Hartmut Schneider
Vice President, M+W

Biography

Hartmut Schneider is Vice President Technology of M+W Group and responsible for the industrial engineering activities for the semiconductor industry. This includes a range of services to define the fab concept, the process equipment layout of the cleanroom, support areas, utility requirements and the automation concept as well as to consult on operational and process-related design issues. He joined the company in 1991 and has a degree in solid state physics from the University of Stuttgart, Germany.

Abstract

Sustainable, Cost-Effective Semiconductor Facility Design Trends

The need for the Semiconductor Industry to minimize the production of waste is constantly increasing, ideally to attaining Zero Discharge wafer fabs as we focus on preservation of the earth’s natural resources in a sustainable environment.

In order to achieve a sound basis for the construction and operation of wafer fabs, sustainability commences during the design of buildings and related facilities with accurate estimates of the core requirements of the manufacturing process to prevent overdesign, excessive CAPEX and wasted resources. Furthermore, operational sustainability considerations should also become an inherent part of the conceptual and engineering process.

The implementation of cost-effective sustainability measures must focus on both the construction as well as the operational phases of wafer fabs ideally being evaluated and optimized through monitoring and modelling systems such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Such systems can also evaluate the impact on the Greenhouse Effect and primary energy consumption of material and product selection, transport and recycling.

This presentation provides an overview of the level of detail offered by state of the art LCA solutions, as well as current and future trends in waste reduction in order to improve the sustainability of semiconductor fabs during their construction and operational lifetimes while maintaining cost efficiency. Construction phase considerations include sustainable design measures such as material selection, pre-fabrication / modularization and logistics. Operational aspects focus on solid waste prevention measures, water and exhaust treatment and recycling concepts, as well as energy efficiency measures.