Build Smart Alliance
DRAFT SITE · for internal review · links and form are placeholders
Build Smart Alliance
Right-sized development · for counties and towns

Say yes to the right projects.

Build Smart Alliance gives local officials clear, fair rules for what gets built and how it gets built. Counties can welcome projects that fit and decline the ones that don't, without falling back on blanket bans.

See the model ordinance Request an ordinance review
Sheet 1 of 1 · Example site planNot to scale
Project Setback Buffer Residential
The problem

Blanket bans are a blunt tool.

More local governments are rejecting all growth rather than telling apart the projects that help a community from the ones that don't fit. That costs counties tax base, jobs and investment, and it leaves residents' real concerns unanswered.

Industry groups are seen as self-interested. Opposition groups want projects stopped. Local officials have few credible, community-first sources for a middle path. We provide one.

$130B

in U.S. data center projects (at least 75) blocked or delayed by local opposition in Q1 2026, plus about $68 billion more in Q2.

Data Center Watch · Let's Data Science
>50%

of Indiana counties now restrict data centers.

WFYI / IPM, Oct 2026
459

counties and municipalities in 44 states have adopted severe local restrictions on siting renewable energy.

Sabin Center, Columbia Law
3–4M

more homes needed nationwide. Land-use restrictions are the biggest constraint on supply.

Goldman Sachs
Industry groupsBuild everything, everywhere
Build Smart AllianceClear rules. Fit-for-place projects.
Opposition groupsStop the project
Our principles · apply to every project type

Six tests a good project should pass.

§ 1

Right-sized for the community

Scale matches local roads, water, power and land. Big projects belong where the infrastructure can carry them.

§ 2

The project pays its own way

New load, roads and services are paid for by the project, not by existing ratepayers and taxpayers.

§ 3

Transparent from the start

Who the developer is, what will be built, and what it needs in power and water are disclosed up front.

§ 4

Neighbors heard early

Residents get real input before decisions are made, not after the site plan is final.

§ 5

Benefits in writing

Tax revenue, jobs and community commitments go into enforceable agreements.

§ 6

A predictable path to approval

Clear standards and timelines, so good projects aren't stuck and weak ones are turned down quickly.

The toolkit · free, sourced, in plain language

Tools for the county planner and the commission.

Model ordinances

Adaptable templates for each issue area, starting with data centers. Each comes with a menu of options, such as setbacks, size tiers and noise limits, so a county can fit the template to its own code. Our ordinance library collects the models other counties and states already use.

Data centers · first release

Best-practice guides

Short guides on community engagement, host and community benefit agreements, decommissioning, and permitting timelines.

In development

Fact sheets

Issue-by-issue facts on power, water, tax revenue, jobs, housing costs and land use, including the real risks and how good rules address them.

In development

Policy suggestions

State-level ideas that support good local rules: ratepayer protection, disclosure standards and permitting deadlines.

In development

Ordinance reviews

Send us your draft. We return a written review comparing it to best practices, with specific suggested language.

On request

Testimony and briefings

Expert and local testimony at plan commission and county hearings, and briefings for elected officials and staff.

On request
Model data center ordinance · option menu

Pick the options that fit your county.

Each standard in the model ordinance comes with a range of options. Choose a few here to see how the language reads.

ARTICLE 12 · DATA CENTER FACILITIESModel text · example only

Sec. 12.4 Site and operating standards

  1. A Tier 2 data center facility is a permitted special use in the I-2 Heavy Industrial district, subject to the standards of this section.
  2. No building or mechanical equipment shall be placed within 1,000 feet of an existing residence.
  3. Sound levels shall not exceed 50 dBA at any property line between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
  4. The applicant shall disclose projected peak electric demand and water withdrawal with the application.
  5. Approval requires an executed host community agreement and a decommissioning plan with financial surety.

Illustrative language only, not legal advice. Every county adapts standards to state law and local conditions. Request the full model ordinance below.

Ordinance library · existing models, by issue

Start from what's already working.

Counties don't have to write rules from scratch. These are the model ordinances and county codes we point officials to most often. Each is tagged by who wrote it, because a model from an industry group or an environmental group reads differently from one a county wrote for itself.

County codeState agency or lawPlanning bodyUniversity, lab or nonprofitPolicy groupIndustry groupEnvironmental group

Data centers

This area is moving fast. Most of these models came out in 2025 and 2026.

Planning bodyApr 2026

Tri-County Regional Planning Commission (PA)

Model Data Center Ordinance

PDF

Planning bodyApr 2026

Chester and Montgomery County Planning Commissions (PA)

Data Center Ordinance Guide

PDF

University2026

University of Tennessee Center for Local Planning

Model Municipal Data Center Zoning Regulations

Link

Nonprofit2024

Urban Land Institute

Local Guidelines for Data Center Development

  • Offers a balanced model zoning ordinance and is often cited by cities.

Link

Environmental group

PennFuture

Data Center Model Ordinance

  • Focuses on water use, power use, noise and appearance.

Link

Environmental group

Kentucky Resources Council

Model Data Center Zoning Ordinance

Link

City code2022

Chandler, Arizona

Data center ordinance (Ord. No. 5033, Zoning Code Sec. 35-2214)

  • Allows data centers as a primary use only through Planned Area Development zoning.
  • Requires a neighborhood meeting, an on-site community liaison, a pre-construction sound study, noise held to baseline levels, five years of annual noise studies, and limits on generator testing.
  • Featured by NACo as a model for siting and noise.

Ordinance PDF · City summary

County codeDec 2025

Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania

Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance, data center provisions (Ord. 2025-01, amended 2026)

  • Adopted before any project was proposed. Sets a 200-foot setback from homes, schools and similar uses, a 60-foot height limit, and noise limits of 67 dBA by day and 57 dBA otherwise.
  • Requires closed-loop cooling, an emergency response plan, and decommissioning within 12 months after a facility's useful life ends. NACo calls it a local model for decommissioning.

2025 ordinance · 2026 amendment

County codeMar 2025

Loudoun County, Virginia

Data Center Standards and Locations project

  • The world's largest data center market. Phase 1 ended by-right approval, so new data centers need a special exception or rezoning, with a grandfathering resolution for pending applications.
  • Phase 2 will add use-specific standards for data centers and substations.

Project page · Application pathway guide

County association2026

National Association of Counties (NACo)

Informational Primer and County Considerations: Data Centers, plus resource hub

  • A framework for evaluating, permitting and overseeing data centers, with county spotlights and partner resources.

Primer · Resource hub

UniversityMar 2026

Georgia Tech EPIcenter

Georgia Data Center Ordinance Hub

  • Compares data center provisions from about 180 Georgia cities and counties across 19 topics, from site design to decommissioning, with examples from other states.

Ordinance hub

Inclusion in the library is not an endorsement of every provision. Build Smart Alliance can compare any of these models with your county's draft. Request a review.

For local officials

Facing a project or a moratorium vote?

We work for communities. Commissioners, council members, planners and county attorneys can ask for help at no cost.

  1. Tell us what's in front of you: a pending application, a draft ordinance or a proposed ban.
  2. We send the model ordinance, fact sheets and a written review of your draft.
  3. If useful, we brief your board or provide testimony at the hearing.
About

Community-first, project by project.

Build Smart Alliance is a national nonprofit that helps local governments identify projects with a net positive impact on their community, by setting clear, fair and enforceable rules for what gets built and how.

Our message is simple: the best interests of the community require rational rules for these developments.

"Built Smart" recognition

A periodic recognition for communities and projects that model responsible development. Nominations open in 2027.