Fire Protection Design Requirements: CleanArc VA1 Hyperscale Data Center Campus, Ruther Glen, Virginia

Meta Description: Fire protection design considerations for CleanArc's 900MW VA1 hyperscale data center campus in Caroline County, Virginia — code, hazard, and system review.

Section 1: Project Overview

CleanArc Data Centers broke ground on its flagship VA1 hyperscale campus on November 20, 2025, on the former Virginia Bazaar site at 18188 Bazaar Avenue in Ruther Glen, Caroline County, Virginia. The campus occupies a 650-acre parcel along Interstate 95 between Ashburn and Richmond, and at full buildout will deliver 900 megawatts of grid capacity across three buildings of approximately 490,000 square feet each, with two data halls per building. The first 300 MW phase is scheduled to come online in Q1 2027, with subsequent 300 MW phases targeted for 2030 and the 2033 to 2035 window. CleanArc, based in Arlington, Texas and founded by James Trout, is backing the project with a $3 billion initial investment alongside majority investor Snowhawk and minority investors Nuveen and Townsend Group. Governor Glenn Youngkin joined county officials at the groundbreaking ceremony. The campus is being delivered with closed-loop cooling and a modular construction approach using factory-assembled, pre-engineered components to shorten site deployment timelines.

Section 2: Fire Protection Challenges Specific to This Project

A hyperscale campus of this density presents fire protection problems that are distinct from a single-building enterprise facility. Across three 490,000-square-foot buildings on a shared 650-acre site, the design team has to solve for high-value electronic asset protection, life safety for sparsely occupied spaces, and water supply for both interior protection and exterior exposure across a large campus footprint.

The data halls themselves fall under NFPA 75, Standard for the Fire Protection of Information Technology Equipment, and most designers will treat the IT equipment areas as Ordinary Hazard Group 1 for NFPA 13 sprinkler design. The pre-action sprinkler approach typical for these spaces — usually double-interlock, cross-zoned with smoke detection — introduces dependencies on detector spacing, air sampling smoke detection (ASD) coverage in tall ceilings, and tight coordination with mechanical airflow patterns in hot-aisle/cold-aisle containment.

Modular construction adds another layer: factory-assembled electrical and mechanical skids, walk-in switchgear lineups, and battery energy storage equipment may all arrive pre-fabricated and need detection and suppression coordinated against the equipment manufacturer's listings. Caroline County's water supply along this stretch of I-95 must also be analyzed against demand from three large fully sprinklered buildings, possibly simultaneously. Site fire flow, on-site fire pumps, and ground storage tank sizing per NFPA 22 will drive a significant portion of the early civil and yard piping design.

Section 3: Required Systems and Applicable Codes

Caroline County enforces the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (VUSBC), 2021 edition, which adopts Chapters 2 through 35 of the 2021 International Building Code by reference. The Virginia Statewide Fire Prevention Code (SFPC), 2021 edition, governs operational fire safety once buildings are placed in service. Through these adoptions, the following NFPA editions are in force for VA1:

Construction will most likely be Type II-B noncombustible, fully sprinklered. Occupancy classification across the campus is a mix of Group B (data hall and administrative support) and S-1/S-2 (storage for spare equipment), with separations established under IBC Section 508. NFPA 75 layers additional construction, separation, and suppression requirements onto the IBC baseline that are easy to overlook if the designer treats the data hall as a generic Group B space.

Section 4: What Designers Need to Think Through

For VA1, the early decisions that drive cost and schedule are detection scheme, suppression strategy, water supply, and electrical room protection.

Detection in the data halls usually combines spot smoke detectors with air sampling smoke detection at very early warning sensitivity, with everything tied back to the building management system. NFPA 72, 2019 edition, governs detector spacing, sensitivity, and survivability circuit requirements. Pre-action sprinkler interlock logic should be drawn early so the alarm release matrix, supervisory and trouble paths, and detector zoning all coordinate.

Suppression strategy follows: pre-action sprinklers throughout the IT spaces, with clean agent under NFPA 2001, 2018 edition, considered for critical electrical or telecom rooms where water collateral damage is unacceptable. Under NFPA 75, sprinkler protection is required throughout the IT equipment area — clean agent is a supplement, not a substitute.

Water supply must be sized for all three buildings: fire pumps per NFPA 20, 2019 edition; ground storage tanks per NFPA 22, 2018 edition; and yard mains per NFPA 24, 2019 edition. The available main pressure and flow at the I-95 site should be confirmed by hydrant flow test at design start, not assumed from utility records.

BIM coordination with electrical room clearances, NFPA 70 working space, sprinkler clearance over switchgear, and any on-site battery energy storage protection should be locked down before construction documents are issued.

Section 5: How ProTech CDS Approaches Projects Like This

ProTech CDS delivers fire alarm, sprinkler, suppression, and BIM coordination design for hyperscale data center work in all 50 states. NICET IV review and a PE seal from an engineer licensed in the jurisdiction of record, for VA1 a Virginia PE, are available when the AHJ requires them. Design is delivered white-label under the prime engineer's or contractor's brand. Hydraulic calculations, piping plans, riser diagrams, battery calculations, and clean agent flow calculations are produced at construction document quality and coordinated against the Revit MEP model, with clash detection runs against the architectural and structural models. Submittal packages are formatted for the local AHJ, in this case Caroline County Building and Development. Project intake and secure document exchange runs through lockin.protechcds.com.

Section 6: Call to Action

Hyperscale data center projects in Virginia demand tight coordination between civil, electrical, mechanical, and life safety from day one. Send a project brief to ProTech CDS through lockin.protechcds.com to schedule a scoping conversation, exchange documents securely, and receive a fee proposal under NDA.