Frederick County, VA Noise from Specific Sources: HVAC & Mechanical Noise (2026)

Frederick County treats mechanical and cooling equipment noise as a required design feature for data centers, not an optional best practice. A(5)(c) lists the noise-mitigation elements that any equipment necessary for cooling, ventilating, or otherwise operating a data center, including power generators or other power supply equipment, whether ground-mounted or roof-mounted, must include: low-noise emission fans, acoustic wraps for compressors and oil separators, an acoustic perimeter that may wrap a group of individual chillers and may be louvered or solid, and any other sound-attenuation measures the Zoning Administrator approves.

Subsection A(5)(d) then makes the requirement enforceable at the permit stage: the owner must provide documentation, in the form of technical specifications, photographs, or engineered plans, of these mitigation measures with each building permit application for a data center building, and must further document that the measures were actually installed once the building reaches occupancy. The HVAC noise-mitigation rule works alongside the broader mechanical-equipment screening standard in subsection A(3), which bars ground-mounted mechanical equipment from the primary setback and requires both ground-mounted and rooftop equipment to be screened from public roadways and adjoining properties by the principal building, a louvered wall, or an equivalent screen sized to the tallest piece of equipment it hides.

Together the two subsections mean a data center's cooling plant has to be both acoustically treated at the equipment level and visually screened at the site level before the County will sign off on a certificate of occupancy.