Considerations for extending sound studies beyond typical regulatory compliance requirements for data centers in suburban and rural environments.

The escalating presence of data centers in suburban and rural environments has emerged as a potential new source of noise in areas often lacking comprehensive noise regulations. Where noise regulations do exist, many do not provide spectral limitations or other methods of assessing and regulating the frequently cited community concerns such as low-frequency noise (LFN) and tonality of the sounds. This may lead to public dissatisfaction of the data center sounds despite compliance with the applicable noise limits. This paper provides an overview of representative codes and standards to help illustrate the deficiencies in some codes to identify community concerns. In addition, the paper conducts an initial examination of sound spectra associated with a variety of mechanical equipment types used for cooling data halls in these facilities, focusing on identifying outliers or common characteristics that may cause community annoyance. This review emphasizes the need for heightened scrutiny during the due diligence or design phase of data center projects.