FRANKFURT, — As part of its ongoing environmental initiative, the company plans to build a state of the art, LEED-certified data center to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, save energy costs and reduce water usage.

The data center, which the company said would cost no more to build than a traditional facility, will employ 40 people and go online in March 2008. Citigroup estimates that the facility will save 11,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, and cut energy use at the site by 75 percent.

Citigroup said it chose the Frankfurt location because of its high-quality data and electrical infrastructure, and the site will serve the company's European and Middle Eastern regions. The company said it would also aim to acheive Gold-level certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED standards.

The benefits derived from the facility include saving enough energy to power 3,000 family homes for a year, using 12 million fewer gallons of water, the dramatic decrease in GHG emissions on-site.

The data center is the latest step in Citigroup's climate initiative, which includes a pledge to fund $50 billion in climate projects in the next ten years, as well as reducing its own GHG emissions by 10 percent before 2011.