Clarkson Clarkson President Tony Collins announcing the university’s green data center and renovations to the historic Old Main building. From left are Collins; IBM Vice President Michael Desens; New York State Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell; and School of Business Dean and Beacon CEO Timothy Sugrue.

POTSDAM -- Clarkson University has announced the North Country's first green data center and renovations to the institution's historic Old Main building in downtown Potsdam, which will house the data center, as well as serve as research facilities for Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, a subsidiary of Clarkson University.

The program emphasized IBM’s involvement in the Beacon Institute’s new river monitoring system.

Clarkson, Beacon Institute and IBM established in 2007 an environmental research model for rivers and estuaries that allows for continuous monitoring of physical, chemical and biological data from points in New York's Hudson, Mohawk and St. Lawrence rivers via an integrated network of sensors, robotics, mobile monitoring and computational technology deployed in the rivers.

The institute's water management research program requires cyber-infrastructure and a data-delivery backbone to process the massive amounts of data it collects in the institute's River and Estuary Observatory Network (REON).

Clarkson has received an IBM Shared University Research award of more than $1 million in hardware and software.

Clarkson President Tony Collins said, "Clarkson's evolving strengths and vision for the future intersect precisely with the growing needs of our technologically driven society. Today's event recognizes partnerships with IBM, our elected officials and our larger New York community that expand our campus boundaries by embracing our State's global role in coupling discovery and engineering innovation with enterprise, and simultaneously leverages our signature strengths to make the North Country a place where relevant and innovative solutions grow and thrive."

The university says the new facility will substantially expand Clarkson's capacity to engage in complex computational research and advanced analytics, as well as enhance the operational systems of the university.

As part of state funds previously awarded to Beacon Institute for development of its research facilities and program, Clarkson will renovate its Old Main building to further advance the REON sensor platform capabilities and locate the accompanying data center to analyze the massive amounts of environmental data captured in real time with remote telemetry in New York waterways.

President Collins acknowledged the role of New York State Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell and Senator Joseph A. Griffo in passing legislation that paved the way for the collaboration and renovations with the Beacon Institute to move forward.

At the event on Monday, Assemblywoman Russell said, "This partnership is a win-win for all of New York because it creates job growth and new commercialization opportunities to benefit the environment."

An architectural jewel and prominent showpiece of Potsdam Sandstone, the facade of Old Main remains largely intact to its original design, while the interior reflects the typical ebb and flow of educational program and technology adaptations over the years.

Renovation plans for Old Main call green technologies to be incorporated throughout, such as high-efficiency boilers and air-handling equipment with energy recovery, increased insulation in walls and ceilings, energy-efficient windows, modern sealants on the building shell, high-efficiency lighting and occupancy sensors with day lighting features to control lights, low VOC paints and adhesives, and general features that contribute to a healthy work environment.

As part of the Green Data Center's functionality, IBM and Clarkson researchers are planning a design that captures the waste heat from the servers and uses it to naturally heat the facility. In contrast to large traditional data centers, the footprint of the state-of-the-art center at Clarkson uses existing space with minimal modifications.