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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →In AFCOM’s 2024 State of the Data Center Report, AI and growth in digital services were presented as drivers of data-center construction and design change. The report’s survey figures, as summarized by Data Center Knowledge on January 31, 2024, point to anticipated capacity pressure, interest in AI-capable deployments and modular construction, and continuing energy and cooling constraints. These are respondents’ expectations reported in 2024—not measurements of conditions in 2026.
What AFCOM’s 2024 report said about the AI-driven build-out
AFCOM’s eighth annual State of the Data Center Report described an industry experiencing a construction and design boom while confronting power, cooling, and sustainability challenges. Its central connection was straightforward: expanding digital services and AI workloads were increasing demand for data-center capacity, while putting new demands on how facilities are designed.
Bill Kleyman, the report’s co-author and program chair for AFCOM’s Data Center World event, said: “This year, we delve into the intricacies of GPUs, the explosive growth of the data center sector, and, particularly, the adoption of AI solutions.” He also said respondents were preparing to integrate AI-capable solutions, with interest in supporting generative AI among the leading motivations.
The report was presented through trade-industry journalism, and the linked AFCOM report was unavailable for independent review. Data Center Knowledge did not state the survey’s sample size, field dates, sampling method, or respondent composition. Its percentages should therefore be read as reported survey responses, not as a verified measure of the entire data-center industry.
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How AI was expected to affect capacity and facility design
As reported by Data Center Knowledge, 53% of AFCOM survey respondents said new AI workloads would “definitely increase capacity requirements” for colocation. Separately, 56% said they planned AI-capable deployments in their own data centers; among the use cases cited for those deployments, 43% identified generative AI as the most common.
Those figures describe plans and expectations recorded for the 2024 report. They do not quantify how much capacity any individual project would require, or establish the current level of AI deployment.
AI-readiness also raises questions about rack loads, power delivery, and cooling. The article said hyperscalers were adapting to higher rack-load requirements. Baron Fung, a Dell’Oro Group analyst, argued that new facilities would need to be built from the ground up rather than retrofitted to be AI-ready, citing distinctive power and cooling needs. That is Fung’s view; the article does not establish that every AI workload requires a new facility or makes retrofitting impractical.
Fung also forecast that data-center space would need to keep growing for years, with hyperscale cloud and colocation providers competing to build facilities globally. This, too, was an outlook reported in 2024, not a guarantee or a current measurement.
Why modular construction was on operators’ radar
Modular and prefabricated approaches featured alongside conventional construction in the 2024 survey results. Data Center Knowledge reported that 42% of respondents had a hybrid approach—combining prefabricated modules with traditional construction—on their radar. Among respondents exploring prefabrication, 78% were considering prefabricated power modules and 72% prefabricated cooling modules.
These percentages indicate interest, not completed projects or proof that one construction method is faster, cheaper, or better suited to AI. The article provides no project-level cost, schedule, or measured-performance comparison. For a real facility decision, the relevant trade-offs include:
- Capacity and rack-load readiness: whether the design can support the equipment and density the operator expects.
- Power: whether adequate supply and delivery infrastructure can be secured.
- Cooling: which approach fits the expected equipment and heat load.
- Construction strategy: whether modular, hybrid, or conventional construction fits the project’s needs and constraints.
- Site and delivery constraints: whether location, supply chains, and applicable requirements allow the project to proceed as planned.
- Sustainability: how energy sourcing and other environmental priorities are addressed.
Energy and sustainability remained major constraints
Alongside the build-out, respondents identified energy and sustainability as significant concerns. The article reported that 72% planned to use renewable energy, while 27% said they were already doing so. These are separate response categories as reported in 2024; they should not be read as a present-day adoption rate or as a measured share of data-center electricity.
The article also cited power and cooling constraints, infrastructure threats, and supply-chain challenges. These issues matter to AI-ready construction because the design must work within the power and site resources available, not just accommodate a target rack load on paper. The survey figures do not resolve how any particular operator should balance those constraints.
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What the 2024 spending forecasts did—and did not—show
Data Center Knowledge also cited Gartner forecasts made in 2024. Gartner expected worldwide IT spending to reach $5 trillion in 2024, up 6.8% from 2023, and forecast data-center-services spending of $261 million, a 7.5% increase. These were forecasts, not reported actual results, and they are not current spending estimates.
Gartner analyst John-David Lovelock linked continued spending to technology’s expanding role in businesses, saying it had moved from the back office through the front office and become revenue-producing. His explanation was that enterprise IT spending would not plateau until the uses of technology plateaued. That is an analyst’s interpretation of spending drivers, rather than a result of AFCOM’s construction survey.
How to interpret the report today
The 2024 report is useful as a snapshot of what surveyed respondents and quoted analysts expected as AI adoption accelerated: more capacity demand, new power and cooling design questions, interest in modular components, and pressure to address energy and sustainability. It does not establish today’s deployment levels, predict the outcome of a specific project, or provide evidence that a single construction approach is best.
For context on the original coverage and its attributed statements, see James Walker’s January 31, 2024 report in Data Center Knowledge.
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