DatacenterDynamics has awarded its Green Data Centre prize to banking giant Citigroup for an IT facility in Frankfurt, Germany. Pretty neat, except it's not fully operational yet...

Upon completion in June 2008, this data center will save up to 25 percent on electrical energy consumption, compared to conventional data centers. In addition, 16,000 megawatt hours will be saved each year, the equivalent needed to power 3,000 average family homes. The amount of carbon dioxide escaping into the atmosphere will be up to 11,000 tons less annually than conventional centers of its size. Savvy water management, including natural drainage of almost 90 percent of the rainwater, will save up to 46.5 million liters in water usage every year.

Now, I'm all for progress, but how about awarding it to a data center that's driving up efficiency now? Still, yay to Citi's soon-to-open €170 million ($250 million US) data center... I guess.