If you use artificial intelligence or machine-based learning, there’s a good chance the servers are based in Southeast Asia—the world’s fastest-growing region for data centre construction. And whilst President Trump is looking to bring data back to the United States, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have all pledged $38 billion to build centres in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand over the last 12 months alone.
Last year, Wood Central reported that giant data centres, more than 20 times larger than just a few years ago, have emerged as a significant opportunity for mass timber, with Microsoft leading the way in building new data centres out of cross-laminated timber. Speaking at Data Center World, Priyal Chheda, Sustainability lead for Corgan—North America’s top data centre architect—said timber should be “in the mix” with developers struggling to meet ambitious net-zero targets: “Work is needed now if 2030 targets are going to be met.”
“Instead of focusing on difficulties, data centre managers should look for opportunities for a good return on investment via sustainability measures…including mass timber, which is vital to slashing carbon and meeting net zero targets worldwide.”
What does Trump’s presidency mean for data centres?
According to Eco-Business, Trump’s sweeping tariffs – now on hold – have caused multinationals and tech giants to reconsider big bets on massive data centres, also known as hyperscalers, with many looking to reinvest back into the United States. However, the push to reestablish the US as the global hub for data, which is still home to 51% of all data centres, predates Trump’s second term.
In January, Wood Central reported that Joe Biden, in one of his last acts as US president, signed an executive order directing direct federal agencies to make some of their sites available for AI data centres and clean power facilities. In effect, the order helps to connect the infrastructure to the electric grid and speed up the permitting process.
“Building data centres may get easier (under Trump), but potential supply chain problems still loom large,” according to Matthew Gooding, from Data Centre Dynamics: “For data centre operators, many of whom are planning multi-billion dollar investments during Trump’s term in office, the incoming administration’s pro-business stance could mean their lives are about to get considerably easier.”
“But Trump’s foreign policy could lead to their supply chains, particularly those relating to AI components and materials, becoming much more complicated.”
According to figures provided by Goldman Sachs, the market for data centres, components, and associated infrastructure could mushroom from $200 billion to more than $1 trillion over the coming years. And according to data provided by Synergy Research Group, much of this investment will go into the United States—and not Asia: “These strong fundamentals are likely to spur further growth, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office,” said Niccolo Lombatti, TMT industry analyst at BMI. “The US has consistently grown its data centre market over the past years, irrespective of presidents.”
Indeed, state governments and smaller local authorities have regularly offered tax breaks and other concessions to attract data centre operators, with many politicians seeing digital infrastructure projects as a good way to boost GDP in their regions: “We believe the impact that the next US administration will have on the local data centre market will be positive given its focus on AI-related infrastructure, though its overall contribution to the country’s computing capacity growth rates will be marginal in the broader context,” Lomabatti said.
- To learn more about the push to build mega data centres out of wood, click here for Wood Central’s special feature. And to learn more about a US bill before Congress, which could see mass timber incentivised when building data centres on federal lands, click here.
