Local resistance to new data centers is on the rise — and industry insiders tell Bisnow that developers need to start paying attention. Bisnow interviewed Milldam Public Relations President Adam Waitkunas about the perception of data centers.
From the article:
Experts point to growing public awareness of data centers and their potential impact amid the rapid digital transformation sparked by the coronavirus. Major outlets routinely run stories about the massive amounts of water and power consumed by data centers or the carbon footprint of data. The data center industry used to talk about “security by obscurity.” Now, citizens and activist groups have more of an awareness of what data centers are and their potential impact, whether real or perceived, on the environment or local quality of life.
The president of Milldam PR, a Boston-based communications firm, focuses on data centers and digital infrastructure. Waitkunas said the industry as a whole has done a poor job of messaging to the public at large and has failed to get out in front of negative narratives. He worries that people are only learning what data centers are in the context of their environmental impacts or as a branch of “big tech.”
“The focus has always been on educating within the industry, whether it be about efficiency or best building practices, avoiding downtime and that sort of thing,” Waitkunas said.
“But communication on behalf of the industry as a whole hasn’t gone beyond this to educate communities on the benefits of data centers or show the important role they’ve played over the past two years in making sure everyone could continue to communicate and be productive,” he said.
Waitkunas said data center developers should expect local opposition going forward and need to plan accordingly — namely by prioritizing community outreach and anticipating specific community objections.
Developers are going to have to show face in neighborhoods where they plan to build, he said, and need to have a solid knowledge of what the area’s objections to the project will be before the public process begins. An affluent bedroom community might be concerned about noise, while a working-class town might be more worried about how many jobs will be created.
“Community relations is going to have to be the new normal for the data center industry because, especially with the development of the edge, it’s going to be nonstop data center growth,” he said.
Read the full article here
