Back in 2004 TI was the first semiconductor manufacturer to register a wafer fab for LEED-NC Certification when we began the Richardson FAB (RFAB) design. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, has become the predominant green building rating system in the U.S. and is being used around the world.
When we presented our RFAB plans at ISMI in 2004 we were pleasantly surprised by the strong level of interest that the idea of a greener fab generated. Many fabs had been implementing good energy and environmental principles and LEED was seen as a tool to validate, and further improve, those efforts. LEED was originally designed for office buildings, yet we decided to apply it to a wafer fab and subsequently were awarded a Gold Certification. We have presented our information and toured many, many people through RFAB, including a number of other semiconductor manufacturing firms. We have been open about sharing our story because we will also benefit by everyone in our industry striving toward higher resource efficiency and helping jointly influence the suppliers whose tool design is the major determining factor in our resource use and associated cost.
In recent months we've seen new LEED announcements from TSMC (LEED-NC Gold Wafer Fab) and AMD (LEED-NC Gold Office). While fabs are figuring out how to design for LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC) no one has yet achieved LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) certification in an existing fab. Several semiconductor companies are on a Green Fab working group through ISMI in Austin and we are working together to understand and apply LEED-EB.
Will the recent declines in energy prices slow our progress? I hope not. The price dip is temporary - the resource challenges are real and will only intensify over time.
Paul Westbrook
Sustainable Development Manager, SMTS, LEED AP
Original publication date: 11/10/2008
