As data centers rapidly expand across the country, communities are increasingly being confronted with industrial scaled development that can place substantial demands on land, water, energy, infrastructure, and nature. Biohabitats’ Applied Ecology Framework for Data Centers provides communities, local governments, and planning and design professionals with a tool to ask hard questions early, including whether a data center belongs in a particular landscape at all, and to advocate for decisions that better reflect community priorities and ecological integrity.
Organized around Site Selection, Communities, Living Systems, and Adaptive Futures, the framework offers a practical starting point for communities and local government agencies seeking a stronger voice in shaping how, where, and under what conditions data center development occurs. In a recent article for ASLA’s The Dirt, Biohabitats explores the rapidly expanding footprint of data centers, and the role landscape architects and allied professions can play in shaping a more ecologically responsible future.
