Highmark took first place among users. The medical insurer built its LEED Certified data center completely from recycled building materials. Server virtualization and advanced air and equipment cooling processes helped them keep energy costs level while tripling the size of their previous data center.

Vendor first place went to IBM.

Related article:

"What Is Green IT? Part 1: Cutting Emissions and Energy Use Enterprise-wide"

Some of the users -- Austin Energy, Snohomish Public Utility District and World Wildlife Fund -- are expect to walk their talk. The rest are an interesting list of mostly very large companies, such as Monsanto and Marriott Int'l.

Vendors were ranked not necessarily in the order I might have expected. Microsoft ranked 6th, Verizon 10th, and Sun 12th among vendors.

ComputerWorld's site has profile stories on each of the 12 user honorees, including the full survey.

The results of the awards program are based in part on a survey conducted in the fall of 2007. ComputerWorld explains the methods used to select the "Green Dozen," in an article published today.

ComputerWorld also posted an interactive IT survey, in case you want to see how you stack up against the winners.