Mandatory review by the architectural committee when building a data center

Yongin Special City announced on the 23rd that in order to obtain a data center construction permit, a review by the city’s architectural committee must be mandatory starting on the 28th. This is the application of strengthened standards to prevent data center proliferation and to prevent problems such as noise and fire.

[Korean Today] Panoramic view of Yongin Special City Hall ©Reporter Na-yeon Kim

Yongin Special City (Mayor Lee Sang-il) announced on the 23rd that in order to prevent indiscriminate construction of data centers, from the 28th, when applying for a data center construction permit, a deliberation by the city’s architectural committee is mandatory. This is the first time that the existing architectural committee’s deliberation targets include data center construction and changes in use, and this is a measure that reflects the recent increase in demand for data center construction and citizens’ concerns about it.

Yongin City has newly established seven strengthened standards to be applied when constructing data centers. These standards include various elements such as landscape, noise prevention, safety, fire fighting, energy construction, and underground cable installation. For example, in terms of landscape, the height of each floor is limited to 10m or less, and for noise prevention, the noise and vibration management standards for cooling towers must be strictly observed. In addition, for safety, hazardous facilities such as fuel tanks must be buried underground, and measures such as securing passageways and turning spaces for fire fighting in the event of a fire are necessary.

In addition, data centers must meet requirements related to energy construction, such as installing solar power generation facilities, and when installing underground cables, they must be installed at least 10 meters away from the boundary of adjacent land. These strengthened standards are intended to ensure that data centers are in harmony with the local community and do not harm the residential and educational environments of residents.

Previously, when constructing a data center, the city planning committee reviewed the site and whether it was in harmony with the surrounding environment before applying for a building permit. However, in the future, more specific and strict criteria such as noise and fire will have to be added for review.

Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin Special City said, “This is a preemptive measure to prevent the indiscriminate proliferation of data centers and protect the residential and educational environments of citizens,” and added, “I hope the Architectural Committee will thoroughly deliberate on whether the data center is in the public interest.”