Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) on March 31 announced that its newest building in the Philippines, located in Baguio City, is now LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, making it the first LEED-certified building in the country. The new Phase V building, which will assemble and test products, received a LEED Silver rating. This latest high efficiency TI building follows the completion of TI's wafer fabrication facility in Richardson, Texas, which was the world's first LEED Gold-certified wafer fabrication facility. Through its LEED-certified manufacturing facility and now its assembly and test facility, TI is delivering more value to its customers, not only by protecting the environment, but also by improving the quality and efficiency of its operations.
"Achieving the first LEED certification in the Philippines further demonstrates TI's commitment to implementing good energy and environmental principles at our manufacturing sites," said Paul Westbrook, sustainable development manager for TI. "The existing facility in Baguio has an excellent history of environmental, safety and health performance, which provided a great platform for building up to achieve LEED Silver certification at the new facility."
The building has several features that enable it to operate more efficiently and with less environmental impact when compared to similar manufacturing facilities. It is oriented with respect to the sun path to minimize unwanted heat gain and maximize natural daylighting. The building is well insulated with a reflective roof to further reduce heat gain. The efficiency measures resulted in a 24 percent reduction in energy use. Extensive water reuse and recycling resulted in a 70 percent reduction in water consumption. More than 85 percent of the employees at the site ride in local or TI provided mass transportation to the facility.
LEED, developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), is a third-party certification program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED is the predominant green building rating system in the U.S. and is used around the world. TI is working with other semiconductor manufacturers through the International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative to develop LEED application guides for complex semiconductor manufacturing facilities.
