To build the new data center, IBM retrofitted an existing officebuilding on its Boulder campus. It reused 98% of the originalbuilding's shell, recycled 65% of the materials from the originalbuilding, and 25% of newly purchased material came from recycledproducts.

The facility is being partially powered by alternative energysources, including more than one million kilowatt hours per year ofwind-powered electricity purchased by IBM. The result is a plannedreduction of approximately two million pounds of carbon dioxideproduced per year compared to a standard data center.

In addition, when exterior temperature and humidity levels arefavorable, the new data center's technology switches tofree-cooling mode -- utilizing a water economizer to dramaticallyreduce energy consumption. Variable-speed pumps and motors alsowere installed in the air conditioning systems to balance thecooling capacities to the actual load. The center also useslow-sulfur fuels to reduce emissions from backup generators.