ENERGY STAR Building Design Profile
High Performance Research Computing Center
at Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
As a major research university, Princeton has a strong sense of
responsibility to shape the national sustainability agenda and promote
environmental leadership on its campus. The University is committed to
considerably reducing their carbon footprint, having the campus serve as
both a model for advanced practices and as a laboratory to test new
approaches. To support their commitment, Princeton University's High
Performance Computing Center was designed to support state-of-the-art
research while using as little energy as possible. Once completed, this
building received the "Designed to Earn Energy Star Certificate," awarding
their commitment to yield significant energy savings each year.
Situated on Princeton's Forrestal campus, the 47,000-square-foot High
Performance Research Computing Center is the new home to powerful
research computers that are capable of generating models of galaxy
formation, tracking the motion of a single molecule and simulating the
seismic forces of an earthquake, among other highly technical tasks.
The new High Performance Computing Center at Princeton University was
designed to provide power to the computers while using as little energy as
possible. During winter, the air conditioning system can be switched off,
and giant louvers can be opened to let in cold outside air. Other
sustainability measures include cooling towers that enable the chillers to
be turned off when the outside temperature is near freezing. A second
backup generator, gas-powered, has a co-generation feature that
harnesses waste heat as energy to chill the water. It runs on natural gas
and has a lower carbon footprint than the electricity provided by the power
utility. These energy efficient features helped the High Performance Data
Center at Princeton University achieve an estimated total annual energy
use of 152,970,130 kBtu/yr, saving an average of 147,976,990 kBtu
each year.

DESIGNED
TO EARN THE
ENERGY STAR
Architect of Record:
Gensler
Engineering Firm:
AFK Group
Building Owner:
Princeton University
Design Energy Rating: 98
Percent Energy and C02
Reduction: 27%
Design Year/ Estimated
Occupancy Date:
December 2011
Space Type:
Data Center
Floor Space:
47,116 sq ft
Estimated Energy Use Intensity:
8,586 kBtu/sf/yr
Estimated Total Annual Energy
Use:
152,970,130 kBtu/yr
Estimated Annual Energy Cost:
$5,203,037
For More Information
Contact Jan L. Gross at
jan_gross@gensler.com
'Percent Energy and C02 Reductions are
based on comparison to a median building of
similar type,	

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