Sustainability committee approves data center considerations
The Eau Claire Sustainability Advisory Committee finalized and approved its data center considerations, which will be sent to the City Council. The recommendations include simplifying zoning definitions for data center sizes and adding clarifying language for standards regarding air quality, noise, light, and water use. The committee hopes the City Council will ensure local developments include measurable local benefits to counteract potential negative impacts.
The Eau Claire Sustainability Advisory Committee recently finalized and approved its set of data center considerations, which will now be forwarded to the City Council for review. Lily Strehlow, the committee's chair, noted the evolving nature of data center technology and emphasized the need to move the conversation forward without getting bogged down in definitions.
Key recommendations include simplifying data center size classifications for zoning codes, specifically suggesting the City Council adopt "hyperscale" and "large scale" as starting points and removing the "modular data center" category from initial considerations. Additionally, the committee proposed incorporating enhanced standards that data centers should adhere to if built within the city. These expanded standards now explicitly include air quality, in addition to noise, light, and water use, and clarify that noise ordinances cover backup generators.
The committee also highlighted the importance of water usage for cooling, advocating for developers to be required to utilize the lowest allowable water consumption technologies. Strehlow articulated the committee's general finding that while data centers offer national or global benefits, their negative consequences are often concentrated locally. The committee expressed its hope that the City Council will employ all available tools to ensure that any local data center developments provide measurable, local benefits to mitigate the inherent harms associated with such projects.