be meaningful in this area and to these groups?” To answer that, we must ask, not assume.

When data centers were small (often fitting into standard office buildings), some developers and operators might have gotten away with being insular. However, as power constraints increase and developers turn to new markets and larger developments, the risk of getting it wrong is higher than ever. Anyone still trying the ‘go it alone’ approach probably won’t like the result — and neither will the markets where they build.

Communities rightfully want to know more about why we’re here, how we chose the location, and how we’ll mesh with their local landscape. In turn, data center operators need to be prepared not just to answer for their site selection and development decisions, but to start a conversation and a relationship that will last.

To learn more about data centers and get answers to frequently asked questions, don’t miss our FAQ here.

To learn how Stream partnered with a community to build a responsible development, check out our case study from Goodyear, Arizona.