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It's much easier to find a country or jurisdiction that doesn't care about a bunch of data centers vs launching them into space. I don't get why we aren't buil

It's much easier to find a country or jurisdiction that doesn't care about a bunch of data centers vs launching them into space. I don't get why we aren't building mixed use buildings, maybe the first floor can be retail and restaurants, the next two floors can be data centers, and then above that apartments.

SecretDreams 9mo ago
Probably for the same reasons they aren't doing mixed use prison and restaurant buildings.
- shimman 9mo ago
  What you don't want to live near the newest poisonous abomination that the whiz kids dreamt up? Do you want China to take over America or something?
  - zaptrem 9mo ago
    Data centers don't do anything other than sit there and turn electricity into heat. They only emit nothing but heat (which could be useful to others in the building).
    - ZeroGravitas 9mo ago
      In America they have "temporary" jet turbines parked next to them burning gas inefficiently with limited oversight on pollution and noise because they are "temporary".
    - NoGravitas 9mo ago
      Heat and noise. The noise and the increased electrical bills are the main things people living near data centers complain about.
    - shimman 9mo ago
      False, come up with new talking points please: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VJT2JeDCyw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VJT2JeDCyw If these things were so safe the rich should build them next to their homes.
- CamperBob2 9mo ago
  Mixed-use buildings with restaurants on the lower floors and residential on the upper floors are very common. Not sure what prisons have to do with anything.
kuon 9mo ago
In Switzerland infomaniak built a data center under apartments and DC heat is used for heating. There are some videos about it.
- 999900000999 9mo ago
  Americans have trouble understanding something like that. We believe anything short of a 3bdrm house with a lawn and backyard is communism. I'd love to live in a dense city. My office within waking distance. A Cafe in my apartment building, etc.
  - petesergeant 9mo ago
    > I'd love to live in a dense city. My office within waking distance. A Cafe in my apartment building, etc. Then move to one?
  - extraduder_ire 9mo ago
    The US has district heating systems. The country is very big and varied, as much as people like to paint it as homogenous.
    - reaperducer 9mo ago
      And district cooling. When I lived on a chilling grid, my summer AC bill was around $80, while friends whose buildings weren't connected paid $200+.
      - extraduder_ire 9mo ago
        Are they doing anything with that heat, or are those savings from the scale they're operating at?
TrackerFF 9mo ago
I think data centers, in the areas where they are most relevant (cold climates), are going to face an uphill battle in the near future. Where I live, Norway, we've seen that: 1) The data centers don't generate the numbers of jobs they promise. Sure, during building phase, they do generate a lot of business, but during operations and maintenance phase, not so much. Typically these companies will promise hundreds of long-term jobs, while in reality that number is only a fraction. 2) They are extremely power hungry, to the point where households can expect to see their utility bill go up a non-trivial amount. That's for a single data center. In the colder climate areas where data centers are being promoted, power infrastructure might not be able to handle the centers (something seen in northern Norway, for example) at a larger scale, due to decades of stagnation. 3) The environmental effects have come more under scrutiny. And, unfortunately for the companies owning data centers, pretty much all cold-climate western countries have stringent environmental laws.
tech_ken 9mo ago
> I don't get why we aren't building mixed use buildings, maybe the first floor can be retail and restaurants, the next two floors can be data centers, and then above that apartments. I mean a DC needs a lot of infrastructure and space. I think the real estate economics in places where people want to live, shop, and eat preclude the kinds of land usage common in DC design. Keep in mind that most DCs are actually like 4 or 5 datahalls tethered together with massive fiber optic networks. Also people prefer to build parking in those levels that you're proposing to put DCs into.
wat10000 9mo ago
The cost per square foot goes up as you add more floors. Construction goes multi-story to save space where land is expensive. But data centers don't need to be in places where land is expensive.

SecretDreams 9mo ago

Probably for the same reasons they aren't doing mixed use prison and restaurant buildings.

shimman 9mo ago
What you don't want to live near the newest poisonous abomination that the whiz kids dreamt up? Do you want China to take over America or something?
- zaptrem 9mo ago
  Data centers don't do anything other than sit there and turn electricity into heat. They only emit nothing but heat (which could be useful to others in the building).
  - ZeroGravitas 9mo ago
    In America they have "temporary" jet turbines parked next to them burning gas inefficiently with limited oversight on pollution and noise because they are "temporary".
  - NoGravitas 9mo ago
    Heat and noise. The noise and the increased electrical bills are the main things people living near data centers complain about.
  - shimman 9mo ago
    False, come up with new talking points please: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VJT2JeDCyw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VJT2JeDCyw If these things were so safe the rich should build them next to their homes.
CamperBob2 9mo ago
Mixed-use buildings with restaurants on the lower floors and residential on the upper floors are very common. Not sure what prisons have to do with anything.

kuon 9mo ago

In Switzerland infomaniak built a data center under apartments and DC heat is used for heating. There are some videos about it.

999900000999 9mo ago
Americans have trouble understanding something like that. We believe anything short of a 3bdrm house with a lawn and backyard is communism. I'd love to live in a dense city. My office within waking distance. A Cafe in my apartment building, etc.
- petesergeant 9mo ago
  > I'd love to live in a dense city. My office within waking distance. A Cafe in my apartment building, etc. Then move to one?
- extraduder_ire 9mo ago
  The US has district heating systems. The country is very big and varied, as much as people like to paint it as homogenous.
  - reaperducer 9mo ago
    And district cooling. When I lived on a chilling grid, my summer AC bill was around $80, while friends whose buildings weren't connected paid $200+.
    - extraduder_ire 9mo ago
      Are they doing anything with that heat, or are those savings from the scale they're operating at?

TrackerFF 9mo ago

I think data centers, in the areas where they are most relevant (cold climates), are going to face an uphill battle in the near future. Where I live, Norway, we've seen that: 1) The data centers don't generate the numbers of jobs they promise. Sure, during building phase, they do generate a lot of business, but during operations and maintenance phase, not so much. Typically these companies will promise hundreds of long-term jobs, while in reality that number is only a fraction. 2) They are extremely power hungry, to the point where households can expect to see their utility bill go up a non-trivial amount. That's for a single data center. In the colder climate areas where data centers are being promoted, power infrastructure might not be able to handle the centers (something seen in northern Norway, for example) at a larger scale, due to decades of stagnation. 3) The environmental effects have come more under scrutiny. And, unfortunately for the companies owning data centers, pretty much all cold-climate western countries have stringent environmental laws.

tech_ken 9mo ago

> I don't get why we aren't building mixed use buildings, maybe the first floor can be retail and restaurants, the next two floors can be data centers, and then above that apartments. I mean a DC needs a lot of infrastructure and space. I think the real estate economics in places where people want to live, shop, and eat preclude the kinds of land usage common in DC design. Keep in mind that most DCs are actually like 4 or 5 datahalls tethered together with massive fiber optic networks. Also people prefer to build parking in those levels that you're proposing to put DCs into.

wat10000 9mo ago

The cost per square foot goes up as you add more floors. Construction goes multi-story to save space where land is expensive. But data centers don't need to be in places where land is expensive.