The Uptime Institute announced the winners of its 2010 Green Enterprise IT (GEIT) awards at the Fifth Annual Uptime Institute Symposium on Monday. The Uptime Institute is an independent think tank and research body serving the global data center industry, and part of The 451 Group, an independent IT research and analyst organization focused on enterprise IT innovation.

The GEIT Awards showcase organizations that are pioneering energy-efficiency improvements in their IT and data center operations, or that provide technology that can significantly reduce energy consumption.

Microsoft won in the Audacious Idea category for its strategy for data center efficiency. Hewlett-Packard won the Data Center Design award for its Wynyard data center, which uses rainwater collection and recycled materials to reduce energy demands.

Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives won the award for IT Innovation for its Green the Capitol program, which dramatically reduced energy use for the House’s data services center. Helsingin Energia won the Beyond the Data Center award for its computer hall design to use waste heat from computers to heat tap water and buildings in Helsinki.

Other award winners included Savvis for the Facilities Innovation category, Itau Unibanco for Joint IT/Facilities Innovation, Verizon Wireless for Outstanding Facilities Product, and Raritan for Outstanding IT Product.