Data centers can span hundreds of thousands of square feet to handle massive data loads, creating a major market for cold-formed steel. Building them successfully requires two essentials: flawless coordination and cold-formed steel.
While data centers are a controversial topic, they have become a necessity in our modern world. Our daily lives are intertwined with the information that goes in and out of these buildings. While much consideration is given to the digital data stored in these centers, special attention must also be given to the importance of the building materials used to construct them. Data centers rely on cold-formed steel (CFS) in various forms to ensure reliable structures are built and data interruptions are nearly eliminated.
We are amid a data center boom. By the end of October of 2025, there were 54 new data centers planned to be built in Virginia alone1, and the rest of the United States is following a similar trend with new data centers popping up in both historic data center hot spots as well as new markets. Currently, every state and Washington, DC, has at least five data centers, with Virginia, Texas and California leading the way.2
Exterior Framing
Cold-formed steel can be used in several different ways in a data center depending on the needs of the owner. Exterior structural CFS framing is often used. Depending on the structure the use of CFS may vary. In structures that use precast or tilt walls, CFS framing is often used as an architectural feature. These features typically support metal panels as well as signage to help mitigate the “big grey box” look that is often negatively associated with data centers.
Additionally, in these structures, framing will be used to frame roof penthouses and around stairways as well as expansion joints to separate large portions of the building or adjacent structures.
Cold-formed steel also can be used as curtain wall framing when precast and tilt walls are not used. This is most used at stairwells where CFS is used to infill structural steel. Cold-formed steel is also used in the way the data center is steel framed. Due to the large floor to floor heights required in data centers, spans exceeding 15 to 20 feet result in heavier than typical framing or the need for exterior walls with kickers.
There are also situations where framing bypasses multiple floors and roofs. Typically for these types of designs, installing framing continuously will reduce the amount of deflection and yield lighter framing. However, multiple large spans may result in stud lengths that are unmanageable in the field. It is important for designers and contractors to communicate and provide the most beneficial and practical option.
Interior Framing
Cold-formed steel is a critical component of the data center interiors. It is used in interior partition walls, as well as large span walls used for air movement. These are typically air plenums or common supply headers (CSH). Plenums and CSH often include both wall framing and joists. Depending on the configuration, the joists may be walkable.
Plenums and common supply headers typically see loads that are higher than the standard 5 PSF (pounds per square foot) for interior framing. Both conditions have air flow and require much higher pressure. Plenums may see up to 20 PSF pressure on walls and joist members. Common supply header loading is often complex and requires different loading conditions to be reviewed. They are designed for the typical 5 PSF as well as a service pressure that will be the anticipated air flow, and an extreme pressure (often up to 15 PSF) that would include the maximum possible air flow.
The 5 PSF and service pressure are both designed for both strength and serviceability, with the service pressure typically having a more stringent deflection requirement. The extreme pressure, however, is only designed for strength, so deflection does not need to be considered. As noted, the ceilings of the CSH are often walkable. This means an additional live load will need to be applied to the ceiling, as well as guardrail loading to any framing that is not full height and is meant to act a guardrail.
There are a few other interior areas that use CFS framing. In addition to partitions, there are decorative features that may be included inside a data center. There may be full-height walls that support heavy loads and require structural framing. Depending on the type of data center and what the project specifications say, interior non-structural and EQ (equivalent) studs may be used in areas with shorter wall heights and lighter wall pressures.
It is important to review all the pertinent specifications to determine if non-structural framing is permitted. The contract documents may specifically require all framing to be structural.
Structural Ceilings
Drywall contractors often take on the task of installing structural ceilings inside data centers. Structural ceilings are different than a typical suspended ceiling system. These ceilings are meant to support additional elements below including electrical equipment, cable trays, lights and hot aisle containment systems. The demands of the structural ceilings are ever increasing as more and more is required to be hung from the ceiling.
Structural ceilings typically consist of one of two systems; either a proprietary ceiling system or a strut ceiling system. When a proprietary system is used, it is either hung directly from the structure above or hung from an interstitial strut system supported by the structure. Similarly, a strut ceiling can be supported in the same manner, although it is often suspended directly from the structure as strut has a greater capability to span between structural members. In both systems, strut is typically used to trapeze around obstructions that are almost guaranteed to occur.
Either system can be supported from several different types of structures. Historically, many structures exist. This may still be the case in areas where there is a need for data centers, but there is a lack of open space to build. Existing structures create challenges in connecting to existing systems without jeopardizing their integrity.
New structures, typically, allow for a clearer picture, however, they do present their own challenges. For structures with structural steel beams and concrete floor slabs, there are various design constraints to consider. The spacing of the structural steel is important because it will limit where you are able to provide rod drops.
If permitted by the structural engineer of record (SEOR), drops may be able to be suspended from the slab. If the contractor gets in before the slab is poured, they may be able to install embed anchors in lieu of post installed. While this requires a lot of early coordination, it can save the contractor a great deal of time and labor instead of using post-installed anchors.
Many new structures are built using precast tees. Typically, the tees are 6′-0″ on center and poured with an embedded strut in the underside of the tee. This strut can be used for light loading by other trades as well as to support the structural ceiling. It is important to understand the limitations of the embed strut.
They are often limited to between 1,200 and 1,600 pounds If the supports require larger reactions, then alternate connections to spread out the load will be required. Additionally, the embed strut typically ends several feet from a support beam. This will either require trapezing between the embeds when feasible or alternate connections.
Alternate connections can either be to the post-tensioned beam or to the side of the tee. Both require coordination with the precast engineer to determine the feasibility of the various types of solutions and their limitations.
When designing support for proprietary systems, it’s important to understand the limitations of the systems and how and where supports will need to be placed. This will affect drop support locations to the structure and will affect how loads are placed on interstitial strut. It is possible that the capacity of the ceiling system may exceed the capacity of the upper strut system and/or connection to the structure. For example, if a proprietary system indicates a maximum load of 1,750 pounds at 4′ on center both the upper strut and structure will need to be evaluated to accommodate that if that is the desired loading.
For a strut ceiling hung from the structure, there are additional considerations to be made. If you are dealing with concrete on metal deck and metal roof deck with structural steel beams, the biggest hurdle will be the steel spacing. If connections to the slab are permitted, that will greatly reduce the required strut size, as both the main and supplementary strut can have additional mid-span support.
At the roof level, the steel spacing is often reduced, however, the option is not available to connect to concrete. As load demand continues to increase, the unavailability of concrete at the roof can push the limits of strut framing.
While it is common to assume main and supplementary strut within grid brace each other, when dealing with large grids with large loads, there are times when the main strut members meet the design requirements and the supplementary members exceed the allowable unbraced length. In this instance the supplementary member will require additional mid-span bracing.
Data centers can reach sizes that are up to several hundred thousand square feet. That size is needed to house and transfer a lot of data, and it also provides a lot of room for cold-formed steel as well as other materials. Coordination is critical in ensuring a successful data center project and so is cold-formed steel. CD
Andrew W. Newland, PE, is the principal of Adtek Engineers, Inc.
Endnotes
- Business Insider. “Virginia’s data center construction boom is even bigger than you think. One company is behind most of it.” www.businessinsider.com/virginia-data-center-construction-boom-amazon-2025-10.
- U.S. Data Center Power Consumption Map. www.electricchoice.com/datacenters.
