Semiconductor Manufacturers Join Hands for the Greater Green'

Austin, Texas is the new home of the Environment, Safety & Health (ESH) Technology Center created by the International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI). ISMI is a global consortium of the world's major semiconductor manufacturers.

"Our objective in launching the ESH Technology Center is to lead the effort to keep our industry's manufacturing businesses productive, profitable, and sustainable, while significantly reducing the environmental footprint of manufacturing operations," said Scott Kramer, vice president of manufacturing technology at SEMATECH.

Hoping to include more than its current members, who represent over half of the world's semiconductor production, the Center will be open to all chipmakers and equipment and materials manufacturers.

The center is going after green technology solutions that can reduce energy consumption and costs while increasing productivity.

Some examples of green technology for water include:
- Rinsewater optimization on process tools using real time monitoring of ultrapure water conductivity and total organic compounds (TOC)
- Ultrapure wastewater recycle or diverting final rinsewater back to the ultrapure water system to minimize make up water requirements
- Ultrapure wastewater reclaim or diverting waste streams to feed cooling towers or facility exhaust scrubber make up water

Some examples of cleanroom HVAC optimization include:
- Cleanroom HEPA velocity reduction while monitoring for adverse effects on particle counts
- Exhaust reduction on semiconductor process tools to minimize capacity requirements and make up air treatment costs
- Seasonal temperature and humidity benchmarking and optimization to reduce sensible and latent loads

http://ismi.sematech.org/esh