Plumb

Type any Virginia address to see the data centers around it and what they mean for your power, water, noise, housing and taxes, with a source behind every number.

Comment

Inspiration

Hanover County approved a 1,200-acre data center park just north of Ashland, where we built this. We asked 20 students on campus where the closest data center is, and 19 of 20 didn't know. Northern Virginia has more data centers than anywhere in the world. Yet Virginia keeps no public list of them, and companies don't have to report each site's power or water use.

What it does

Type any Virginia address, and Plumb maps every data center around it, whether operating, planned or canceled (753 statewide). It explains what they mean for power, water, noise, housing, and taxes. Every number has an evidence tag with its source, date, and method. Where per-site data is a trade secret, we estimate it and label the estimate: $E = P_{\text{MW}} \times 8760 \times 0.23$.

How we built it

Next.js, TypeScript, and MapLibre with OpenFreeMap. The data comes from Cleanview and per-facility research, with census tract context. Addresses are looked up with the US Census Geocoder. Claude writes a cited news brief for each area. Claude Code agents built it in timed, human-reviewed cycles.

Challenges we ran into

Messy and missing data, figures Virginia keeps secret, and statistics that look like data-center effects but aren't. We show "Unavailable" instead of guessing.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

An evidence tag on every number, a report for every Virginia address, and all of it built in one day.

What we learned

Being honest about uncertainty builds more trust than a confident number.

What's next for Plumb

Alerts when a data center is proposed near your address, and in more states. We'll reach residents through:

  • QR flyers at county rezoning hearings
  • Nextdoor and HOA lists near planned sites
  • local newsrooms
  • schools, starting with Randolph-Macon

Built With

Share this project:

Updates

Submission history