Energy Star has awarded its first rating to a data center, after implementing new data center requirements on June 7. The first award went to NetApp's Research Triangle Park, located in North Carolina, which won 99 out of 100 points on Energy Star's scale--well above the 75 points necessary for a rating.

To lower the energy requirements of their data center, NetApp raised the air supply temperature to 74 degrees (55 to 60 degrees is average). This means that the center can be cooled by outside air for two-thirds of the year. Other changes included cold aisle containment, which separates hot and cold airstreams.

Mark Skiff, Senior Director East Coast Tech Sites for NetApp, said that NetApp had begun working on the center in 2006. The center is used largely for research initiatives, particularly related to storage efficiency and cloud computing technologies. More technical details on the data center here.