The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is conducting a data center air monitoring project in response to rapid growth of data centers in northern Virginia and citizen concerns over emissions. The goal of this EPA-funded initiative is to determine if additional air monitoring is needed in and around areas containing high numbers of data centers.
In the first phase of this project, DEQ installed air sensors in Loudoun County’s “data center alley.” The sensors, which transmit near-real-time data, will be periodically moved to different locations to determine if there are areas showing elevated levels of emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and fine particulate matter. This near-real-time data is available on the Data Center Air Monitoring webpage.
If data from these sensors indicate elevated emissions, DEQ will deploy a mobile air monitoring station to gather further data and to determine whether the locations meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Once collected and analyzed, these data will help DEQ determine the need and potential location for permanent air monitoring stations.
