October 19, 2026 • 5 min read
Industry leaders outline ways to help navigate the AI infrastructure boom
Data center development is shaping up to be one of the most important infrastructure challenges of the decade, with profound economic, social and ecological impacts. Much like the US railway boom of the 19th century, which reshaped economies and communities for generations, the buildout of AI infrastructure has the potential to influence how and where future growth occurs. Worley, in collaboration with Princeton University’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, hosted a workshop earlier this year to help shape ideas on how to manage this once-in-a-generation infrastructure buildout.
The event, held at Princeton, tackled best practices for new builds. Participants from organizations across the data center ecosystem converged to brainstorm a list of principles and practical considerations that may help deliver data centers responsibly and profitably, while maintaining the pace required by the industry.
“No two projects are the same, but there was strong agreement at the workshop that better coordination across industries, communities, investors and governments will be important to delivering long-term value,” said Clare Anderson, Group Director, Sustainability at Worley. “As one participant noted, the only thing we will regret in the future is siloed thinking.”
#1: Align financing, risk and reward across stakeholders
Ensuring an asset’s long-term profitability is top of mind before a project even breaks ground. To guarantee a solid return on investment, transparent disclosure of project economics, risks, costs and benefits is essential.
Participants at the workshop stressed the importance of supporting investible, long‑term business models that deliver equitable value to investors, communities, utilities and consumers.
It’s important for developers to deliver quality assets – as demand rises and data centers proliferate, projects that were once taking three or four years are being built in one. Participants emphasized that quality and sustainability can’t be allowed to become casualties of the data center construction boom.
Overbuilding is a significant potential risk, said one attendee (a Chatham House Rule event). Understanding the residual value of these assets in 10 to 15 years can be a challenge.
Planning, from site selection to securing resources, is key to ensuring that assets are future‑ready.
Projects will need to guard against potential overbuilding as more facilities come online. As competition heats up, the best performing assets will be best placed to succeed.
This first principle is interdependent with elements of the other four. Energy supply and interconnection systems, for example, must be secured for the long-term, as variables like the cost of power will shift the economics of any potential project. There must also be clear mechanisms in place to manage and share risks associated with power, water, supply chains and community impacts.
Smarter asset management and standardized reference architectures can allow for streamlined deployment while minimizing risk. Conversely, long project completion times could saddle newly online projects with issues. Heating and cooling technology and HVAC systems on a stalled project could be outmoded by the time the facility is operational. Maintaining flexibilty to incorporate evolving technologies will be an important consideration.
#2: Earn and maintain social license through meaningful community participation
Finding a productive way to communicate and collaborate with stakeholders generally. and especially local communities, is critical to managing the concerns of the individuals and institutions impacted by projects. Ensuring there is open conversation between the companies delivering the asset and those communities is essential to avoiding roadblocks and gaining trust.
Residents, businesses, governments and community groups must be engaged early, often and authentically.
Leaving them in the dark or not hearing their concerns could lead to scuttled plans or costly delays. Transparency and the consistent flow of relevant information are key, as is granting local communities meaningful influence over important decisions and delivering measurable community benefits.
Noted one participant: these assets are being treated as private sector problems rather than public sector problems, highlighting a need for more community interaction and collective governance.
Developers should give local stakeholders a voice in projects early in the development process and establish clear accountability and grievance mechanisms. Sponsors need to clearly lay out what a project means for the local community. In particular, companies need to be able to demonstrate how potential impacts to reliability, power quality and affordability are assessed and managed through planning, infrastructure investment and stakeholder engagement.
#3: Steward resources responsibly and minimize environmental impacts
Participants emphasized the importance of a “Do No Harm” mindset regarding water usage, carbon emissions and other natural resources.
Developers should incorporate robust sustainable siting, design and environmental management principles into their plans.
Securing predictable and sustainable supplies of energy, water and other resources for new data center builds is imperative. Companies that consider environmental and sustainability issues in project planning may be better positioned for potentially tighter regulations on energy, carbon and natural capital in future years.
Sustainability-focused project features also contribute to whether a structure has good resale value or leasing ability. Meanwhile, trends in energy prices and consumption are important external forces that impact project costs and medium-to-long term profitability of assets.
#4: Create predictable, transparent and coordinated governance
In such a multifaceted and complex space, greater regulatory certainty, stability and transparency for all stakeholders can help developers avoid delays, maintain positive relationships with local communities, and steer away from avoidable road bumps.
Greater regulatory certainty, stability and transparency can help developers avoid delays and maintain positive relationships with local communities.
As grid interconnections threaten to delay projects by years, many participants said that swift regulatory reform is more important than ever. Streamlining the regulatory process to ensure consistent and stable governance is an important objective to ensure regulators can keep up with the rapid pace of data center construction.
Obtaining clarity on governance and regulatory responsibilities across jurisdictions is important to ensure a project unfolds smoothly and all parties know which regulatory avenues to traverse.
Reforming permitting and zoning processes to support environmental and community protections is also important. Needed changes will streamline regulatory processes and support sustainable governance and responsible local stewardship. Speedy modernization of the regulatory frameworks governing data center and associated infrastructure construction was identified by participants as important so that single regulatory delays don’t cause a project, or multiple projects, to be derailed.
While the rapid pace of data center development presents an urgent need for reform, recent reforms have been undersized, according to one participant, who called for transformative change.
#5: Build workforce and supply chain resilience to support sustainable growth
Developers must take steps to plan proactively for future workforce capability and skills development.
Strengthening domestic and regional supply chains for critical infrastructure, equipment and materials can help reduce bottlenecks, secure employee pools and increase the number of projects completed on time. In addition to averting cost overruns, these changes will facilitate stronger relationships with local communities.
All the components and resources needed for a project pipeline need to be planned and secured.
All the components and resources needed for a project pipeline need to be planned and secured, including talent pools for construction workers, electricians, welders, machinists and HVAC professionals. Training and workforce development were identified as areas to invest in to guarantee future talent. Supply chains for equipment must also be robust. High-voltage transformers, for example, are taking longer to procure now than in recent years.
Coordinating with industry and government, as well as the education sector, can help engineer solutions to the plague of delivery bottlenecks and improve long-term resilience.
Meanwhile, project lags and supply-chain issues can be taken advantage of to invest in non-standard practices or introduce more modern and efficient technologies like onsite renewable energy. But getting a project off the ground quickly and planning for it to become a high-quality asset from day one can offer a stronger path to long-term value.
These principles form part of the work Worley is doing with industry leaders to help advance reliable solutions for industrial-scale data centers. Worley's role is to help customers understand trade-offs, engage stakeholders early and incorporate technical, environmental and community considerations into project planning and delivery.
On November 19, a workshop will be held in Australia, in New South Wales, to continue shaping ideas with leaders on how the industry can help grow the AI economy while creating lasting value for communities, investors, energy systems and ecosystems.
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