BOTETOURT CO., Va. – As Google prepares to build a data center in Botetourt County, a local expert who grew up in the area is working to ease community concerns about the facility’s impact.
Eric Larson, who grew up in Daleville around the Greenfield, now works as a lead HVAC technician for data centers in Northern Virginia. After starting with standard HVAC work in hospitals and colleges, he’s spent the last four years specializing in data center cooling systems.
“The biggest myth I hear is that all data centers are the same,” Larson said. “They’re really not scary... they’re not that bad for the environment. They’re not going to affect your day-to-day life.”
Inside the Facilities
Based on his experience, Larson described the typical layout of these facilities. “Walking through the front door, you’re going to have a lobby, and then a series of hallways, bathrooms, office spaces,” he explained. “That’s all encompassing the data hall, where the actual servers are.” The facilities feature at least two layers of concrete walls between the outside and the restricted server areas. The data halls themselves are highly restricted, with only select personnel having security clearance to access these areas where the servers are housed.
According to Larson, these facilities often occupy significant space. “You might have a building that’s the size of a Walmart, but because of the large ceiling height and then three stories, you might have it as tall as a five-story building,” he said.
Cooling Systems and Water Usage
Larson works with two main cooling methods: evaporative cooling and chilled water systems. “With evaporative cooling, water comes into the unit and gets dumped into a large basin,” Larson explained. “The heat from the ambient air is pushed into the water.” Based on his experience, these systems typically use up to 100,000 gallons of water per day, with much of it being recycled.
The chilled water system operates differently. “It’s basically a larger air conditioning unit, like what you have in your house but on a commercial scale,” he said. “It’s a perfectly closed loop — you’re not adding new water.”
Environmental Considerations
Larson addressed several environmental considerations from his experience. He noted that the EPA limits backup generator testing to 50 hours per year, and in his four years of work, he’s only heard them run once. “The fans and pumps are all relatively quiet, and thick concrete walls absorb sound very well,” he said.
Regarding power consumption, Larson indicated that cooling units use about 40% of a data center’s total electricity, though usage fluctuates based on conditions. “If it’s already cold outside, you might not need the fans to run at full capacity,” he explained.
Virginia’s Data Center Industry
Larson offered his perspective on why Virginia has attracted many data centers. “Virginia is really unique in that we have a lot of demand, particularly in Northern Virginia,” he said. “You have DC, Charlottesville, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York not far away, plus government organizations and company headquarters. Water and power are relatively cheap.”
Digital Infrastructure
In today’s connected world, data centers support many digital services, as Larson witnessed during a facility outage. “Credit card machines stopped working, Zoom calls dropped, and Netflix wasn’t streaming,” he recalled. “My internet traffic was routing to Atlanta instead of Washington, DC — that’s hundreds of miles away.”
The proximity of data centers to communities can affect internet connectivity. “The more spread out they are, the lower the latency of your internet,” Larson said, explaining potential benefits for local residents and businesses.
Operations and Community Impact
While data centers operate continuously, Larson says activity primarily occurs during business hours. “Think about a steel mill or a factory — you’re going to have tons more noise and light pollution,” he said, describing data centers as relatively quiet neighbors.