In a move toward improving the transparency of its corporate responsibility reporting, AMD has launched a new Web hub page and brochure that outlines its environmental performance for 2009.
A big factor that changed AMD's environmental footprint in 2009, compared to 2008, was the transfer of its manufacturing assets to GLOBALFOUNDRIES, which shifted the majority of the company's environmental impact to the supply chain. This means AMD will no longer track the previously established environmental goals.
It also resulted in AMD resetting its environmental performance baseline to 2009 for future performance goals. Click here for AMD's key environmental performance data.
Here are a few of the 2009 highlights:
AMD continues to develop energy-efficient microprocessors to help customers lower their energy consumption. As an example, AMD's Opteron 6000 series platform provides a 61 percent performance increase using the same power and thermal envelope as the previous generation. The Opteron processors also power four of the top five supercomputers in the world.
In 2009, the semiconductor manufacturer also reduced the packaging used for its processor-in-a-box (PIB) products. The materials reduction program cut the cubic volume of PIB packaging by up to 47 percent, resulting in approximately $4 million in annual savings in materials and shipping costs. This reduced AMD's packaging by 419 tons, preventing the emissions of about 1,352 metric tons of greenhouse gases.
AMD uses two key strategies -- conserving energy and purchasing renewable power -- to reduce the company's carbon footprint at offices, labs and manufacturing sites.
Case in point: AMD's Lone Star campus in Austin, which is 100 percent powered by clean energy, achieved the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED gold certification. AMD estimates that the facility uses nearly 20 percent less energy and 35 percent less indoor potable water compared to non-LEED office buildings.
AMD was also recognized as one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by Corporate Responsibility Officer magazine, one of the Top 500 Greenest Companies by Newsweek and an EPA Top 50 Green Power Partner.
