ANSI Roundtable: Stakeholders Call for Greater Coordination of Data Center Standards

Summary points to a standards landscape, roadmap, and implementation tools as next steps

NEW YORK, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As artificial intelligence fuels rapid growth in data centers, stakeholders convened by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) see the greatest opportunity in stronger coordination, harmonization, and visibility across existing standards activities. That need is especially pressing as new power, cooling, and computing technologies move quickly from design to deployment in new and existing facilities alike, according to a summary of ANSI's September 17 Data Centers Standards Roundtable, released today on ANSI.org.

Data centers support cloud services, communications networks, AI, advanced computing, and countless applications that businesses, governments, and consumers rely on. Standards play an essential role in the safe, reliable, interoperable, resilient, and sustainable development and operation of these facilities, and help accelerate innovation and technology adoption.

What the Stakeholders Said

Initiated by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and hosted at its offices in Arlington, Virginia, the roundtable brought together more than 75 stakeholders from industry, standards developing organizations, government, academia, testing and certification organizations, utilities, and other interested parties to examine the rapidly evolving data center standards landscape.

Discussions focused on the challenges and opportunities created by AI-driven growth, emerging infrastructure technologies, and increasing demand for data center capacity, while also exploring how standards, conformity assessment, implementation guidance, and stakeholder collaboration can support deployment. Participants shared perspectives on current standards activities, implementation barriers, future standards needs, and opportunities to improve coordination across the broader data center ecosystem.

Several consistent themes emerged from the discussions:

• Coordination matters more than volume. Many organizations are active in this space. Participants said helping that work fit together, and making it easier to see who is doing what, matters more than developing large numbers of new standards.
• New technologies must work in existing facilities, too. AI is driving demand for new capacity, but participants also described the challenge of integrating emerging technologies, advanced computing platforms, new cooling approaches, and evolving power architectures into data centers already in operation. Existing infrastructure, equipment lifecycles, and facility design decisions can create challenges when upgrading facilities to support next-generation technologies.
• Implementation remains one of the most significant barriers. Delays in code adoption, varying interpretations among local code officials, and difficulty determining which standards apply all create uncertainty for projects already underway. Even when the right standards are identified, applying existing requirements in practice can be a challenge.
• Guidance matters alongside standards. Implementation guidance, reference architectures, case studies, educational resources, and workforce training were consistently identified as critical needs—particularly for technologies such as liquid cooling and high-voltage direct-current power.
• Pre-standardization work lays the foundation. Participants saw value in operational data collection, benchmarking, testing, shared deployment experience, and collaborative evaluation of emerging technologies before formal standards are developed.
• Community trust is a growing priority. Public concern over energy and water use, noise, and siting is rising, and attendees saw objective metrics and independent verification as key to building confidence.

Looking Ahead

Participants pointed to several activities that could help: a data center standards landscape, a U.S. data center standards roadmap or strategy, common terminology resources, implementation support tools, and ongoing information-sharing forums. Many saw value in ANSI bringing the community together around this work.

"Few pieces of infrastructure matter more to America's AI future than data centers. The standards behind them will shape how quickly, safely, and responsibly that future is built," said ANSI President and CEO Dr. Laurie E. Locascio. "The roundtable made clear that this community wants a coordinated national approach, and ANSI is ready to bring stakeholders together to build it."

"Public discourse around data center safety, efficiency, energy use, siting, operations, and maintenance calls attention to the critical role of standards in bringing science-based, expert rigor to these topics," said NEMA President and CEO Debra Phillips. "The electrical manufacturing industry and its experts play a key role, alongside the many other sectors at the roundtable, in advancing responsible data center design and operation through standardization. Aligning standards with the pace of data center and AI innovation will be essential to deploying these solutions effectively."

ANSI's call for stakeholder interest remains open, and additional input will shape next steps. Stakeholders interested in contributing to this effort or engaging with ANSI in its early stages can complete this sign-up form.

Learn more about ANSI's data center activities.

About ANSI

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the U.S. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity. Its membership is comprised of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations.

The Institute represents and serves the diverse interests of more than 270,000 companies and organizations and 30 million professionals worldwide. ANSI is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). For more information, visit www.ansi.org and access the latest news and content on LinkedIn, X, and Facebook.

SOURCE American National Standards Institute