For governments

Writing data center rules that hold up.

For cities, counties and states adopting data center standards, often during a pause with a fixed end date. Start with the free frameworks and the record of what other places adopted. When you need local numbers, we measure them. After adoption, we track what each site owes.

Most local rules are drafted from a neighbor's ordinance. That is a reasonable place to start, but definitions, thresholds and setbacks travel with the text, and many standards tied to a "baseline" never say how it is measured. The answer is local data and a standard that states how it will be checked.

Start with the free framework →

Free to read

Start here.

  1. 01
    Part 1: Running the processHow a task force, planning commission or staff process reaches a defensible answer and leaves a record that survives challenge: charter, evidence standard, sequence, roles and a findings document staff can turn into ordinance text.
  2. 02
    Part 2: Writing standards that hold upWhat each standard has to state so it can be measured, checked and enforced: the seven-question test, a baseline sound measurement protocol, the local data to gather first, and a calendar for what continues after approval.
  3. 03
    The registerWhat other jurisdictions have adopted, each provision with its source document and date, marked for whether it was read in the original. Free to use and quote.
  4. 04
    The moratoria mapEvery local pause in effect, with its end date, and what places that finished their rules adopted.

Both frameworks are free to read, and free for public bodies to use in their own rulemaking. The PDFs and model provisions are available to public bodies on request: ask from your government address with your name, jurisdiction and role.

When you want help

What we do for a jurisdiction.

  1. 01
    Comparable rules briefWhat places like yours adopted on the question in front of you, where each provision's text and numbers came from, the authority it was adopted under, and whether it has been enforced or challenged since. Each item sourced and dated.
  2. 02
    Local baseline measurementSound, vibration and weather measured at the homes, schools and other receptors nearest a site or district, continuously, including nights and a weekend, with the raw data filed with you. Where a stamped acoustic study is required, a licensed firm performs it under the engagement and is cited by name and date.
  3. 03
    Draft reviewYour draft standards checked against the seven questions in Part 2: what is limited, how it is measured, where, over what period, by whom, filed where, and what happens if it is exceeded. A record and measurement review. Whether a provision is lawful is for your attorney.
  4. 04
    After adoption: the obligations calendarFor each site, what your rules require after approval, when each item is due, which office receives it, and what has been filed. Kept current by Watch monitoring as filings come due.
  5. 05
    A specific site under reviewA Site Verdict for the site in front of your council: power, water, sound, traffic and the rules that apply, ending in what the record and the ground show rather than a call.

Tell us where you are in the process →

Where the line is

What we don't do.

  • We don't set your numbers. No setback, decibel limit, separation distance or threshold comes from us. We measure and report what is there; the standard is your decision.
  • We don't make legal determinations. Legal sufficiency is for your attorney. Equipment condition is for a qualified inspector.
  • We don't advocate. We don't tell a council how to vote, and we take no position on whether data centers should be built.
  • We never work both sides of the same decision. If we are engaged by a jurisdiction on a site or a rule, we do not work for an applicant before it on that decision, and the reverse. We check before we take the work.

Prices are the same whoever asks. See pricing and how we work.