This is a letter addressing the various boards that approve, or do not allow, a data center to be built in a particular area. Having retired from the computer field after 40-plus years, I am familiar with the various needs for the support of a large computer center. Here are some “observations” and suggestions to help mitigate some of the issues.
First, agree on the size. Remember, square footage does not necessarily mean a one-story building. For a smaller footprint, build taller, which intrudes less on the environment.
Second, when powering the location require the installation to utilize solar generation and/or wind generation of electricity that will support more than 50% of the planned usage. There is a lot of surface area on the roof. This will help everyone as the electricity rates would not increase to support a large usage.
Third, look at the actual number of permanent jobs the installation will generate. Once the building is complete, there will be technical people to program and maintain the various computer devices. There will also be maintenance of the infrastructure (HVAC, physical building, etc.). These numbers need to be carefully looked at as technology could actually reduce the overall numbers the site would support.
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Fourth, focus on, for lack of a better phrase, curb appeal. Require the location to have trees, grass and natural landscaping surrounding it so as to reduce any noise produced by the facility. Also, adding trees and vegetation will keep any light infiltration in the surrounding area to a minimum.
These are just a few ideas to not only aid in the consideration of these installations, but to help calm the waters when convincing people who live in an area affected by the installation to allow it to be built.
E. Andrew Pond.
Glen Allen.
From the Archives: 1930s floods in Richmond
Floods
12-04-1932: Flooding in Richmond.
Floods
04-29-1937 (cutline): Sand bags help keep river away--Nineteenth and Dock Street presented this scene yesterday.
Floods
12-04-1934: Flooding of the James River.
Floods
09-09-1935 (cutline): River Ravages Wharf Warehouse--Graphic scene at the Richmond-New York boat line wharf as the waters began to recede. The men pictured are standing on the roof of a helper's shack, torn from its moorings by the invading river.
Floods
04-27-1937 (cutline): Workers battle flood--Some of the 200 WPA workers engaged in the frantic job of erecting dykes on the lower river front to protect Richmond from the flooded James, which is expected to hit a 26-foot crest today.
Floods
09-07-1935 (cutline): James Imperils Lower City Area--From Mayo's Island, itself flooded, the photographer snapped this shot of the raging James sweeping down under the Fourteenth Street Bridge to endager the city's sanitation system. From over the State reports continued to come in indicating widespread crop and property damage throughout the Old Dominion, with roads and railways tired up and communications down.
Floods
01-22-1937: Flooding in Richmond
Floods
02-17-1936 (cutline): Not needed now--A great figurative sigh of relief went up along the Richmond waterfront yesterday when it was realized that sand bags prevented flooding.
Floods
09-08-1935 (cutline): Small rowboats as they floated across the submerged bridge at Seventeenth and Dock Streets. Scores of rowboats were roaming about yesterday over territory ordinarily dry land but for the duration of the flood many feet under water.
Floods
04-29-1937: Flooding in Richmond.
Floods
04-29-1937: Flooding in Richmond
Floods
04-27-1937 (cutline): Tobacco moved to higher ground--This huge truck was one of many busy yesterday moving tobacco from South Side warehouses. Note the "reserved seat" of the young man riding on a drum.
Floods
04-27-1937 (cutline): Sand bags help keep river away--Nineteenth and Dock Street presented this scene yesterday. Several score men worked feverishly to strengthen the dyke, while a still larger crowd found entertainment on the sidelines.
Flood, 1934
1934: When the rains came. Tate Field—home of the professional Richmond Colts of the Class B Piedmont League—was flooded.
Flood, 1936
The driest haven along the city harbor as the storm-fed James rapidly rose toward an all-time flood peak in March 1936 was the United States destroyer Leary, tied up at the city dock. The aerial shot shows the wharves and the Richmond skyline, looking up the raging river.
Flood, 1936
All streetcar service in the area was halted in March 1936 when the James rose to flood the Southern Railway Depot in South Richmond. Employees used a rowboat to enter the station, and a few trucks ventured through the water.
Flood, 1936
City residents view floodwaters of the James River in March 1936.
Floods, 1936
In March 1936, these office workers employed in the lower section of South Richmond had no choice in the matter — that is, unless they wanted to wade or swim — so they took to the boats. The young woman shown is being ferried to high ground at Second and Hull streets.
Flood, 1935
September 1935: Slaving to save the city pumping station--An army of 265 men and 70 trucks were found by Photographers Colognori and South at the City's Shockoe Creek Pumping Station working heroically reinforcing the dykes with sandbags in an effort to save the sanitations of the five-mile area controlled by the plant. Credit for the valiant fight goes to Director of Public Works Gamble Bowers and his force.
Flood, 1935
September 1935: Thousands flock to view flood damage—the lower reaches of the James were crowded all day yesterday as high and low sought vantage points from which to watch the raging river. Sections of the Fulton area were visible for the first time in 36 hours as the waters registered a drop of almost four feet.
Flood, 1935
September 1935: South of 17th Street
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