Every time you connect to the internet, you're using a data center. Data centers exist to store, process, and access data and applications. With the rapid growth of digital technology and the internet, the demand for data storage and processing has increased significantly, meaning more data centers need to exist.

Rowan builds sustainable data centers and partners with operators that aim to support their operations from renewable energy, such as hydro, solar and wind power.

Rowan Digital Infrastructure was established in 2020 to provide net zero power solutions for mission-critical green data centers. With this powered infrastructure-as-a-service offering, we can deliver customized and configurable solutions that provide our data center customers the flexibility they need to urgently decarbonize their operations. 

It's important to note that Rowan is not a data center operator. Our company builds these facilities to our high sustainability standards, and then works with an end user to bring the project online. Rowan is committed to ensuring a high standard of sustainability and that any end user continues to build on our strong partnerships with this community.

No, our projects do not rely on the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project. That is a project led by the regional utility and we are not involved.

The three proposed sites will be within Quantum Loophole’s Master Planned Community in Frederick County, Maryland. All of them have been intentionally selected so that development will avoid wetlands and other environmental impacts, as well as not require any unplanned transmission lines to be built.

We specialize in the creation of sustainable data centers and operate with a clear mission in alignment with the region's environmental values. We are dedicated to developing sites powered predominantly by renewable energy sources, in close collaboration with hyperscale partners who share our commitment to maximizing renewable energy procurement.

Our site selection process is deliberate, with a focus on avoiding ecologically sensitive areas such as wetlands. Our dedication to sustainability extends to our construction practices, where we prioritize initiatives like recycling construction waste, implementing energy-efficient cooling and lighting systems, and ensuring that our suppliers adhere to sustainable practices.

During construction, Rowan will install stormwater, erosion, and sediment control protection Best Management Practices (BMPs) prior to major site development activities in accordance with Frederick County and state of Maryland requirements.

Rowan will construct and utilize permanent submerged gravel wetlands to temporarily contain and filter runoff using wetland plants and rock media for stormwater treatment prior to offsite discharge as required to meet post-development discharge requirements.

Rowan will also have a full time independent environmental compliance specialist on site monitoring the implementation of these measures.

Because data centers store critical information like medical records, financial records, classified security information — not to mention personal data like family photos — it is essential that they are powered every day of the year. While power outages in this region are usually infrequent, it is important to have a plan in place for when they do occur.

With the nation’s power grid increasingly vulnerable to climate change impacts, reliable and proven backup generation technology is a necessity. The decision about what kind of backup energy technology will ultimately be made by the facility’s end user and will balance the need for reliability with our sustainability goals. Back up emergency generators, if utilized, will be Tier 4 emergency diesel generators. Per EPA standards, Tier 4 generators have advanced emission control technology to gain the greatest level of emission reductions.

Rowan and its tenant will secure all applicable approvals and permits from state and federal agencies; including air emissions permits that place limitations on the use of emergency generators in line with state and EPA standards.

Each site is different, but data center campuses typically do not have enough acreage to install the utility-scale power generation that would be needed to power the center in a way that meets the community’s 24/7 data storage needs.

Rowan prioritizes the responsible use of water. The primary water use for these projects will be for the cooling systems, along with a small amount for employee facilities.

The cooling water system is designed to use and reuse water efficiently. Water used for cooling will be recirculated between two and three times before being discharged. Discharged cooling water will be held on-site in underground wastewater storage vaults. The water will be discharged from the vaults to the County’s wastewater system at the correct rate and volume to comply with Frederick County requirements.

Cooling water use varies depending on weather and atmospheric conditions. Warmer weather requires more cooling water than moderate temperatures do. On-site water storage tanks will enable the facility to balance its need while withdrawing water in accordance with its Frederick County water allocation.

Climate change prevention and emissions reduction are central to Rowan’s mission, and an essential tenant of meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement commitments to “holding the increase in the global average temperature to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.”

From due diligence, to design, construction, operation, and decommissioning, sustainability is worked into every phase of every project. For these projects, Rowan will also have a full time independent environmental compliance specialist on site monitoring the implementation of our sustainability measures.

Our company also has strict and comprehensive policies around suppliers’ code of conduct, responsible contractors, human rights, and corporate social responsibility that can be found here: https://rowan.digital/responsible-impact/. These policies are included in contracts between Rowan and the vendors, suppliers, and contractors that contribute to these projects.

The Frederick County region is a global leader in emerging technology and has a ready and talented workforce that can support this industry for decades to come. We plan to utilize that workforce to build and operate these data centers.

Rowan is partnering with operators that are committed to hiring local, qualified workers where possible. An independent economic analysis commissioned for our three projects found that they will support approximately 15,500 jobs statewide, including 10,400 construction jobs and 5,200 other jobs, with a job defined as one full- or part-time position that lasts for one year. Construction workers will average nearly $70,000 in annual compensation. Nearly 275 full time jobs are expected at the centers once operational.

The average salary of those jobs will be roughly $100,000 annually.

Read the report here.

Given initial project findings and third-party evaluations, it is estimated that all Rowan projects combined in Frederick County will:

• Generate over $2.2 billion in statewide economic activity during construction

• Create over $346 million in statewide economic activity annually during operations, with

• $19 million in annual tax revenue for the county

• About $57 million in annual tax revenue to the state of Maryland during construction and $38.7 million annually

Rowan is thrilled to be able to triple our investment in this community.

We are committed to providing opportunities for the public to learn about our project (such as open houses) and will distribute educational information throughout the lifecycle of each project.

It’s our goal to keep the community up to date as all of our projects move forward, and to engage with anyone who may be interested in participating in the public process. If you’d like to set up a meeting with the project team, or if you have a question about the project, please reach out via the contact page or email Tim Alborg (talborg@rowan.digital).

Data centers are designed to support business applications like email and file sharing, customer relationship management (CRMs), enterprise databases, artificial intelligence, and collaboration platforms. This means that the data stored at the Frederick location could be information from local companies, hospitals, government entities, banks, schools, and others, based on customer needs. With our growing reliance on the internet, data centers are essentially a utility.

During our first application process, Rowan conservatively modeled potential sound generated from the data center under a worst-case scenario (full emergency backup power generation).

Even under this very unlikely scenario, the facility as planned showed compliance with all applicable standards and requirements thanks to the implementation of enhanced setbacks and sound barriers. Our conservative approach to sound modeling did not factor in the added benefit from Rowan’s proposed landscape plantings and soil berming, which will provide additional sound mitigation.

During the construction phase, Rowan plans to stagger times in which vehicles will enter the job site to reduce noise. Additionally, construction will only occur during the authorized hours of 7:00am to 7:00pm consistent with Frederick County regulations.

Our two newer proposed sites will go through a similar sound modeling process.

No. These sites have been intentionally selected to avoid conflict with neighboring land uses, and we plan to work with local stakeholders to mitigate any traffic or noise concerns.

We celebrate the agricultural heritage of Frederick County and believe our sustainability goals are aligned well with its conservationist values. Like the local farming operations, we want to be thoughtful stewards of our resources.

For our first project, we submitted as part of our permit application a traffic management plan specifically designed to prevent and limit impact on roads.

We anticipate minimal impacts on local traffic for all projects, though also plan to work with the community to identify high-traffic times in an effort to further limit disruption.

Rowan has been working with Potomac Edison (PE) for nearly 2 years. PE has conducted system impact studies to ensure that all projects’ energy loads will not have negative downstream impacts on local and regional electrical delivery to homes and businesses.

Rowan pays for all costs assessed by Potomac Edison to interconnect the project to the electric grid ensuring that these costs do not burden other customers. There are robust rate setting processes in the state of Maryland led by the Maryland Public Service Commission to protect customers and ensure that costs are allocated appropriately.

Rowan has projects in various stages of development throughout the country, with a focus on Oregon and Texas, in addition to these projects in Maryland.

The Frederick County Planning Commission approved our first site plan in January 2024. The plan eliminates negative impacts on wetlands and waters, by design. Rowan is working with the Maryland Department of the Environment to obtain necessary permits, including a permit for the discharge of stormwater.

We will be moving through the same process for our two additional projects.

You can reach out to the project team with questions or requests to meet. Please send all inquiries to Nathaniel Brown at nathaniel@thinkhubbell.com.