How It All Works

A facility that houses computer systems and the power, cooling and networking equipment needed to operate them.

A very large data centre designed to grow by adding standardized blocks of computing capacity. For a practical comparison, the International Energy Agency uses 100 MW for a hyperscale data centre and notes that large hyperscale facilities can demand 100 MW or more. These figures are useful reference points, not formal Alberta regulatory thresholds.

Computing workloads that use large numbers of powerful processors at once. They can require much more electricity and cooling than ordinary business computing.

Cryptocurrency mining uses specialized computers to perform repeated calculations that help operate a blockchain network. An application-specific integrated circuit, or ASIC, is hardware built for a narrow computing task; in the facilities ADCW tracks, that task is usually Bitcoin mining.

ADCW does not exclude a facility because its workload is cryptocurrency. Inclusion is based on whether the physical data centre, electricity demand, power infrastructure, water use or other local footprint meets the same evidence and materiality standard applied to AI, colocation and other facilities. The workload is labelled separately and is not treated as AI unless the evidence supports that description.

A data centre where multiple customers rent space, power, cooling, and network connections from the facility operator. Think of it as a heavily fortified apartment building for servers.

“Waterless” usually means the facility rejects heat without routinely evaporating water in cooling towers. It may use dry coolers or air-cooled chillers, sometimes with sealed liquid cooling at the servers. That can greatly reduce local water consumption, but it does not mean chemical-free or impact-free.

Depending on the design, sealed systems may contain refrigerant, a water-glycol mixture, mineral oil, or another engineered dielectric fluid. Fans, pumps, and compressors still use electricity. A properly contained closed loop should not routinely release these fluids, but refrigerant leaks can add potent greenhouse gases, while coolant spills, servicing, and disposal need proper controls. The exact fluid and environmental tradeoffs cannot be known from the word “waterless” alone.

Fluid circulates repeatedly through a contained cooling loop. The term describes that loop, not all water use at the site. Heat can pass to a separate system that uses evaporation; filling, servicing, and leaks also matter.

Heat is released to air without relying on water evaporation. Fans still need power and can produce sound. Some designs combine dry equipment with wet or water-assisted equipment for hot weather, so the complete design matters.

Liquid carries heat away from computing equipment, including through cold plates at chips. This does not identify the outside heat-rejection system or establish total water use.

Equipment is submerged in a fluid designed not to conduct electricity. Fluid management and outside heat rejection remain separate questions.

Mechanical cooling uses powered equipment such as chillers, pumps, fans, or computer-room cooling units to remove heat. “N” is the number of units needed to carry the design load; “+1” means one extra unit is installed so cooling can continue if a unit fails or is being serviced. If three units are required, an N+1 design installs four.

N+1 describes redundancy, not the exact cooling technology, water use, or environmental performance.

A refrigeration ton is a measure of cooling capacity, not the weight of the equipment and not a volume of water. It tells readers how quickly a system can remove heat. It does not reveal whether the system uses cooling towers, dry coolers, refrigerant, or routine water consumption.

One cubic metre equals 1,000 litres. ADCW presents the conventional or source unit first, then adds litres in brackets for context. For example: 5,000 m³/day (5 million L/day). The conversion does not change whether a figure is a projection, licence limit or measured use.

Withdrawal is water taken from a source. Consumption is the portion not returned to the same water system, often because it evaporates or becomes part of a product. Discharge is water released after use or treatment. These figures are not interchangeable, and ADCW does not assume a withdrawal volume is entirely consumed.

One square kilometre equals 100 hectares. When a source reports land in hectares, ADCW leads with square kilometres and preserves hectares in brackets. For example: 3.83 km² (383 ha). Areas originally reported in acres remain in acres.

A modelled result predicts conditions from inputs and assumptions. A measured result records observations under particular conditions. For sound, emissions, or water, check the location, period, and operating scenario before comparing numbers. A prediction of compliance does not verify operating performance.

A computer estimate of where air pollution may travel and how much could build up nearby. It uses assumptions about emissions, weather, terrain and how equipment will operate. It predicts possible conditions; it does not measure pollution from an operating site.

Alberta sets air-quality benchmarks for different pollutants and time periods. A modelled exceedance means a computer estimate went above one of those benchmarks. It is not a reading taken from the air, but it flags a result that should be explained.

These are common pollutants checked in air studies. NO₂ is nitrogen dioxide, a gas created when fuel burns. PM₂.₅ means very small particles that can travel deep into the lungs. CO is carbon monoxide, a colourless gas created when fuel does not burn completely. Each can have a different limit depending on how long people are exposed.

dBA is a way of measuring sound that roughly reflects how loud it seems to the human ear. The scale does not rise evenly: an increase of 10 dBA is generally heard as about twice as loud. A machine's rating, a predicted sound level at a nearby home and the allowed limit are different numbers.

A proposed commitment is something a proponent says it intends to do. An approval condition is a requirement imposed by the responsible authority. A commitment should not be described as enforceable until it is included in an approval, agreement or other binding instrument.

Treaty boundaries help place a project in its historical and geographic setting. They do not, on their own, tell us which First Nations or Métis communities may be affected, whether consultation occurred, or how a community views a project. ADCW adds those details when they appear in a public record.

Potential sources include cooling fans, dry coolers, chillers, pumps, transformers, substations, on-site power generation, backup generators, construction, deliveries, and traffic.

Some equipment may operate continuously. Other sources, such as generator testing or equipment cycling, may start and stop. Several sources may also operate at the same time.

A brief loud event and a lower sound that continues throughout the night can affect people differently. The same overall dBA value can also describe sounds with very different characteristics.

When ADCW publishes a noise value, it identifies whether the number is:

• A modelled level at a residence or boundary
• A proponent's operational target
• An equipment sound rating
• A regulatory limit
• A measurement taken after operations began

These values should not be treated as interchangeable.

Tonal noise contains a noticeable hum, whine, or other distinct pitch. Low-frequency noise has more energy at the lower end of the sound spectrum and may be experienced differently indoors and outdoors.

A sound can therefore be noticeable or disruptive even when its overall dBA value appears modest. Alberta's utility-noise rules include methods for assessing tonal and low-frequency characteristics, but those characteristics are not always summarized in public project materials.

Environmental noise can cause annoyance, interrupt sleep, interfere with conversation and concentration, and affect how people use their homes and outdoor spaces.

The likelihood and severity of an effect depend on the level, duration, timing, sound character, and local setting. A model predicting regulatory compliance does not establish that a project will be inaudible or that nobody will experience disturbance.

AUC Rule 012 applies to facilities under the Alberta Utilities Commission's jurisdiction, including regulated power plants and related utility infrastructure. It establishes permissible sound levels, noise-impact-assessment requirements, and a process for investigating complaints.

It does not automatically regulate every sound source at the associated data centre. Cooling equipment, building systems, traffic, construction, and other sources may instead fall under municipal permits, approval conditions, land-use rules, or nuisance bylaws.

A filed noise-impact assessment is still a prediction. Its conclusion depends on the equipment, operating assumptions, receptor locations, background sound, and mitigation used in the model.

Possible measures include greater setbacks, acoustic enclosures, silencers, barriers, quieter equipment, fan-speed controls, restrictions on generator testing, receptor monitoring, and a documented complaint-response process.

Mitigation is meaningful only if it addresses the actual sources, is installed and maintained, and is verified after operations begin. ADCW distinguishes between a proposed measure, an enforceable approval condition, and measured operating performance.