Land Use and LocationWhere Data Meets People: Rethinking Data Centre LocationsEmma Kleinbölting, Antonia Johanna Karl, Beda Füssler, and Simone Graf

Private companies and investors, often operating on an international scale, have become the dominant stakeholders in the development of today’s data infrastructures. Their decisions are primarily driven by the pursuit of economic efficiency and the reduction of operational costs. As a result, the existing energy grid, the infrastructure system and the fibre-optic network have emerged as the most decisive factors when selecting a site for a data centre.

Data centres generate large amounts of heat due to their constant energy use. This heat is not contained, but spreads outward, affecting areas within a radius of roughly 10 km. As a result, data centres can contribute to local warming and impact nearby environments, which can be critical especially in hot climate zones or around existing heat islands.

Data centres also pollute through noise, mainly deriving from rooftop cooling systems. In addition to high-frequency noise that is quickly reduced by buildings, air, and vegetation, the coolers generate low-frequency infrasound, which encounters far less resistance and can travel much further. Prolonged exposure to such infrasound may affect human health.

The discrepancy between economic suitability and social and environmental conditions reveal the need for a new evaluation of suitable locations for data centres. We propose adapted location factors for the Zurich data centre cluster in relation to their scale and distance to housing.