Construction firms from across the country discussed opportunities this year at New York Build 2026, particularly around the data center construction boom. Beneath the buzz, however, firms were also reviewing how to overcome familiar constraints in the space.
Construction Dive sat in on several panel discussions at the conference. Below are some of the most notable talking points from the expo.
1. Public pushback is top of mind
Contractors on data center projects can no longer rely on speed and technical execution to unlock awards in the booming sector.
Community sentiment around these project sites is rapidly becoming one of the most immediate risks to slowing the pace of construction. That’s especially true in dense urban markets such as New York City.
For that reason, panelists said developers increasingly need to treat community benefits as part of the project scope. For contractors, that means a data center award will often also require some attention to surrounding infrastructure upgrades, for example, or improvements to the existing grid.
Without that buy-in, projects could ultimately face delays from political resistance or community rejection. New York, for instance, is currently debating whether to impose a construction moratorium on massive data center buildouts. Maine recently floated legislation to freeze large data center construction until November 2027, reports the Wall Street Journal.
“We should be saying yes, but with the right requirements,” said Rob LoBuono, principal at San Francisco-based design firm Gensler, during the expo.
2. Power is the biggest gatekeeper
The ability to secure reliable power is quickly becoming the defining factor in where major projects set up shop.
In New York, strong demand for the artificial intelligence buildout is colliding with an aging electrical grid and environmental regulations. Panelists said that mismatch could ultimately limit the region’s ability to compete for multibillion-dollar hyperscale projects. A hyperscale facility could common more than 1,000 megawatts of power at a single site, for example.
As a result, panelists said potential developments in the city would focus more on smaller, colocation facilities close to users. Areas such as upstate New York also present desirable site locations.
In the end, however, panelists agreed there was a need for more alternative energy solutions, including battery storage and nuclear.
“We’re at a point in time where if you don’t make these upgrades you’re going to miss out on one of the largest infrastructure booms we’ve seen in our lifetimes,” said Kelly Bacon, vice president and data center market lead at Dallas-based AECOM.
3. AIs will only be as good as data behind them
Contractors are experimenting more with AI tools and robotics on jobsites. The effectiveness, however, depends heavily on the quality of the underlying project data.
Panelists repeatedly emphasized inconsistent models and poor coordination between teams can undermine even the most advanced tools. Vincent Poon, VDC department manager at Structure Tone, a New York City-based general contractor, turned to the oft-used refrain, “garbage in, garbage out.”
In successful processes, firms managed to align workflows between the technologies into one loop. For example, robots first scan installed work and compare it against the digital model. AI then analyzes the upload for any discrepancies and directs crews to correct issues where necessary. The approach promises to improve execution and ultimately how information moves through a project, said Poon.
4. Speed to market more urgent than ever
The pressure to deliver projects as quickly as possible, particularly around data center projects, is accelerating adoption of prefabrication strategies.
Panelists said modular techniques allow teams to shift work off site, which ultimately relieves some labor constraints and maintains tighter quality control for the final build. In some projects, that has become essential in order to meet pressing project timelines.
“We have to preengineer, preplan, prefabricate quite a bit of our systems. In the building itself, we’re seeing a lot of prefabrication,” said LoBuono. “We’re actually seeing that as the only way right now to achieve the market speed that’s being driven in this economy for data centers.”
Failure on these projects, that perhaps might have been manageable on traditional construction, could have immediate consequences on these tech-heavy facilities. Issues such as leaks could carry significant financial risk for developers of these builds.
