Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina - Archive

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

National Computer Center

This page houses older environmental information about EPA's National Computer Center (NCC) in RTP, North Carolina. View the facility's current facility page.

On November 1, 2004, EPA entered into a three-year agreement with Unicoi Energy Services, to purchase 100 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of green power in the form of renewable energy certificates (RECs) annually. The new contract helped support the generation of biomass power from paper pulp facilities in Port Wentworth, Georgia. The purchase offset 100 percent of the electricity consumption at all of EPA's RTP facilities, including NCC. This contract replaced previous contracts that provided 30 million kWh of green power from wind and landfill gas in fiscal year (FY) 2003.
In September 2003, EPA finalized two contracts to supply RTP's NCC and Main campus with 30 million kWh per year of green power. As part of contracts awarded by the Defense Energy Support Center , Sterling Planet of Alpharetta, Georgia, supplied EPA with 20 million kWh of RECs generated at a landfill gas facility in Jacksonville, Florida, and 3 Phases Energy Services of San Francisco, California, supplied EPA with 10 million kWh of green tags from wind power generated in Algona, Iowa.
In September 2001, the RTP facility installed solar street lights in parking lots and along facility roadways. This is the longest stretch of solar-luminated roadway in the United States.

In 2007, NCC partnered with EPA's ENERGY STAR^® program and the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Save Energy Now program to evaluate NCC's energy performance and identify opportunities to maximize energy efficiency. This effort grew out of the ENERGY STAR program Congressional study to assess the significant energy consumption impact of government and commercial data centers nationwide. DOE conducted a detailed study of NCC's energy use and power and cooling infrastructure and offered recommendations for improvements, including nine energy saving measures, of which three measures appeared practical and could result in annual cost savings of more than $100,000 and annual energy savings of approximately 1 million kWh. Since the assessment, NCC has turned down six of the 13 computer room air handling units, reducing the overall cooling load. Additionally, NCC implemented a hot aisle/cold aisle cabinet arrangement in FY 2009, allowing for complete separation of cold and hot airstreams.
During NCC's construction, 90 percent of construction debris was recycled. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) recognized the project's exceptional success with a Planet GSA Demolition Derby 2000 Award, and as a "model sustainable facility" in its 2001 national environmental awards.