Following the acknowledgement of the world's first LEED gold-certified TFT-LCD facility in 2009, AU Optronics Corp. ("AUO" or the "Company") (TAIEX: 2409; NYSE: AUO) announced today that its G8.5 facility located in Central Taiwan Science Park has passed ISO 50001(*) standard for energy management. AUO is the world's first TFT-LCD manufacturer to have obtained this certification, again demonstrating the Company's extraordinary achievements in green practice.
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ISO 50001 is developed by the ISO/PC 242 energy management project committee of International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The standard establishes a framework for industrial plants or commercial facilities to manage energy, so that energy efficiency increases, costs are reduced and less impact is made on the environment.
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AUO has introduced ISO 50001, the latest international standard on energy management, to front-end TFT and back-end module facilities based on its obtained certifications such as ISO 14001, ISO 14064 and LEED. The goal is to achieve 25% energy savings in 2015, with 2010 as the base year. The focus of the ISO 50001 certification is on production energy management. A total of sixty-six energy-saving measures are raised in 2011, aiming at 10% energy conservation. An estimated 55 million kWh of electricity will be saved, and 35 thousand tons of carbon emissions reduced, the equivalent effect of the afforestation of nine New York City's Central Park.
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AUO has initiated AUO Green Solutions since 2008, and led the industry by developing the “Green 2010” eco-efficiency indexes (**), both of which formed important basis for the ISO 50001 certification. The “Green 2010” goals that included an 80% waste recovery rate, 70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and 70% reduction in water consumption were successfully reached within the timeframe. In addition, AUO has also achieved the “carbon balance” milestone at the end of 2010. The accumulated potential carbon emissions reduced by the greener products (***) from 2009 to 2010 far exceeded the actual emission amount of 1.41 million tons, approximately the consumption amount of 610 thousand households in one year (****).
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In the future, AUO plans to advance the ISO 50001 energy management system to each fabrication. By means of energy source management, energy performance will also be taken into account in procurement to enhance value chain energy management. As an all-round, leading green solutions provider, AUO will dedicate itself to continuous innovations for better green competitiveness. Meanwhile, the Company will continue to practice energy savings and carbon reduction to lead the industry by creating infinite green business opportunities.
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* ISO 50001 is an evaluation standard for energy management systems. The standard enables organizations to establish, operate, maintain and improve energy management systems, so that continuous progress could be made to increase energy performance, efficiency and savings. ISO 50001 was approved as a Draft International Standard (DIS) in July, 2010, which is the current version available. The International Standard (IS) is expected to be published in Q3-2011.
** The “Green 2010” eco-efficiency indexes take 2004 as the base year for comparison.
*** The greener products refer to ones that were produced after 2008, which were more energy-saving.
**** The figure is calculation based on the annual electricity consumption of 306 kWh per household on average in 2009, as published by Taiwan Power Company.