Saving green by being green

02/01/2009

By Bruce Flickinger

Today’s chip fabricators
seek a balance between cost- and energy-conscious solutions.

There is a lot of talk these days in the chip fabrication community about energy efficiency, resource management, and sustainable operations???the “greening” of the semiconductor industry, if you will. And rightly so: The manufacture of microchips calls for huge volumes of air, water, and energy, and the use of chemicals that are both potentially hazardous and not readily disposed of. These factors can be a financial drain and are incongruous with the industrial world’s acute interest in resource conservation and environmental protection.

For chip fabricators looking to lend a “greener” hue to their operations, the solution is simple: Start from scratch and build a brand new facility incorporating the latest thinking in energy efficiency and resource management. Easier said than done, of course. In these trying times, precious little new construction is taking place.

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