Compass Datacenters CEO Chris Crosby joined Willy Walker, Chairman & CEO of Walker & Dunlop, on the July 1 Walker Webcast to talk about what it really takes to build data centers communities want to live next to. A recent Connect CRE feature covers the conversation and what “social license” means for the next phase of digital infrastructure growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Good Neighbors for the Long Haul<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Infrastructure readiness, policy engagement and community relationships now matter as much as land and capital access, Crosby argued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I think it’s very important for us to be good neighbors. I consider it to be social license,” Crosby said. “If you’re going to be somewhere for 100 years, you know, you’re going to put infrastructure in place for a very, very long period of time, you better do it well.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Setting the Record Straight on Water and Power<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Two of the industry’s most common criticisms came up directly. On water use, Compass has built its facilities around dry-cooling technology instead of evaporative systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “As a decision for us to build anywhere we want to, we’ve always made water something that we don’t use,” Crosby said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On grid strain, the real culprit is decades of deferred infrastructure investment, not data center demand itself, he argued, adding that developers should treat backup power as a community resource rather than only a project necessity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n