Property-line noise, not folklore

Noise: measure what reaches the neighbours

There is a serious way to handle noise: model it, measure it, mitigate it, and enforce it. There is also a silly way: blame “AI noise” for everything. Do the first one.

Noise is a real siting issue

Server rooms are loud inside. Anyone who has stood in one knows that. But indoor noise inside a concrete industrial building is not the same as property-line noise.

The real outside noise questions are cooling fans, dry coolers, pumps, chillers if used, transformers, switchgear, backup generators, turbine packages, stack noise, truck traffic, construction, and testing.

Measure the right thing. What matters is the sound that reaches homes, farms and property lines at night, in winter, during testing and during abnormal operation.

What I would require

Require property-line noise modelling before approval.
List major outdoor noise sources.
Set day, night, emergency, and maintenance/testing limits.
Require post-construction acoustic verification.
Publish complaint process and enforcement triggers.
Separate data centre noise from power plant and backup generation noise.

What I would not accept

Pretend all noise concerns are silly because some claims are silly.
Use server-room noise videos as proof of farmyard noise.
Ignore generator testing, turbines, or power-plant equipment.
Approve a design with no enforceable monitoring.
Let “within regulation” replace actual public reporting.
Conflate construction noise with long-term operations.

What should be checked

Normal operation

Cooling fans, dry coolers, pumps, transformers, electrical rooms, and building mechanical systems.

Backup and testing

Diesel generators, gas turbines, black-start equipment, load banks, alarms, and scheduled testing.

Power plant

Combustion turbines, HRSGs, stacks, cooling equipment, transformers, and gas systems if colocated or nearby.

Sources and notes

West Edmonton Mall for the 5.3 million square foot local comparison.
CityNews for the nearly 270,000 square metre Meta facility figure and Greenlight timing context.