Description
Environmental Business Journal, Volume 39 Numbers 09/10: Q3 2026 Data Centers & the Environmental Industry
Environmental Business Journal®’s latest research provides detailed analysis and perspectives on Data Centers and AI investment as the most influential new market driver in the environmental industry. Another 50 GW of power and as many 1,300 facilities in various stages of development are expected by 2032. all requiring a broad variety of services and technology from a wide variety of vendors. Market sizes range from $2 billion for core environmental consulting up to $15 billion for the full slate of integrated professional, technical and infrastructure services.
EBJ’s detailed review positions data centers as a distinctive sector, and as a new infrastructure market for the environmental industry. The opportunity begins with front-end environmental C&E, but expands into planning, permitting, civil design, power delivery, water & wastewater, air & noise, construction management, commissioning, sustainability and operations. While the U.S. installed base still includes thousands of smaller facilities, future growth will increasingly be concentrated in 100-MW, 200-MW and larger AI campuses that account for a disproportionate share of power demand, capital cost, permitting complexity, water and cooling needs, and community relations.
EBJ market models are complemented by Q&As with leading specialty service providers with dedicated practice areas for data centers.
Table of Contents
Data Center Markets: Data centers have become a major new infrastructure market for environmental firms, extending beyond C&E into power, water, construction management, commissioning, sustainability and operations. Growth is shifting toward hyperscale and AI campuses where power access, water/cooling, land use, air/noise impacts and community acceptance determine project viability. Market quantification models and competitive analysis complement EBJ executive Q&As
Data Center Market Analysis: Typical development cost profile and facility/market totals; Addressable markets for service firms; Hyperscaler capex; Power supply history; Colocation business models; Grid dependence versus self-generation 1-16
Scenarios for a ‘data center bubble’; Strategic partnerships between utilities and data center developers; Community benefits; Data center competitive gameboards 17-26
Data Centers drive a new infrastructure cycle: Ramboll and WSP executives discuss hyperscale development, power constraints, community expectations and the role of environmental consultants; Coal plants as data center brownfields 27-29
Veolia In Data Centers With Integrated Water, Energy and Waste Solutions 30
Clean Harbors Builds Growth Platforms Around PFAS, Data Centers and Industrial Outsourcing 34
Jacobs Says ‘Speed To Power’ as a Defining Constraint For Data Center Projects 39
Ramboll AI Data Centers Create a New End Market for Environmental Services 42
Henderson Engineering & Design Expands to Full Mission Critical Support 46
J.S. Held Builds EHS and Claims Platform Around Environmental Risk 50
Arcwood Environmental Using M&A to Build an Industrial Waste Platform 54
Morgan Stanley’s 1GT Fund Ties Climate Impact to Investment Returns 58
EBJ Webcast Q&A: Smart Cities and the Transportation Transition 60
Exhibits
Growth of U.S. GDP Compared to Total Environmental Consulting & Engineering and Data Center C&E
U.S. Data Centers in Operation By Power Class, 2025–2032
Estimated Cumulative U.S. Data Center IT-Load Demand By Operating Class, 2025–2032 (GW of IT load)
100-MW Data Center Development Cost Profile in Services, Infrastructure, IT and Construction
Total Market: 2026 U.S. Data Center Cost and Vendor Revenue Range Estimate
Data Center Addressable Markets in Professional Services
USA Data Center Environmental C&E Revenues, 2020-2036
USA Data Center Market Total Cost & Services Revenue Profile, 2020-2030 ($bil)
Model Printed in 2026 Outlook Edition of EBJ: Number of Data Centers by Size in 2026 and 2030
Hyperscaler Total Capital Expenditure Trend, 2016–2026 ($billions)
Hyperscaler Capital Expenditure and Power Capacity in 2025
Trend History in Primary Power Source Mix for Data Centers: Grid vs. On-Site
Likely Nuclear Contribution to U.S. Data-Center Power
Best-Fit Geographies for Nuclear/Data-Center Pairing
Community Benefits From Data Centers
Revenue and M&A Tables in Company Profiles
Exhibits from EBJ 2026 Data Center Survey
Companies Appearing in this Edition
1898 & Co. 22
AECOM 22, 23, 62
AES 25
Amazon 19, 24
Aquatech 23
Arcadis 22
Arcwood Environmental 56
Black Hills Energy. 20
Bloom Energy 10
Burns & McDonnell 22
Clark Seif Clark 55
Clean Earth 39
Clean Harbors Inc. 30
Colorado Energy Office 62
Constellation Energy 19, 24
Dominion Energy 18
Ecolab/Nalco Water 23
Elevate Renewables 25
Entergy Arkansas 19
ENTRA1 Energy 24
Environmental Systems Design 22
EnviroServe 33
EQT Infrastructure 56
ES&H 31, 33
European Commission 39
EYP Mission Critical Facilities 46
Fervo Energy 20
Fluence 25
Ford 25
Goldman Sachs 14
Google 19, 20
Gradiant 23
Haminan Energia 20
Henderson Companies 47
Heritage Environmental Services 56
i3 Solutions Group 46
Jacobs 22, 40
J.S. Held 52
Kairos Power 24
KUA Group 22
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab 14
McKinsey 14
Microsoft 20, 22
Morgan Stanley Investment Management 60
National Association of State Energy Officials 14
National Grid Renewables 20
NextEra Energy 19
NextEra Energy Resources 25
Nuclear Regulatory Commission 14
NuScale Power 24
Oklo 24
One Rock Capital Partners 33
Page 22
Ramboll 26, 43
Roux 78
San Francisco International Airport 62
Siemens Energy 19
Stantec 22
Straughan Environmental 62
Talen Energy 24
Terra Nova Solutions 33
TerraPower 24
Tesla Energy 25
TRC Companies 22
Veolia 22, 23
Vistra 24
Voltus 20
Wärtsilä 25
Wood-McKenzie 14
WSP 22, 26
Xcel Energy 19, 20, 25
X-energy 24
Xylem 23
YP Mission Critical 26
For more information on the Environmental Industry, click here to visit the EBJ homepage.
