Intel’s Arizona campus takes the LEED

SANTA CLARA, USA: Intel Corp. became the first semiconductor or industrial technology company to obtain LEED certification by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) for a manufacturing campus.

A certificate from LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an internationally recognized stamp of approval. The LEED silver certification for “Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance” went to Intel’s entire Ocotillo campus in Arizona, a site that includes three generations of wafer fabrication plants, support and office buildings.

As a result of Intel’s longstanding environmental conservation efforts, no capital improvements were required to achieve the certification. Notable features of the campus include:

* Semiconductor Industry Association benchmark data shows that Intel’s Ocotillo campus utilized 26 percent less energy than the average semiconductor campus.

* Two-hundred and 300 kW solar electricity support structures were erected in the Ocotillo campus parking lot in 2010. Currently ranking amongst the 10 largest solar installations in its utility territory, the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) generated by these installations are transferred to the local utility to support their regulatory obligations and programs.

* In 2010, the Ocotillo campus recycled 90 percent of its solid waste (more than 10,000 tons) and achieved 66 percent site wide water conservation, saving approximately 5 million gallons of fresh water per day.

* The Ocotillo campus utilizes a pipe that feeds water not suitable for drinking from the City of Chandler’s waste water treatment plant directly back to Intel. As a result, 100 percent of the irrigation water and 95 percent of the cooling tower water is non-potable.

* One-hundred percent of captured storm water is retained onsite.

“Given the complexity and size of the Ocotillo campus, it was an immense undertaking to seek certification of this manufacturing campus,” said Brian Krzanich, senior vice president and general manager of Manufacturing and Supply Chain for Intel. “We take these steps not just in Arizona, but at our other facilities around the world, because we see a combination of economic advantages and opportunities to reduce our environmental impact, which in turn betters our business.”

Intel has a policy of designing all new buildings to a minimum of LEED Silver and is also committed to making strategic improvements to its existing locations. In fact, in April 2010, Intel announced that it had received LEED Gold certification for Intel Design Center 9 in Haifa, Israel. That same month, KM 1, an Intel factory and office building in Kulim, Malaysia, achieved basic LEED certification for strategic improvements made to the 14-year-old facility.