Moving Toward Sustainability in Advanced Technology Facilities
Chasey, Allan
(Arizona State University, Tempe)
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LoginSustainability and Sustainable Development are buzz words in today’s society. Since its introduction with the Bruntland Commission Report in 1987, the philosophy of Sustainability and Sustainable Development has made significant progress, moving from the traditional ideas of economy and environmentalism to discussions and actions in corporate board rooms. As the Global Reporting Initiative of the UN Environment Program has indicted, business responsibility extends beyond the shareholders to people and places both near and distant from a company’s physical facilities. For corporations today, adherence to sustainability norms has now turned into a matter of survival and competitive abilities which also carry monetary rewards. The needs/requirements for both energy and resource conservation and facility cost reduction have not gone unnoticed in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS), a fifteen year look ahead for the semiconductor industry. The Environmental Safety and Health (ESH) chapter indicates that the most difficult challenges relate to the facility’s energy usage, water reduction/optimization and sustainability. These deal with the need to develop methodologies, processes, and/or systems that will provide a comprehensive understanding of the way that facilities, process equipment, and resources affect the sustainable performance in the ESH arena, yet meet manufacturing needs. At the same time, the Factory Integration (FI) chapter is responding to the continued pressure to reduce facility costs even in the face of ever increasing complexity, and provide cost effective, operating facilities. These two positions can be diametrically opposite. ESH needs must be integral in the planning, design, construction and operations of a semiconductor fabrication facility. A current measure that is gathering publicity and notoriety is the program of the US Green Building Council (USGBC) commonly called LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design). LEED for New Construction (LEED NC) has been used to assess performance of resource intensive facilities, but modifications and improvements to the current LEED rating system are needed to help better define and construct high performing resource intensive facilities. This presentation will look at current sustainability programs, for example LEED from the USGBC and the US EPA Labs21 Environmental Performance Criteria (EPC), and how they relate or do not relate to advanced technology facilities. The presentation will outline a foundation for defining parameters to help develop resource efficient facilities. This includes understanding the resource requirements of the semiconductors manufacturing facilities and how they differ from other facilities in terms of water and energy requirements. It identifies potential areas that need to be addressed when developing criteria to determine the sustainability resource intensive facilities.