Allentown, PA Data Centers & Crypto Mining: Data Center Noise Limits (2026)

H, face noise scrutiny well beyond Allentown's general Chapter 400 noise code. H(2)(g)[1] requires the applicant to submit a sound study prepared by a licensed professional engineer specializing in acoustics, or an engineer Board Certified by the Institute of Noise Control Engineers, demonstrating that the facility will conform to Chapter 400. The study must specifically evaluate persistent tonal sounds, the humming that cooling and server equipment commonly generates, along with any other consistent low-frequency or ambient noise, and the engineer must state whether mitigation measures are recommended and, if so, identify them.

H(2)(g)[2] requires an as-built sound study six months after the Certificate of Occupancy is issued, and the City can demand another one at any point afterward to confirm the facility still matches the noise representations and mitigation strategies in its original study. H(2)(g)[3], also prepared by a qualified professional, must show that no vibration from the data center or its accessory uses is perceptible to the human sense of feeling beyond the property line, a stricter, physically measurable standard than the audible-noise study. H(2) siting package, including the setbacks and landscaped buffer, giving the City multiple technical checkpoints before and after a data center, including a mining or blockchain operation, begins running.