Partner Profile

IBM Corporation
Location	Armonk, NY
Goal	IBM pledges to reduce total global GHG emissions by 7 percent from 2005 to 2012. IBM achieved its initial goal by reducing total global energy-related GHG emissions by an average of 6 percent per year and PFC emissions by 58 percent from 2000 to 2005.
Environmental Web Site
Company Description IBM is committed to environmental affairs leadership in all of its business activities and is a global leader in technology manufacturing, integrated computer systems, software and I/T business services and solutions. Its 329,000 employees across the globe create, develop, and manufacture computer systems, storage devices, microelectronics, and software systems and applications and provide a wide range of professional business solutions and I/T services.
Reasons for Joining Climate Leaders IBM believes that the most constructive approach it can take to address global climate change is to apply its technological and engineering expertise to reduce emissions associated with its own operations and to create products that are increasingly energy efficient. IBM employs and promotes its own technology for climate research and for aiding the development of efficient processes, products, and solutions to achieve its' own and its' customers' environmental goals. IBM considers addressing climate change to be not only "one of the most important global issues facing the planet at this time," but also a decision that makes economic sense. "While some assume that cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions cost businesses money, we have found just the opposite. Addressing climate change makes business sense," said Wayne Balta, Vice President for Corporate Environmental Affairs and Product Safety, IBM. "We have saved more than $100 million since 1998 by conserving energy. When you consider the significant environmental benefits also achieved, cutting emissions is a win-win proposition. Climate Leaders presents an opportunity for IBM to continue its voluntary efforts to further conserve energy and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, share best practices, promote cooperation between industry and government, and gain recognized leadership."
GHG Reductions Before Joining Climate Leaders IBM formalized its energy management program in 1974, following the issuance of a corporate policy calling for the conservation of energy and materials in all of IBM's activities. IBM began actively monitoring its greenhouse gas emissions in the mid-1990s and, in 1995, was one of the three industrial companies to participate in the initial year of the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases program, established under Section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. In 1996, IBM extended its energy management requirements, voluntarily establishing a global energy conservation goal calling for the implementation of energy conservation projects to save the equivalent of 4 percent of its actual electricity and fuel use each year. Between 1990 and 2000, IBM avoided a cumulative 664,000 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions by conserving a cumulative 1.3 billion kilowatt hours of electricity through energy conservation actions. In 1998, IBM was the first semiconductor manufacturer to voluntarily set its own, specific emissions reduction targets for perfluorocompounds (PFCs), a greenhouse gas. The goal was to reduce PFC emissions from its semiconductor manufacturing operations by 40 percent worldwide by year-end 2002, indexed to production against a base year of 1995, a commitment that IBM met. In 2000, IBM Microelectronics Division, together with other U.S. semiconductor manufacturers, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), committing the companies to reduce PFC emissions from semiconductor manufacturing processes by an absolute 10 percent between the base year 1995 and 2010. At of year-end 2005, IBM had achieved an absolute reduction of 50 percent against its 1995 PFC emission level, while significantly increasing production. Market Based Initiatives IBM joined the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) as a charter member in November 2003. CCX is the world's first multi-national and multi-sector market for reducing and trading greenhouse gas emissions. As part of its CCX membership, IBM has committed to a one percent annual reduction of its CO2 and PFC emissions (baselined against the average CO2 and PFC emissions from 1998 to 2001) for each of the four years of its membership. IBM has exceeded its CCX reduction commitments in both 2003 and 2004.
Approach to GHG Management IBM's greenhouse gas management strategy is designed to reduce both direct and indirect CO2 emissions, through both simple and complex projects. Simple projects include installing motion detectors in bathrooms and copier rooms to control lighting and changing temperature set points in office areas. IBM also implemented more complex changes, such as rebalancing heating and cooling systems and rebuilding and resizing pumps in high-purity water pumping systems in semiconductor manufacturing lines. In terms of reducing PFC emissions, engineers at IBM have invented a lower PFC emitting process in which hexafluoroethane (C2F6) is replaced with dilute nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) to clean the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) equipment used in semiconductor manufacturing. This technological breakthrough has yielded a major reduction in PFC emissions from the chamber cleaning process, as the CVD process accounted for the majority of the PFCs used in semiconductor manufacturing. Where the NF3 process could not meet process requirements, a low-flow C2F6 process was developed, which reduces C2F6 process usage and emissions by 50 percent over the original manufacturer's process. Today, all newly installed semiconductor manufacturing equipment for the CVD processes use the new lower-emitting process. In addition, newly installed equipment that uses PFCs is equipped with emissions treatment technology, which significantly lowers IBM's emissions.
Progress Towards Goal Completion While IBM aimed to reduce indirect greenhouse gas emissions resulting from energy use, the company also had a unique opportunity to reduce PFC emissions by improving its semiconductor manufacturing process. IBM implemented a twofold greenhouse gas reduction emissions strategy involving both upgrades to its facilities to reduce energy consumption and technological improvements to its semiconductor manufacturing process to lower PFC emissions. In joining Climate Leaders, IBM committed to a goal addressing both of these aspects of its GHG emissions as follows: • Annually reducing CO2 emissions equivalent to 4 percent of the emissions associated with the company's worldwide energy use between 2000 and 2005. • Reducing absolute PFC emissions from semiconductor manufacturing processes by 10 percent by 2005 against the 2000 Baseline. During this period, IBM achieved an average annual CO2 emissions reduction against total CO2 emissions of 6.2 percent and reduced PFC emissions by 64.5 percent against the year 2000 baseline. These accomplishments also reduced IBM's operating costs.

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