NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center

Powering scientific discovery through one of the nation’s most energy-efficient supercomputing facilities.

The NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC) is a 170,982-square-foot, three-story facility designed to support advanced scientific research in atmospheric science, geosciences, and related disciplines. Developed to meet the evolving demands of high-performance computing, the center provides the infrastructure necessary to enable groundbreaking scientific discovery for decades to come.

A defining feature of the facility is its innovative energy strategy, which leverages Cheyenne’s high elevation and cool, dry climate to utilize ambient air cooling for much of the year. This approach dramatically reduces energy consumption and makes the facility approximately 90 percent more energy efficient than a typical supercomputing center. The result is a highly sustainable computing environment capable of supporting intensive research workloads while minimizing environmental impact.

The facility includes 16,000 square feet of administrative space, a 3,600-square-foot Network Operations Center, 2,300 square feet of mass media storage, and a 100,000-square-foot Central Utility Plant that supports the complex infrastructure requirements of advanced computing systems. The building was also designed with adaptability in mind, allowing future expansion and technological upgrades as supercomputing capabilities continue to evolve.

Sustainability goals extended beyond operational performance. During construction, more than 70% of materials were either recycled or reused on-site, reducing waste and supporting responsible resource management throughout the project lifecycle.

The result is a state-of-the-art scientific computing facility that combines exceptional performance, flexibility, and sustainability, providing researchers with the tools needed to advance understanding of the atmosphere, climate, and Earth systems well into the future.

This project received multiple industry awards, including:

• 2013 National Data Center Award from Datacenter Dynamics North American Green Data Center
• 2012 Best Green Project from Engineering News-Record (ENR) Mountain States.
• LEED Gold Certification, 2011