How the data is sourced and scored.
Every fact in Cxdir traces back to something an operator, government agency, or trade outlet has already published. This page explains what that looks like in practice, how refresh scoring works, and how corrections happen.
Publicly disclosed sources, all the way down.
Cxdir doesn't purchase leaked operational data, doesn't rely on private industry lists, and doesn't estimate figures the operator hasn't published. The rule is simple: if the source can't be pointed to publicly, the field stays empty.
- Operator sites Facility names, cities, capacities, opening years published by the operators themselves.
- Hyperscaler pages Meta, Google, Microsoft, Apple, AWS, and Oracle each publish their US locations directly.
- Permit filings EPA Title V, state environmental permits, county planning applications — reveal generator specs, campus footprints, cooling systems.
- Vendor press releases Wins announced by Vertiv, Caterpillar, Cummins, Eaton, Schneider, and ABB when the operator co-signs.
- Trade press Data Center Dynamics, Data Center Knowledge, Data Center Frontier for coverage of announcements, expansions, and M&A.
- SEC filings Public REITs and platforms (Equinix, Digital Realty, Iron Mountain, American Tower) file portfolio detail in 10-Ks.
- Bankruptcy dockets Cyxtera's 2023 bankruptcy produced detailed facility-by-facility disclosures now embedded in Brookfield's Evoque records.
Where a fact isn't public, we mark the field empty or annotate it explicitly. "Not yet researched" is a valid answer. Guessing isn't.
Tracking projects before they're built.
Cxdir tracks projects across four lifecycle stages: planned (announced or permits filed), permitted (permits approved, construction imminent), under construction, and operational. Pre-operational entries are the earliest signal in the pipeline — an announcement today is a commissioning conversation 18–30 months from now.
Sources for pre-operational tracking:
- State air permits Generator air quality permits filed with state environmental agencies. Public record everywhere.
- PUC interconnection queues Utility filings for new large loads — nothing gets built without power, so the queue is a real leading indicator.
- County zoning Planning commission agendas often name the applicant even when the parent company uses a project alias.
- Corporate announcements Hyperscalers and PE platforms announce major campuses openly; smaller operators surface via local economic development coverage.
- Trade press Data Center Dynamics, Data Center Frontier, and Bisnow cover permits and announcements in near real time.
Where a project exists only as an announcement — no permit filings visible yet — the entry is marked planned. Once permits are on file and approved, it moves to permitted. This distinction matters: permitted projects are 12-18 months from construction; planned projects are 24+ months out and carry more uncertainty on the final scope.
Different states, different data structures.
Not every state consolidates pre-operational data-center data the way Georgia does. Cxdir tracks whichever authoritative source exists per market:
- Georgia — the cleanest single source. The Department of Community Affairs DRI portal has a formal "technological facilities" category (codified Nov 2025) that captures every data center project above the regional-impact threshold. One CSV export covers the whole state.
- Virginia — fragmented. No single portal. Cxdir stitches together Virginia DEQ air permits (generators), county planning commission agendas (Loudoun, Prince William, Fauquier, Culpeper, Spotsylvania, Henrico), Virginia SCC filings for large transmission projects, and PJM interconnection queue data. Loudoun's 2025 zoning change (removing by-right data-center use) shifted growth into secondary markets, making the county-by-county sourcing especially important right now.
- Ohio — Ohio Power Siting Board is the cleanest state-level source; Ohio EPA air permits fill in the rest. Central Ohio (Franklin/Licking) is the hot corridor.
- Texas — most fragmented. ERCOT interconnection queue is the single most valuable feed; county-level planning covers the rest. Deregulated grid makes utility interconnect the leading indicator.
- Everywhere else — trade press (Data Center Dynamics, Data Center Frontier, Bisnow) plus local business journals fill gaps, with periodic reconciliation as state or county portals surface new filings.
Vintage-based scoring, refined by disclosure.
Every facility gets a refresh status derived from its opening year and typical equipment lifecycles: UPS batteries (5–8 years), UPS modules (10–15 years), generators (25–30 years with overhaul), switchgear (20–30 years), cooling systems (15–20 years).
When public disclosures surface a specific install year for a piece of equipment (from a vendor press release, permit filing, or expansion announcement), that individual asset gets scored separately in the intel layer and can override the facility-level default.
Refresh status is a signal, not a guarantee. Facilities routinely operate equipment past design life through maintenance regimes, partial upgrades, and asset-by-asset replacement. The score says when the conversation should be happening, not when equipment will fail.
The intel layer isn't public — deliberately.
Detailed equipment inventories, install years, GC of record, and Cx history are visible only in the private intel layer. Two reasons:
1. Operator relationships. Publishing a full equipment inventory publicly would make Cxdir hostile to the very operators whose cooperation we depend on for accurate data. Keeping the detailed layer private lets operators claim their listings without exposing operational information they'd rather not broadcast.
2. Signal integrity. The commercial value of the intelligence layer depends on its scarcity. Once refresh timing is public, it's already too late for the parties who paid to see it early.
How the data stays current.
Every facility page carries a Claim this listing action. Operators verify or correct their record; the update flows back into the dataset. Public disclosures — permit filings, press releases, M&A announcements — are monitored and folded in on a rolling basis.
Spot something wrong or want a facility added? hello@cxdir.com. Include the source. Corrections with sources move fast.
hello@cxdir.com