The NCSA Petascale Computing Facility was awarded the LEED Gold Certification on November 4, 2011.The building received 40 of the 69 possible points on the LEED Scorecard. Energy saving features of the building include a power distribution system that is based on 480 V power for the computational equipment, water-cooled computational and storage equipment (which is twice as efficient as air cooling), external cooling towers that allow for natural chilling of water for a large part of the year, law-impact landscaping with native prairie plants, and use of best practice construction methods. More information about the NCSA Petascale Computing Facility’s certification is available on the NCSA’s website and in the USGBC’s directory.

• 50% reduction in potable landscape water use
• 20% reduction in baseline indoor water use
• ENR Midwest Best Projects 2010: Award of Merit, Higher Education/Research
• Construction Management Association of America – 2010 Project Achievement Award Buildings Project New Construction and Constructed value less than $50 Million
• Reduces power conversion losses by running 480 volt AC power to compute systems.
• Operates continually at the high end of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers standards, meaning the data center will not be overcooled. Equipment must be able to operate with a 65°F (18°C) inlet water temperature and a 78°F (25°C) inlet air temperature.
• Takes advantage of the campus' highly reliable electrical supply, chilled water distribution system and thermal storage.
• Diverted 75% of on-site generated construction waste through recycling, salvage, and reuse