Advanced Search
March 23, 2026
Key Takeaways:
AI/Data Center Resources
Brittany Heights in Chandler, Arizona, was a quiet neighborhood until late 2014, when a data center moved in. Residents living around the data center complained of a constant humming noise coming from the facility that never stopped, even at night. They tried blocking the acoustic nuisance with noise-cancelling headphones and earplugs, to no avail. Complaints were filed with the local authorities, but the constant humming from the equipment needed to cool the data center continued. In 2022, the city adopted a zoning code amendment that makes it harder to site a data center in Chandler, a reaction to almost a decade of resident pushback. In 2025, the city council unanimously voted against a new proposed data center; noise concerns played a big role in local opposition.
Data centers are industrial facilities housing thousands of servers and chips to process billions of operations daily and store vast amounts of data. Heat produced by these processes can damage the chips. To avoid this, data centers employ cooling systems to regulate temperature and humidity in server rooms. On average, cooling systems account for about 40% of a data center's electricity usage. Data centers that use cooling systems, rather than water cooling, tend to be noisier. Noisy jet engine-like diesel generators are increasingly powering data centers (for example in Texas), and not just as emergency backup power. Mobile gas turbines are also being used to provide baseload power to data centers behind the meter, or to provide power when centers are forced off the grid during periods of peak demand. Both diesel generators and gas turbines create noise and air pollution.
Humans are no strangers to noise pollution. Cities, in particular, are noisy—filled with cars, trucks, construction sites, barking dogs, and emergency vehicles. While sounds above 85 decibels are considered harmful to a person’s ears, studies have shown that noises above 65 decibels are enough to cause an increase in stress and blood pressure. High noise levels, particularly at night, can cause sleep deprivation and decreased cognitive performance, which shows up in poor school or work performance. The elderly, children, shift workers, the less affluent, and people with chronic illnesses are most likely to be impacted by noise pollution.
Data Centers and Decibels
Data center noise impacts vary by facility, time of day, proximity to residential areas, and technology use. Like other industrial facilities, data centers emit high- and low-frequency sounds. In an interview with EESI, Kyle Hart of the National Parks Conservation Association stated that because data center noise spans multiple frequency ranges, particularly in the low-frequency range, it is difficult to measure with a decibel meter and without reliable measurements it is difficult to enforce local noise ordinances for nearby residents.
When operating, data centers emit sounds from the humming of cooling systems and air chillers, the rumbling of diesel generators, and the whirring of fans. Together, these sounds can be heard for hundreds of feet around the facilities. Data center neighbors have reported headaches, vertigo, nausea, sleep disturbances, ear pain, and hypertension. Hart adds that people who live near these data centers can hear the noise day and night as a ringing in the ears. Complaints about data center noise tend to focus on its 24/7 consistent presence rather than on its volume.
Data centers are becoming noisier as developers stack more information technology (IT) equipment and servers into smaller spaces. While individual servers are not especially loud, the compounding effect of thousands or tens of thousands of servers in a computing warehouse can raise noise levels to 96 decibels. This is a problem because some data centers are close to where people live, sometimes within 50 feet of homes.
Backup diesel generators are another source of noise pollution from data centers. Because data centers need to operate 24/7, 365 days a year, they need backup power during grid outages. To ensure this power is available when needed, the generators are tested at least once a month. During non-emergency situations, such as equipment testing, the EPA allows emergency generators to operate for up to 50 hours per calendar year. Data centers are not held to a federally-enforceable time limit when running diesel generators during unforeseen emergencies such as grid failures, fires, and floods, provided the operator reports and logs the hours and the emergency.
The number of generators per facility depends on the data center's size. As data centers grow larger, the number of generators per center increases, along with their generation capacity and size. With more and larger generators comes a louder rumbling, which can be disruptive to residents and wildlife living near these facilities. Noise levels from industrial-sized diesel generators can reach up to 105 decibels, as noisy as a jet flying overhead.
A third source of noise from data centers are dedicated onsite power plants. As more data centers come on line or existing ones expand and need more power, developers are increasingly installing jet-engine gas turbines inside the perimeter of these facilities to provide dispatchable baseload power. In some data centers, like an xAI facility in Southaven, Mississippi, the roar from 27 natural gas-powered turbines is disturbing the sleep of nearby neighbors, who have publicly express concerns about air and noise pollution from these engines.
In the United States, 46 planned, permitted, or under-construction data centers will use off-grid gas turbines for power rather than connect to the grid. Unlike emergency diesel generators that run only during testing or emergencies, off-grid turbines operate 24/7 to power the data center, which leads to uninterrupted noise in surrounding areas. Cooling towers, a major source of noise from gas-fired power plants, can emit up to 70 dBA within 400 feet.
Local Trade-offs: Economic Growth Versus Public Health
Today, noise pollution is regulated at the local and state level through zoning ordinances and other regulations. The Clean Air Act of 1970 gave the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) oversight of noise pollution and the power to carry out noise control investigations through the Office of Noise Abatement and Control. The Noise Control Act of 1972 (P.L. 92-574) and the Quiet Communities Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-609) empowered the EPA to provide grants to localities to mitigate noise. In 1981, the Reagan Administration defunded the Office of Noise Abatement and Control and shifted regulatory oversight and noise control to state and local governments. The EPA retains the legal authority to study noise and its effects on public health.
Data centers generate billions of dollars for localities through property, sales, and income taxes, which help fund schools, roads, and parks. Kyle Hart described data centers as the “goose that lays the golden eggs.” Due to a lack of reliable data from sound level meters and because most county or community noise ordinances are written to address noisy block parties rather than data centers, most noise complaints go nowhere. Hart added that as data center neighbors see that nothing changes in response to their complaints and frustration, they start to move away.
Impacts on Local Communities
Data center developments in Virginia, Arkansas, and Texas illustrate the impacts of noise pollution on local residents. Northern Virginia is the epicenter of the U.S. and worldwide data center boom. With nearly 300 operating data centers, Northern Virginia is home to about 14% of all data centers worldwide. The 2024 Virginia Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission report on data centers notes that almost one-third of the state's data centers are located within 200 feet of residentially zoned properties (this is possible because zoning ordinances consider data centers to be in the same non-industrial category as office space). Residents in Prince William County have complained that data center noise levels routinely exceed 60 decibels. While the county noise ordinance exempts air conditioning units, Amazon, the owner of some of the facilities, has decided to retrofit its data centers with acoustical shrouds as part of its noise-reduction efforts.
In May 2023, a Bitcoin mining center—a type of energy-hungry data center—popped up in Greenbrier, Arkansas, not far from a residential area. Nearby residents have complained about the 24/7 noise coming from the center, which is leading to health problems, including increased blood pressure and anxiety. The high-velocity fans used to cool computers inside the mine generate a constant hum that can be heard miles away in such a rural setting.
Since the arrival of a nearby bitcoin mining center, dozens of residents of Granbury, Texas, have also complained of medical ailments, including vertigo, nausea, high blood pressure, migraines, fluid coming from the ears, and insomnia. Neighbors attribute this spike in health issues to excessive noise pollution from the bitcoin mine. Sitting less than 100 yards away from a mobile home park, the sprawling facility hosts 60,000 computers and associated cooling and power systems, emitting noise at all hours of the day and night.
Noise Reduction Solutions for Data Centers
There are steps that data center developers and operators can take to reduce the noise generated by data centers and its impact on neighbors. State and local governments also have a role to play in updating regulations to address this increasingly widespread source of noise pollution. Solutions fall into four general categories: soundproofing specific equipment, soundproofing the overall building envelope, alternative cooling technologies, and better site planning.
Equipment Soundproofing
Building Soundproofing
Quieter Cooling Technologies
Better Site Planning
If more data centers test different combinations of these potential solutions, communities, governments, and companies will learn what works to comprehensively address the health and environmental impacts of noise pollution from data centers.
Author: Miguel Yañez-Barnuevo
Advancing science-based solutions for a sustainable, resilient, and equitable world
Top-Rated Climate Nonprofit – 4-Star Charity