AHI AHI — Community InformationBlindman Industrial Park · Red Deer County · Alberta
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An Alberta project · in an industrial park · on industrial land

Community Information & Frequently Asked Questions

Built in Alberta. Built by your neighbours. Built right.

This page is our plain-language answer to the questions our neighbours ask most — water, sound, power, jobs, land and process. Where a figure is a design value or an estimate, we say so. If your question isn’t answered here, ask us and we’ll answer it.

Read the answers How we handle sound Ask a question
0 litres
Municipal water used for power & cooling
10 MW
Growth steps — each phase earns its own permits†
Oct 2025
Red Deer County development approval, first phase
2027
First power target — first 10 MW step
Rule 012
Alberta’s industrial sound standard — designed in from day one

In plain language

What this project is — and what it isn’t.

What it is

A data centre campus that generates its own power behind the fence, inside an industrial park zoned for this kind of business. Firm Alberta natural gas goes in; secure Canadian computing comes out. It is built in 10 MW steps by an Alberta team, with every phase going through the County’s process.

What it isn’t

It isn’t a mega-project landing overnight, it doesn’t use municipal water, it doesn’t plug into your power supply — and it is not on farmland. It sits on land Red Deer County designated for industry, inside an established industrial park.

Why it matters

Every text, e-transfer, photo backup and 911 dispatch already runs through a data centre somewhere. Alberta has the energy, land, climate and people to host that infrastructure at home — with the jobs, taxes and know-how staying in Central Alberta.

Some data centres you may have seen online

Traditional air-cooled data centres

  • Large fan walls pushing air through the building — the hum people associate with data centres.
  • Evaporative cooling consuming large volumes of water, with visible plumes.
  • Equipment scattered outdoors in metal enclosures across the yard.
  • Grid-drawing — competing with households for existing power supply.
What AHI is building

Enclosed industrial buildings — for an industrial park

  • Closed-loop cooling, not fan walls. AHI’s example halls pipe coolant straight to the chips in a sealed loop, and every building on campus meets the same no-municipal-water and sound standards.
  • Zero municipal water. A sealed closed loop — no evaporative cooling, no plumes; water used on site is managed on site.
  • Major equipment inside concrete buildings — sound contained, with silencers on intakes and exhausts.
  • Its own power, behind the fence — not competing with your home for it.

Being a good neighbour

Water. Sound. Air. Light. Traffic. Here’s how we address each one.

Being welcome in this community is an engineering requirement of this project. Below is each concern we hear, and what the campus does about it.

Water — designed out, not reduced

The campus is not connected to municipal water, and it does not use municipal water for cooling. AHI’s example halls use direct-to-chip cooling on a sealed closed loop, and every building on campus uses closed-loop or waterless cooling: the coolant is piped to the chips, recirculated and cooled again — no evaporative cooling, no plumes, no draw on municipal supply. Water used on site is managed on site, and the only ordinary demand is domestic use for staff areas.

Many large data centres reject heat by evaporating water. AHI’s closed loop was designed so that question does not arise.

Sound — regulated, engineered, then measured

Alberta regulates industrial sound through Alberta Utilities Commission Rule 012, which sets permissible sound levels for industrial sites — at night, roughly the level of a quiet dishwasher. AHI is engineered to meet that standard: major generation and computing equipment sits inside insulated concrete buildings, air intakes and exhausts carry acoustical silencers, outdoor heat-rejection equipment is low-noise and screened, and liquid cooling replaces the large fan walls of air-cooled halls. The buildings are precast concrete with sound walls.

Independently assessed. RWDI — independent, APEGA-permitted acoustical engineers — has assessed the campus design under AUC Rule 012, including the long-term buildout operating at once, and predicts compliance with Rule 012, day and night. The as-built construction adds precast concrete and sound walls as further mitigation, and compliance is verified by measurement.

Then we measure. As each phase comes online we measure actual sound at the property line and nearby, not just the model, and adapt the mitigation before the next phase proceeds.

Sound levels quoted are design values under AUC Rule 012. Results of independent assessments are filed with Red Deer County through the permit process.

Air & emissions

Modern lean-burn engines on Alberta natural gas, with dual-fuel standby for backup only — operating within Alberta’s environmental approvals framework, with generation equipment enclosed inside buildings. The units are hydrogen-blend capable, so the fuel mix can change as Alberta’s hydrogen supply develops.

Light & visual impact

Consolidating equipment indoors contains sightlines as well as sound: no sprawling yards of containers, exterior lighting designed down and shielded, and architectural screening on rooftops. From the highway, the campus reads as a clean set of industrial buildings in an industrial park.

Traffic & roads

Access is from the industrial park and the Highway 2A corridor — not residential roads. A traffic impact assessment was completed for the current phase, and the County requires an updated assessment before any future phase proceeds. Construction staging stays on site.

Frequently asked questions

Straight answers.

These answers reflect what has been filed with and presented to Red Deer County. Where something is an estimate, we say so — and as real measurements come in, we update this page.

No. We are not connected to municipal water and we do not use municipal water for cooling. The cooling system is a sealed closed loop — no evaporative cooling, no plumes, no draw on municipal supply. Water used on site is managed on site, and the only ordinary demand is domestic use for staff areas.

No. This is industrial land inside an established industrial park, doing what industrial land is for. Blindman Industrial Park is designated by Red Deer County and sits in a corridor of heavy, medium and business-industrial uses between the City of Red Deer and the Town of Blackfalds. No agricultural land is being converted.

The campus brings its own power. Generation is behind the fence — modern engines running on Alberta natural gas, on our own land, at our own cost. The campus does not take capacity off the local grid to run its computers, and no servicing costs are passed to residents or ratepayers. Any future connection to the provincial grid is designed to add supply to Alberta’s system, and would go through the AESO and Alberta Utilities Commission public processes first.

The campus is engineered to meet Alberta’s permissible sound levels. AUC Rule 012 sets those levels — at night, about the level of a quiet dishwasher — and the design is built to meet them, with major equipment inside concrete buildings, silencers on intakes and exhausts, liquid cooling instead of fan walls, and precast construction with sound walls. Independent acoustical engineers have assessed the design, and we measure real-world sound as each phase comes online, adapting before the next. How we handle sound →

Local first. Alberta engineers, contractors and subtrades from the region are on site through each construction phase, rotating as scopes peak, and a 24/7 operations team grows hall by hall once the campus is running. Workforce figures vary by phase; contractor-confirmed numbers are shared with the County as each phase mobilizes. Jobs & local benefit →

Yes — publicly, through the County’s process. Red Deer County’s Municipal Planning Commission approved the development permit for the first phase in October 2025 after a public process that included residents beyond the required referral distance. Every refinement since has been filed with the County under the conditions of that permit, and every future phase must earn its own permits, studies and reviews.

A first phase in the 10–30 MW range, built 10 MW at a time. The first 10 MW is under construction with first power targeted for 2027. Each further step applies for its own permits, studies and public process before it is built, inside the industrial park. Nothing beyond that is assumed — growth happens only through the same process, phase by phase.

Albertans. AHI was founded in Calgary and is developed by Havenz Smart Communities, in partnership with Turning Stone Developments, a Métis-owned firm. Decisions are made here by people who live here, and our partners — from our general contractor to Central Alberta subtrades — are your neighbours.

We understand this is a real concern, and we don’t make claims about anyone’s property. What we control — sound, light, traffic and water — is designed to the standard of a good industrial neighbour, inside a park that was designated for industry. For businesses in the park, an anchor investment brings construction activity, servicing momentum and a modern standard to the lots around it.

Modern lean-burn engines, hydrogen-blend capable. The campus runs modern lean-burn engines on Alberta natural gas within Alberta’s environmental approvals framework, with dual-fuel standby for backup only. The units are hydrogen-blend capable: as hydrogen supply develops in Alberta, the campus is built to blend it in.

We build inside an industrial park that exists for exactly this. Construction traffic uses industrial-park access, a traffic impact assessment has been completed for the current phase, and updated assessments are required before any future phase. Equipment is consolidated inside buildings rather than spread across the yard — less clutter, less noise, a cleaner site.

We follow the codes. The campus is designed and built to Alberta’s building and fire codes, as required.

Tell us, and we’ll follow up. If construction activity, dust, lighting or sound is a concern, contact us through the main-site form (choose “Community question”) or email info@havenzcorp.com. Every concern is logged and answered by our Alberta team.

Ask us directly. Use the contact form on our main site and choose “Community question,” or email info@havenzcorp.com. A member of our Alberta team will get back to you, and good questions get added to this page. Ask a community question →

Jobs & local benefit

Local jobs, led by local teams.

Central Alberta’s economy was built on energy expertise — and that is exactly what a power-first data campus runs on.

Construction

An Alberta civil contractor, Alberta engineers and subtrades from Blindman, Burnt Lake, Blackfalds and the Red Deer region — on site through each construction phase, rotating as scopes peak.

Operations

A 24/7 operations, security and facility-management team that stands up at first power and grows with every hall added.

Education

Working with Alberta institutions so local students can step into trades, operations and technology careers without leaving Central Alberta.

Contractor-confirmed workforce figures are shared with Red Deer County as each phase mobilizes.

Tax base

New assessment that works for the County — and for schools.

The campus is assessed and taxed like any other non-residential property in Red Deer County. Roughly three-quarters of each non-residential tax dollar funds County services — roads, parks, protective and community services — and about a quarter is the provincial education requisition that flows to Alberta schools. The campus adds that assessment without asking the County for water, sewer or power.

Assessed values are set by the applicable assessor (Red Deer County or, for designated industrial property, the Province) and appear on the public roll like any other property. Tax-dollar split per Red Deer County’s 2026 Tax Rate Bylaw (rdcounty.ca).

Know the neighbourhood

Inside an established industrial park.

Blindman Industrial Park is a County heavy- and medium-industrial park on Highway 2A, at the seam between the City of Red Deer, Red Deer County and the Town of Blackfalds — a working industrial sector on one of Alberta’s most important transportation corridors. The campus sits inside the park, among yards, shops and energy-services businesses, with the City’s own heavy-industrial lands to the south.

Right project, right zone

Inside an established industrial park in a heavy-industrial corridor — where Red Deer County’s own planning puts projects like this.

Consulted beyond the line

Residents beyond the County’s required referral distance were included in consultation during the permit process.

An anchor for the park

Behind-the-fence power, dual-path fibre and a modern building standard bring institutional-grade utilities to a park built decades ago.

Open the location in Google Maps ↗

Why we build

Four kinds of security, one campus.

AHI is designed around four things every community needs secured for the next generation. This is the measuring stick we hold every phase against.

01

Energy security

Power generated here, from Alberta fuel, by Alberta hands — hydrogen-blend capable, and adding to the province’s supply over time rather than taking from it.

02

Data security

Canadian data on Canadian soil, in secure Alberta-built halls — sovereignty for the digital economy the way we secured it for energy.

03

Food security

Planned for the campus master plan: research and controlled-environment growing that turns waste heat into local food resilience.

04

Career security

Trades, technology and operations careers that let Central Albertans build the future without leaving home — with schools and students in the loop.

Our story

Rooted in manufacturing. Built on land.

This project didn’t come from Silicon Valley — it came from Calgary. AHI is developed by Havenz Smart Communities. Our founder is the son of a manufacturer whose family business did CNC manufacturing for oil and gas and furniture manufacturing, and built a land portfolio from the 1970s onward. Today the Havenz team brings more than 100 years of combined development experience, with M3 Development Management Inc. as development manager coordinating the project.

That background shows in the choices. We build concrete buildings that contain their own sound. We sealed the cooling loop so it uses no municipal water. We permit and build 10 MW at a time — and invite the County in at every step.

We chose Blindman Industrial Park deliberately: an established industrial park in a heavy-industrial corridor that needed an anchor — not farmland that needed converting. We chose an Alberta general contractor and Central Alberta subtrades on purpose. And we work with educational institutions so Alberta students can step straight into these careers.

Local first

Alberta general contractor · Blindman, Burnt Lake & Blackfalds subtrades

Partnership

A Havenz development, with Métis partnership through Turning Stone Developments

Education

Working with Alberta institutions to open AI & energy careers to local students

Revitalization

Anchoring an established industrial park — industrial land doing what it was designated to do

Our commitments to you

How we intend to be neighbours.

Not just a project — a neighbour. This is how we intend to operate, and we welcome being asked about it.

We follow the process. Every phase.

Every expansion applies for its own permits with its own studies — sound, traffic, environment — through Red Deer County’s public process.

We measure, we don’t just model.

Independent sound assessments continue through every phase, and we measure real-world sound as each phase comes online — adapting the design before growing further.

We show up.

We are glad to meet with businesses and residents around the park, and to keep the County supplied with plain-language information.

We answer questions publicly.

Community questions get straight answers on this page, so one clear source is easy to find.

We hire here first.

Local contractor, local subtrades, local consultants wherever the expertise exists — and education partnerships to grow the next generation of that expertise here.

We share the journey.

Construction updates on this site and in the newsroom, and tours where practical.

These commitments describe how AHI intends to operate. They are statements of intent, updated as the project advances, and are not contractual terms.

Talk to us

A question deserves an answer.

Reach our Alberta team directly — community questions are welcome, and they make this page better.

Contact AHI
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