Marengo

Data center developers today rely on traditional pre-construction engineering cycles that take 10-12 months, during which only 3-4 design concepts are typically explored and trade-offs are assessed manually. Risks tend to surface progressively rather than upfront, and early capital decisions often get made from spreadsheets and disconnected studies rather than an integrated view of the site. This slows down the path from raw land to a permit-ready design and increases the chance that constraints around power, cooling, utilities, access, civil, structural, and permitting are discovered too late to act on cheaply.

Marengo is an engineering firm that pairs licensed engineers with in-house AI tools to compress the site-to-permit workflow into site due diligence, feasibility, concept design, and FEED/permitting design stages. Its software can explore over 1,000 concepts in parallel and run multi-objective optimization, surfacing risks instantly instead of progressively, which the company says cuts the traditional 10-12 month cycle to 5-6 months. Deliverables include a site constraints register, developable-area analysis, test fits, master plans, CAD layouts, electrical single-line diagrams, cooling concepts, civil and structural concepts, a 3D coordinated model, and permit-design documentation. The page describes a case example where a feasibility study for a 500MW campus concept was delivered in 6-8 weeks versus a traditional 12-16 weeks, at roughly half the cost, with all designs reviewed and validated by licensed engineers before delivery.