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CAMPUS CHALLENGE / DECISION BRIEF

A new tenant can invalidate the shared water solution.

A new cooling choice can strand the shared water investment and consume the power reserved for a different tenant.

ILLUSTRATIVE FAILURE SCENARIO

How the problem unfolds

Assume the first tenant's design supported a shared treatment plant and a long-term water purchase. A later tenant selects a lower-water heat-rejection system with greater electrical and space needs under the design conditions. The campus now needs less annual water but more peak power and equipment area. The water contract still carries a minimum payment, while the substation and yard reservations were sold on the old basis. An apparently beneficial efficiency change becomes an allocation and capital problem across several entities.

Hypothetical development case. Assumptions are not project results, quoted prices or predicted failure rates.

TEXAS / LAW, REGULATION & LOCAL REQUIREMENTS

The Texas constraints to resolve

Reviewed September 10, 2026

Development issues to resolve, not a legal opinion. Applicability depends on the parcel, provider, project configuration and current instruments. Texas counsel, the responsible authority and qualified technical specialists should confirm the route before commitments are made.

Which requirements apply to this campus?

  • Identify the actual wastewater receiver, reuse arrangement and changed flow and chemistry before deciding whether existing approvals remain sufficient.
  • If seeking a conservation-related impact-fee credit, confirm local procedures and eligibility. Do not treat an estimated credit as available project cash.

Use these questions to direct the review, not to determine legal eligibility. Open the applicable constraint below for the source, consequence and next action.

A cooling change can alter the authorization routeTexas wastewater/reuse rules and the actual receiving utility's conditions.

Texas basis. TCEQ identifies separate rules for reclaimed-water use, consolidated permits and discharge standards. Fort Worth also reports adopted pretreatment requirements for new data centers in its water utility service area. TCEQ industrial wastewater rules, including Chapters 210 and 305 · Fort Worth: adopted requirements versus proposed data center regulations

Campus consequence. A reduction in incoming water can concentrate the remaining discharge or change the reused-water arrangement. An existing supply agreement does not establish acceptance of that revised discharge.

Resolve before commitment. Have the environmental specialist and receiving utility compare old and new flows, chemistry and operating conditions. Confirm amendments or approvals before accepting the tenant change.

Water conservation may create an impact-fee credit opportunityLocal Government Code §395.0231, effective January 1, 2026; qualifying facilities and local procedures matter.

Texas basis. The section provides for credits against water and wastewater impact fees for eligible developer-provided facilities, systems or products that achieve water reuse, conservation or savings. It requires calculation and review procedures. Texas Local Government Code §395.0231

Campus consequence. A cooling decision can affect both utility infrastructure demand and the development's fee position. The opportunity is not a guaranteed cash reimbursement or a waiver of the underlying service requirements.

Resolve before commitment. Ask the authority for its procedures and have the team document eligibility and savings. Carry only a confirmed credit into the budget, while pricing the change's additional power and operating costs.

01 / CAMPUS EXPOSURE

Follow the consequences.

Water economics
Test whether lower demand leaves minimum purchases, treatment debt or oversized assets unrecovered. Savings at the tenant meter may be offset by shared fixed costs.
Power
Recalculate peak electrical demand and capacity rights, not only annual energy. Check coincidence with other tenants and the relevant constrained operating conditions.
Quality
A changed supply chemistry or cooling loop can alter treatment, corrosion control and discharge. Separate engineering compatibility from the right to receive or dispose of the water.
Land and approvals
Revisit equipment yards, sound, plume where applicable, access and discharge conditions. A replacement system may fit the building but not the approved campus.
Commercial fairness
Decide who pays for stranded shared assets and triggered upgrades. Later tenants should not assume earlier commitments disappear when they choose a different system.

COMBINED FAILURE TEST

Less water, more peak power, unchanged minimum payment

Combine a lower-water cooling choice with the hottest design condition and a delayed next tenant. Test additional peak electrical demand against existing reservations while the original water minimum remains payable. Compare total campus cost, not savings on one tenant's water meter.

Questions to take to the project team
  1. Does the comparison cover the entire heat-rejection chain or just the server cooling loop?
  2. What happens to shared cost recovery if expected water demand falls by half?
  3. Does the new design still work at peak ambient conditions with its required equipment reserve unavailable?

02 / RESPONSE CHOICES

When to advance. When to stop.

These are decision conditions, not universal thresholds. Confirm the evidence with the responsible providers, specialists and affected tenants before the owner authorizes a commitment.

Adopt a bounded tenant envelope

Advance whenThe proposed cooling choice stays within agreed peak power, water, discharge and yard limits.

Stop or revise whenA claimed efficiency benefit exceeds another tenant's reserved power or the remaining discharge envelope.

Tradeoffs and scope

Offer defined ranges for peak power, water quality and demand, discharge and yard use. Let tenants vary within the range, with an explicit process for exceptions.

Separate incompatible systems

Advance whenSeparate systems remove incompatible requirements at an acceptable total capital and operating cost.

Stop or revise whenSeparation merely hides an unchanged shared source, discharge or electrical bottleneck.

Tradeoffs and scope

Provide tenant-specific treatment or heat rejection where shared infrastructure creates excessive constraints. Price lost scale benefits against clearer operating and cost boundaries.

Rebase the shared utility plan

Advance whenThe revised mix supports staged assets and any legacy minimum commitments are explicitly funded or renegotiated.

Stop or revise whenThe savings case assumes an old water purchase or stranded asset obligation disappears automatically.

Tradeoffs and scope

If the tenant mix materially changes, resize or stage future assets and renegotiate commitments where possible. Do not keep building the old ultimate system merely because design money has already been spent.

The work Sitebraid would take on

Sitebraid would compare the original and revised cooling basis across water, power, land, contracts and funding. With the technical teams, we would quantify the capacity and stranded-cost effects, establish responsibility for triggered changes and update the campus envelope before tenant design approval. The outcome is controlled flexibility, not a promise that any cooling technology can arrive without affecting its neighbors.

03 / DECISION GATE

Evidence before commitment

  • Whole-system comparison on consistent weather, load and contingency assumptions.
  • Updated utility and land allocations with provider and design-team confirmation.
  • An agreed allocation of stranded cost, upgrade cost and operating responsibility.

NEXT ACTION

Start here

Require a campus-impact statement with every tenant cooling change. The statement must identify what happens to the water purchase, power reservation and remaining equipment yards.

SITEBRAID RESOURCES

Take the working tool into the owner meeting

Source context and boundaries

Reviewed September 10, 2026. The scenarios and decision tests are Sitebraid analysis. Source materials establish context, not approval of a particular project. Applicable law, provider terms and technical requirements require project-specific confirmation.