ISMI ESH experts present industry data on energy and resource conservation for sustainable manufacturing

HSINCHU, TAIWAN: In the effort to conserve energy resources and reduce costs of semiconductor manufacturing operations, ISMI Environment, Safety & Health (ESH) experts reported on energy efficient strategies, addressing both fab facilities and processing equipment for semiconductor manufacturing operations at the International High Technology Environment, Safety and Health Conference (IHTESH) on June 20- 24, 2010 in Hsinchu, Taiwan. The IHTESH is a multi-industry conference, attended by Semiconductor, PV, LED and TFT-LCD industries as well as government.

Researchers at ISMI’s ESH Technology Center are focusing on new ways to recycle and reuse products both internally and externally while decreasing the amount of new materials needed for manufacturing. ISMI presentations at IHTESH outlined green building technologies and design, idle mode energy reduction methodology and process results, and approaches to development of key environmental performance indicators (KEPIs).

In an opening-day keynote speech ISMI’s director, Joe Draina, outlined a historical perspective of ISMI initiatives and semiconductor ESH challenges ahead. Draina noted that in the next five years, some of the “same” ESH issues will continue, such as compliance with existing regulations, reduction of harmful fab emissions, and conservation of energy, water and chemical resources.

Draina acknowledged that although semiconductor manufacturers have different needs, to effectively reduce ESH impacts manufacturers need to engage in cooperative projects to pursue a wide range of initiatives for sustainable manufacturing, industry environmental standards and green practices. In conclusion, Draina highlighted ISMI’s ESH Center and its key role in continuing to lead and drive the industry’s ESH efforts.

Additionally, in a series of three presentations, a team of ISMI ESH experts addressed the semiconductor-specific processes and energy reduction strategies, including:

Benefits to implementation of potential credit towards LEED certification. LEED is a rating system developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) that has emerged as the de facto approach to green building certification. Recognizing the critical importance of proactive environmental design for its members’ fabs, ISMI reported on the development of fab-specific environmental performance criteria, including green building guidance for designers and operators of fabs.

Process equipment energy reduction efforts have also focused on characterizing process equipment energy use during idle and processing modes, and demonstrating a low utility consumption idle mode for vacuum pumps and point-of-use abatement systems. The process equipment energy studies include the application of the SEMI S23 standard - A Guide for Conservation of Energy, Utilities and Materials Used by Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment.

One of the steps needed to advance energy reduction efforts was to develop a set of environmental performance indicators that quantify the key environmental impacts associated with the manufacture, use, and disposal of a product. ISMI reported a status on a set of KEPIs that quantitatively measures the environmental impact of semiconductor products. The KEPIs capture global warming, water use, chemical use, and waste generation impacts. When applied, they will provide the industry with a consistent set of product key environmental performance indicators.

For over a decade, the ESH Energy program at SEMATECH/ISMI has characterized energy consumption in semiconductor facilities at both the fab and process level. To further dedicate itself to providing green technology solutions that lead to reduced energy consumption, ISMI formed the EHS Technology Center in 2009. The Center provides a broad-based, collaborative platform for developing better environmental practices for the industry, with goals of increasing efficiency and reducing costs in semiconductor operations.