The Infrastructure Gap: The Problems with AC Power in the Age of AI
By Robert Kroon
The commercial office sector faces a silent crisis. While the headlines focus on the software capabilities of Artificial Intelligence, a physical reality is colliding with legacy building infrastructure: AI hardware is power-hungry, hot, and physically demanding.
Most commercial office buildings were designed for the "ultrabook era"—a time of decreasing power consumption where a 65-watt laptop and a single monitor were the standard. That era is over. The deployment of AI-ready workforces creates two distinct classes of power users, neither of which is well-served by standard AC infrastructure.
To determine if AC-powered workstations are functional, safe, and practical, we must first distinguish between the two types of occupants in an AI-intensive workplace: the AI User and the AI Creator.
The Distinction: AI Users vs. AI Creators
Understanding the electrical load profile of your tenants is critical for asset profitability.
The AI User (The Majority)
These are knowledge workers using AI-enabled tools like Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, or ChatGPT. Their heavy processing happens in the cloud.
Hardware: Standard business laptop, docking station, dual monitors.
Power Load: Low to Moderate (100W – 250W peak).
Primary Need: Mobility and flexibility. They need to collaborate in breakout spaces, move desks for team sprints, and reconfigure layouts weekly.
The AC Failure: While standard AC outlets can handle the load, the tether of the cord prevents the agility these teams require.
The AI Creator (The Power User)
These are the data scientists, ML engineers, and 3D renderers who build, train, and fine-tune local models. Their processing happens under the desk.
Hardware: High-performance workstations (e.g., Dell Precision 7000 series, HP Z8 Fury) with dual RTX 6000 Ada GPUs or similar, plus 3+ 4K monitors.
Power Load: Extreme (1,200W – 2,200W continuous).
Primary Need: Dedicated, uninterruptible high-amperage power and massive heat dissipation.
The AC Failure: Standard office circuits physically cannot support them without triggering breakers or creating fire hazards.
Functionality: Why AC Fails the AI Creator
From a purely functional standpoint, standard AC infrastructure is incompatible with the density required by AI Creators.
The Circuit Bottleneck
A standard commercial branch circuit provides 20 amps at 120 volts. However, the National Electrical Code (NEC) dictates that continuous loads (running for 3+ hours, typical for AI training runs) cannot exceed 80% of the breaker’s rating.
Safe Limit: 1,920 Watts per circuit.
The Reality: A single fully-specced AI workstation with dual GPUs and high-end peripherals can draw over 2,000 Watts.
The Consequence: In a traditional AC setup, you cannot simply plug an AI Creator’s desk into a floor box shared with a neighbor. You must install a dedicated hardwired circuit for every single AI Creator workstation. If you have a team of 10 data scientists, you need 10 separate "home runs" back to the electrical panel. This is not just expensive; it is rigid. Once those circuits are installed, that furniture cannot move without an electrician, a permit, and significant cost.
The Plug Compatibility Issue
Building owners often overlook the physical plug. Workstations requiring more than 1,500W often ship with a NEMA 5-20P plug. One of the blades on this plug is horizontal (perpendicular to the other).
The Problem: Standard office wall outlets (NEMA 5-15R) only accept parallel vertical blades.
The Result: The tenant moves in, unpacks $50,000 worth of hardware, and physically cannot plug it into the wall.
Practicality: The Receptacle Deficit and Safety Hazards
Even if the amperage issues are solved via expensive electrical retrofits, the practical user experience of AC power is poor and often dangerous.
The Receptacle Math
Standard office planning assumes 2 duplex receptacles (4 plugs) per workstation. An AI Creator’s desk requires:
Workstation Tower: 1 outlet (High Draw)
Primary Monitor (4K/5K): 1 outlet
Secondary Monitor (Vertical for code): 1 outlet
Tertiary Monitor (Data visualization): 1 outlet
Powered Dock/Hub: 1 outlet
Mobile Device Test Rig/Tablet: 1 outlet
Total: 6 outlets minimum. With only 4 available, the tenant is immediately in a deficit.
The Daisy-Chain Danger
To solve the deficit, users deploy power strips.
The "Octopus": Users plug a power strip into the wall, and often a second strip into the first (daisy-chaining).
The Heat: Power strips are rarely rated for the continuous high-amperage draw of AI hardware. The resistance at the connection points generates heat.
The Risk: In an AI-intensive environment, this is not a nuisance trip; it is a legitimate fire hazard. OSHA strictly prohibits daisy-chaining, yet it is the inevitable outcome of AC-powered offices that lack sufficient outlet density.
The Strategic Solution: Fault-Managed Power (FMP) and Agile Furniture
If AC power creates dangerous bottlenecks and static, inflexible assets, Fault-Managed Power (FMP) combined with battery-powered Agile Furniture offers the solution. This approach transforms power from a fixed constraint into a flexible utility.
Why FMP is Superior for AI Creators
1. Power Density Without Conduit FMP (often referred to as Digital Electricity or Class 4 power) can deliver high-wattage loads (up to 2,000W+) over lightweight cabling similar to ethernet cords.
The AC Way: To power an AI Creator, you must trench concrete or run rigid metal conduit to a specific location.
The FMP Way: You run a flexible cable from a central transmitter to the desk. Because FMP is "touch-safe" (it creates a digital handshake thousands of times a second and shuts off if the line is broken), it does not require armored conduit.
Benefit: You can deliver the 2,000W required for a massive AI workstation safely and efficiently, without the cost of traditional high-voltage construction.
2. True Agility (Zero TI) When the AI team needs to expand or reconfigure:
AC Solution: Call an electrician, schedule after-hours work, pull permits, damage drywall/flooring. (Weeks of delay).
FMP Solution: Unplug the FMP cable, move the desk, plug it back in. Or, reroute the lightweight cable in the ceiling/floor plenum in minutes.
Benefit: The building adapts to the tenant, not the other way around.
Why Battery-Powered Agile Furniture is Superior for AI Users
For the "AI Users" (the majority of the staff) who do not need 2,000W continuous power, the goal is untethered freedom.
1. August Berres "Respond!" Desk System Instead of trenching the floor to put an AC outlet under a desk, the Respond! desk system utilizes integrated battery power.
Function: The desk powers the laptop, monitors, and sit/stand motors independently of the wall.
Result: The furniture is completely mobile. Teams can swarm, separate, and reconfigure instantly.
2. "Campfire" and "Juce" for Collaboration AI work is highly collaborative.
Campfire: These mobile desks allow teams to gather for code reviews or sprint planning without hunting for wall outlets.
Juce: This mobile power delivery system supports monitors and peripherals anywhere in the room.
The Benefit: You eliminate the "trip hazard" of extension cords running across the conference room floor.
The Financial Argument: Profitability through Physics
We must view these technologies not just as "cool tech," but as levers for asset value.
1. Eliminating Tenant Improvement (TI) Costs In a traditional model, preparing a suite for an AI tenant involves massive electrical upgrades—costs often eaten by the landlord as TI allowance. By utilizing FMP and battery-powered furniture like Respond!, you achieve a "Zero TI" retrofit. You do not need to change the building's internal wiring; you simply deploy the furniture and the FMP overlay.
2. Future-Proofing the Asset An office wired with static 20-amp AC circuits is obsolete the moment the tenant needs to densify. An office equipped with FMP and Agile Furniture can scale power up or down based on the tenant's hardware needs without construction.
3. Risk Mitigation By removing the need for power strips and daisy-chains, the building owner reduces fire risk and liability, ensuring a safer environment for high-value tenants.
Summary
Do AC-powered workstations function for an AI-intensive workplace? Barely, and dangerously.
They rely on outdated assumptions about power draw, force tenants into safety violations, and cement the floor plan in place, destroying the asset's flexibility.
The superior path is a hybrid approach: Fault-Managed Power (FMP) to deliver safe, high-density energy to the heavy-hitting "AI Creators," and battery-powered Agile Furniture (Respond!, Juce, Campfire) to liberate the "AI Users." This combination creates a safer, more functional, and significantly more profitable asset.
About the author
Bob Kroon is a recognized thought leader and innovator with over four decades of experience in the electro-mechanical and furniture industries. As the CEO and founder of August Berres, he envisions overcoming the limitations of traditional building power by enabling the Agile Workplace through a smart power ecosystem.
Bob passionately advocates for technologies such as building microgrids, fault-managed power (FMP), and battery-powered Agile Furniture, which are transforming the design and utilization of commercial spaces. Under his leadership, a suite of innovative solutions has been brought to market, including Respond!, Juce, CampFire, and Wallies. These products empower building owners, architects, and facility managers to retrofit buildings for today’s dynamic work environment.
