Buildings
Semiconductor
Plant Aims for High Sustainability
(enr.construction.com - 06/12/06)
By William
J. Angelo
A new $300-million Texas Instruments
Inc. semiconductor fabrication plant now nearing completion
in Richardson, Texas, is going for the green, gold and silver.
The green is an estimated $4 million in annual energy savings
flowing primarily from an innovative HVAC system. Gold and
silver may be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
certifications for its office building and groundbreaking
plant, respectively.
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| Savings.
A Texas Instruments wafer plant in Texas could become
a green trendsetter. |
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The 1.1-million-sq-ft fabrication plant,
called ‘RFAB’, is part of Dallas-based TI’s
sustainable building drive. “This building wraps all
our best green practices with some new ideas for a whole system
of sustainable design,” says Paul R. Westbrook, TI sustainability
manager. “We had thought of building overseas but stayed
after state and local property tax abatements totaling $295
million over 24 years were granted and the state gave $300
million in support to the University of Texas at Dallas, School
of Engineering, which is important for our access to top-tier
research.”
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| Big Thirst.
New fab plant will reduce water consumption by a third
in a drought area. |
Once the decision was made to stay
in Texas, TI went into a year-long planning mode. “They
wanted to size it right and keep the price competitive with
an overseas operation,” says Jim Carr, project manager
for Austin-based CH2M Hill IDC, which performed process and
clean room engineering as part of a design-build team led by
Austin Commercial LP, Dallas. “We implemented design objectives
without oversizing, which is a break with tradition because
these firms usually build for the next generation,” he
says.
Architectural work was performed by
PageSoutherlandPage, Dallas, and structural engineering by
Paragon Structural Design Inc., Phoenix. TI specifically requested
that the project be certified under the LEED program, with
a three-to-four-year payback.
When operational next year, the plant
will produce thousands of chips on 300- mm-dia silicon wafers
for use in cell phones and other electronic devices. “Because
of global competition, particularly from China, we were asked
to bring the project on line under $500 million and in 14
months,” says Steve B. Penson, Austin project executive.
“It had to be $200 million cheaper than a comparable
facility we did in Dallas in 1996 so we needed to lower initial
building and operating costs. We reengineered the facility
and implemented a new HVAC system.” According to Westbrook,
RFAB came in 30% less per sq ft than the old facility.
The new, fast-tracked facility has 225,000
sq ft of office space, a 150,000-sq-ft support building, an
80,000-sq-ft central plant and a 645,000-sq-ft fabrication
building with a 220,000-sq-ft clean room. TI awarded Austin
the contract in late 2004 and the project now is substantially
complete. With equipment, the plant will cost a total of $3
billion.
“We were worried about the silver
certification because fab plants are by nature huge energy hogs,”
says Michael J. McCoy, PageSoutherlandPage vice president. An
efficient heat-recovery system eliminates four of six boilers.
“We used two different electrically controlled temperature
chilled-water systems, 40°F and 54°F, a split chiller
plant, and the waste heat off the 54° system was used to
generate hot water for the plant,” says Penson. “Domestic
hot water comes from four solar energy panels.” Other touches
include a reflective roof, natural daylighting and smart light
fixtures.
The green systems cost an additional
$1.5 million but should pay for themselves in under two years.
“Saving energy in one type of building is like saving
energy in any other type,” says Westbrook. “It all
comes down to good design. In this case, we made design decisions
when electricity was less than .05 cents per kilowatt hour,
and it is much higher now.”
As part of the green process, construction
waste also was recycled, with only 10% going to landfill.
“That is very unusual,” says Penson. “Typically
you would see over 50%.”
A deionized water treatment plant will
recapture and recycle water used in production, eliminating
35% of municipal water purchases. That is critical since Texas
has been suffering from drought conditions. “Normally,
we use about 3 million gallons per day,” says Westbrook.
“With this system, we reduce that need by 1 mgd.”
Although the paperwork for LEED certification
has not yet been completed, “we have a high level of
confidence that we have generated sufficient points for gold
and silver certification,” says Penson. “When they
get it, RFAB will become the largest facility and the first
wafer fab to receive a LEED designation.”
(Images courtesy of PageSoutherlandPage
LLP)
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