STMicroelectronics this week has announced that all six of its front-end manufacturing sites have achieved certification to the latest, most stringent ISO 50001 energy-management standard.

The certification process involved developing tools to systematically measure the energy consumption of each piece of equipment, including buildings, and chiller and compressed dry-air equipment, and to analyze the sites’ overall energy usage. A common platform, which includes a documentation database, reporting tools and processes, has been developed and shared internally to establish and promote best practices. ST estimates that the certification process will contribute to saving 14 GWh of energy and US$ 2m in the 2013-2014 timeframe.

ST’s Agrate site in Italy was the first to achieve the ISO 50001 certification, followed quickly by Catania in Italy and ST’s other front-end sites in France (Crolles, Rousset, Tours) and Singapore (Ang Mo Kio). Each manufacturing site is committed to implementing energy-performance indicators to both monitor and optimize its consumption of electricity and natural gas and explore all opportunities to minimize the amount of energy used, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“Environmental performance and energy management are rooted in ST’s culture and have been a priority since the creation of the Company. We had started to upgrade our energy-management systems in anticipation of ISO 50001 before the standard was finalized. Today, our products and technologies are recognized as enabling low energy consumption for the end user. It is completely complementary now for our manufacturing sites producing those products to be certified; an acknowledgement of the substantial work undertaken at sites for better energy consumption and management,” said Edwin Dobson, director facilities, Front-End Manufacturing and Technologies, STMicroelectronics.