SYRACUSE -- Officials from Syracuse University, IBM and New York state are breaking ground today on what they say is one of the most energy-efficient computer data centers in the world.

With the use of green technologies, the new facility is expected to use about half the energy of a typical data center. The project, expected to be completed in 2009 on the SU campus, will focus on the actual construction of the data center itself, not just the computer hardware and software.

A key element of the $12.4 million, 6,000-square-foot facility will be an onsite electrical co-generation system. It will use natural gas-fueled micro-turbine engines to generate all electricity and provide cooling for the computer servers.