Sustainable development: the next profit center?
12/01/2006
Among the reasons typically cited for delaying the adoption of environmentally friendly designs and processes for semiconductor fabs are the added costs associated with energy-efficient and emission-reduction technologies, and the fact that manufacturers are fully occupied addressing next-generation technology-node challenges. But that may soon change if lessons learned from the latest sustainable-development projects at Intel and Texas Instruments are implemented industry-wide.
The results of new environmental impact studies conducted at Intel and TI were presented at the recent ISMI Symposium on Manufacturing Effectiveness in Austin, TX. In Intel’s case, principal environmental engineer John Harland showed how the company was able to significantly improve its environmental performance during a transition from manufacturing 130nm technology in a 200mm wafer fab to making 90nm technology in a 300mm fab.
By comparing data collected in each facility at the same point in production ramp-up, and at the same point on each fab’s process technology learning curve, Intel showed that the 300mm fab was able to reduce hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) by 68%, perfluorocarbons (PFCs) by 50%, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by 48%. At the same time, the 300mm facility decreased its use of ultra pure water (UPW) by 48% and CMP solids by 40% versus the 200mm facility. These improvements are more impressive considering that, according to Intel, its normalized baseline emissions per sq. in. of silicon in 200mm fabs were already 40% below the industry average.
Among the key lessons from Intel’s efforts were to take a holistic approach to integrating processes, tools, materials, and facilities, Harland noted. For example, incorporating more recycling of water and chemicals into fabs required coordination between process engineers, tool suppliers, material suppliers, and fab designers. Standardized environmental and utility metrics were also essential, as was the ability to obtain quality data from tool suppliers. (For more information, see “ISMI Report,” WaferNEWS, Oct. 24, 2006.)
TI’s case study, of its new 300mm RFAB in Richardson, TX, showed that designing and constructing a greener fab not only can reduce harmful effects on the environment, it can also be a powerful driver of cost savings. In fact, according to TI’s sustainable development manager, Paul Westbrook, when TI executives set out in 2004 to build the first semiconductor manufacturing facility to be certified by the US Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program, “they didn’t do it because they wanted to hug a tree; they did it because it made good business sense.”
Like Harland, Westbrook credits an interdisciplinary effort to implement green technologies in the new fab as key to meeting the TI’s goal of spending 30% less constructing the facility than it did a few years earlier when building a similar plant six miles away. By investing approximately $1.5 million-less than 1% of the total project cost-in LEED related items, TI was able to meet the overall cost-cutting challenge as well as reduce operating costs by $1 million in the first year and up to $4 million at full build out, while at the same time lowering emissions by 50%, water use by 35%, and energy use by 20%. (See “ISMI Report, Part 2,” WaferNEWS, Oct. 31, 2006.)
Wesbrook believes that touting the financial benefits of technologies traditionally recognized for their environmental benefits may help usher in a new era in manufacturing. In the first industrial revolution, 150 years ago, people were scarce, and nature was abundant, so if you increased the productivity of people, you were the successful industry, he said. But in this century, when people are abundant and nature is scarce, “we are going to witness the next industrial revolution-the resource revolution,” he said, citing a concept from the book, Natural Capitalism, by Paul Hawken, et al. “And those who use resources most efficiently-who get the most out of every drop of water, every unit of electricity-are the ones who are going to win.”
Thanks to their recent successes, Intel and TI have eliminated at least a couple of more objections to greener chipmaking technology, showing that it can be implemented simultaneously with next-generation processes and at significantly lower cost. Perhaps it’s time to look at sustainable development, not as a drain on financial resources, but as the next profit center. As Westbrook concluded, “Once you build the business case, no one can argue with that.”
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Phil LoPiccolo
Editor-in-Chief