Day One

• Separating disinformation from legitimate design and infrastructure constraints to identify community pressure points around data centers in Eastern States, such as power, water, noise, and local impact 
• Translating complex engineering, standards, and operational realities into clear, credible narratives that non-technical stakeholders can understand and trust
• Structuring early collaboration between developers, designers, engineers, and municipalities to proactively address concerns, align expectations, and reduce planning resistance

Building on the previous session, this panel expands the conversation by bringing in owner and developer perspectives on the same challenges and strategies. In a more conversational format, panelists will compare approaches, share real-world experiences, and explore how community engagement is evolving across projects and regions, with dedicated time to ask any burning questions.

• Positioning data centers as non-disposable architecture to ensure lasting value and relevance 20+ years into the future
• Leveraging data centers as catalysts for growth to unlock broader economic ecosystems beyond initial build phases
• Embedding community engagement into long-term planning to align development with evolving local expectations

• Reducing community resistance by embedding proven design responses to water use, noise, and visual impact, including closed-loop cooling, dry systems, and early acoustic mitigation
• Balancing cooling strategies and site planning decisions to manage local infrastructure expectations and neighbourhood proximity
• Elevating architectural and planning decisions beyond minimum zoning compliance to create facilities that integrate into their surroundings and remain viable 20–25 years on
• Interpreting county-by-county differences in power, water, noise, and environmental codes that can materially alter design assumptions even within the same state

• Re-planning data hall, power, and cooling relationships as facilities move from twodimensional layouts to three-dimensional vertical stacking
• Adapting mechanical and electrical strategies when roof area, plant placement, and traditional campus scaling approaches are no longer viable
• Balancing footprint reduction with cost, speed, and constructability pressures while maintaining equivalent compute capacity within the same landmass

• Embedding lessons learned from recent projects into specifications and BODs to ensure new efficiencies and components are not lost between design cycles
• Establishing a repeatable process for reviewing and refreshing documentation as technologies change on six- to twelve-month timelines
• Reducing rework and design drift by aligning specifications and BOD updates with how teams are coping with ongoing technology change and uncertainty

Connect with members of the speaker faculty actively shaping the future of next-gen data center facility design and engineering – whether they’ve just presented or are about to take the stage. Ask your burning questions, dive deeper into their strategies, and build valuable connections with leaders driving the industry forward.

• Identifying high-risk equipment categories early in design to avoid specifying components with longor volatile lead times
• Interrogating availability, standardization, and alternative specifications during design development toincrease flexibility and reduce dependency on constrained suppliers
• Pressure testing design decisions against real market capacity and procurement realities to ensure specifications translate into deliverable outcomes

• Mapping and redistributing live loads to unlock capacity and create space for new infrastructure without disrupting operations
• Engineering phased retrofit and interconnection plans within constrained, legacy environments
• Making lifecycle design decisions: when to extend, upgrade, or replace critical infrastructure

Unwind and connect with peers at our drinks reception, an opportunity to continue the day’s conversations in a relaxed setting. Whether you’re building new partnerships or catching up with familiar faces, this is the perfect place to expand your network over a drink!