New Grant Opportunity: Data Centers Research and Practice Guide

Data center amid a forest / istockphoto.com, Tom Keeble 

By Jared Green

The ASLA Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization, is accepting proposals for a new national competitive research grant on data centers. The Fund invites ASLA member and non-member practitioners and academics to submit proposals by November 20. 

The rapid growth of data centers across the U.S. has been driven by the increasing computing demands of artificial intelligence (AI). These developments are now a source of political strife in many communities. 

These facilities have raised significant concerns about their land, energy, and water use and impacts on community health and well-being, biodiversity, and the climate. Data centers have also negatively affected the resources of many underserved and historically marginalized rural, suburban, and urban communities. 
The ASLA Fund seek proposals for a research study and practice guide on data center developments in the U.S. 

• The research study will identify existing and developing best practices for data center community engagement, siting, design, and operations in the U.S. and abroad. 
• The practice guide will distill the research and create best practice community engagement, planning, design, and maintenance guidelines for landscape architects to apply when working on data center projects in the U.S.

The research and practice guide will be published and freely available on ASLA.org in September 2027. 

Energy substation to support data center / istockphoto.com, Nicole Ruediger

The research and practice guide will be used to advance research, advocacy, and practice goals with a range of audiences:

• Federal, state, and local policy-makers and regulators
• Community leaders, advocates, and activists
• Allied professionals (planners, architects, engineers, ecologists) 
• Landscape architects
• Academics in other disciplines, potential research partners
• Potential donors
• Landscape architecture clients
• Landscape architecture students 

The research will be peer-reviewed by a four-member panel of landscape architecture academics and practitioners: 

• Monique Bassey, ASLA, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional & Community Planning, Kansas State University 
• Keith Bowers, FASLA, PLA, Founder and Practice Leader, Biohabitats
• Phillip Fernberg, ASLA, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Utah State University 
• Charlene LeBleu, FASLA, FCELA, Professor Emerita, Department of Landscape Architecture, Auburn University 

For the research and practice guide, the ASLA Fund will provide $20,000. 

Who can submit a proposal? 

• Landscape architecture academics at a U.S.-based institution with experience on at least one data center project in the U.S. 
• Landscape architecture practitioners at a U.S.-based firm with experience on at least one data center project in the U.S. 
• Multidisciplinary firms with landscape architecture teams at a U.S.-based firm or organization that have experience on at least one data center project in the U.S. 
• Teams of landscape architecture / multidisciplinary firms and landscape architecture academics at U.S.-based institutions
• ASLA members and non-members in the landscape architecture community

Submit your proposal by Friday, November 20.