In 2005, the San Diego Supercomputing Center won a best-practices award for the design that will help to make its data-center expansion a model of energy efficiency. As rewarding as that distinction is, the project managers behind the building, now under construction, are focused equally on making sure it meets the needs of its occupants.

Slideshow: Take a closer look at SDSC's green data center

The new-data-center project, which began in 2003 and is slated to be completed next year, quickly turned into a challenge of just how energy efficient a building could be, says Gerry White, director of engineering services at the University of California at San Diego's (UCSD) design and construction office. The SDSC is situated at and affiliated with the UCSD.

"We've been pushing for energy conservation on campus for 15 years now, and we're doing it as we can," White says. "The opportunity presented itself to take a good, serious look at how to configure, develop and take care of this expansion [in an energy-efficient manner], and then to do this on every new building."

Click to see: Construction at SDSC

The new building also must serve the purposes of the expanded data center and the 300 occupants it will house. While it may have been tempting to come up with a building plan that is just a design and engineering feat of energy efficiency, the project team also needed to consider the human element, because besides housing supercomputers and related IT equipment, the expansion will contain offices and classrooms. And that meant that ambient temperature had to be considered.

"There's no way to deny it, if you don't have [air-conditioning] in the building, you will save energy," says Craig Johnson, senior mechanical engineer, also in the UCSD's design and construction office. Even in San Diego's mild climate, just opening and closing the windows doesn't always work, he says.