Factories in Asia Begin to Turn Green
環保當道 亞洲工廠綠化
By Mike Ives

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam – When Intel was setting up its chip factory in Vietnam, it found that there no comprehensive standards for such things as the use of refrigerant chemicals, which are heavily regulated in most industrialized countries.
英特爾當年在越南興建晶片廠時，發現在大多數工業國家受到嚴格管制的化學物，例如冷媒，當地並無統一規範。

In fact, Vietnamese officials asked Intel whether it had any ideas on what standard should set for other manufacturers operating in the country.
實則，當地官員還問過英特爾，對於制定何種標準來規範其他製造業者，有無想法。

Today, Intel’s $1 billion plant, about 16 kilometers from downtown Ho Chi Minh City, embraces environmental and sustainability measures far beyond those required by Vietnam’s laws. Opened in 2010, the complex has the country’s largest operating solar array. Company officers say a new water-reclamation system could soon help it reduce water consumption as much as 68 percent. It is also vying for certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
英特爾耗資10億美元在離胡志明市中心約16公里處興建的工廠，目前對環保和永續發展採取的措施，遠高於越南法律的要求。這座2010年啟用的工廠擁有越南最大的太陽能板陣列。管理階層表示，新的水回收系統不久後可讓用水量減少68%。工廠也在積極爭取美國綠建築協會的認證。

Western multinationals – and in some cases, their Asian suppliers – have in the last five years started to build more environmentally sound factories in developing countries, experts say. The U.S. Green Building Council, a leading global certifier, reports that only about 300 manufacturing facilities in Asia are certified or waiting for certification through its rating tool, called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED.
專家表示，過去五年來，西方跨國企業開始在開發中國家建造更加環保的廠房，亞洲供應商有時也跟進。美國綠建築協會是全球數一數二的認證機構，該協會在報告中指出，亞洲獲得領先能源與環境設計（LEED）認證或正在等待認證的工廠，大約只有300家。

Consultants say Western multinational typically apply for independent certification of factory structures, not to comply with local laws, but because sustainable building design is increasingly a corporate policy. A certified factory in Asia presents a positive contrast to an event like the collapse last year of a poorly built garment factory in Bangladesh.
顧問公司表示，西方跨國企業一般申請獨立機構對廠房結構的認證，不單純是為了配合法令要求，而是因為永續建築設計巳日益成為企業政策。在亞洲，對於建築品質欠佳、去年倒塌的孟加拉成衣工廠之類的事故，一座獲得認證的工廠呈現出正面的對照。

“These big corporates have decided to push through a policy” of seeking independent certification for their global manufacturing facilities, said Michelle Malanca, of the Toronto-based World Green Building Council. “It has a lot to do with risk mitigation.”
世界綠建築協會位在多倫多，（副總裁）蜜雪兒‧馬蘭卡說：「大企業決定推動一項政策，讓全球各地的廠房獲得獨立機構的認證，這與降低風險很有關係。」

Intel has reduced its global energy bill by $111 million since 2008 as a result of $59 million worth of sustainability investments in 1,500 projects worldwide, said the complex’s general manager, Sherry Boger. The projects have offset carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to the amount produced by 126,000 American households per year, she added, and Intel’s $1.1 million solar array at the Vietnam facility offsets each day an amount of carbon dioxide equivalent to that emitted by about 500 of Vietnam’s motorbikes.
英特爾越南廠總經理雪莉‧柏格表示，拜該公司在全球砸5,900萬美元投資於1,500項永續發展計畫之賜，自2008年至今公司能源花費已減少1.11億美元。她指出，這些專案減少的二氧化碳排放量，相當於12.6萬個美國家庭一年的排放量。柏格還說，英特爾越南廠內耗資110萬美元的太陽能板陣列，每天減少的二氧化碳排放量，相當於500輛越南機車的總和。

In 2011, a survey found that compared with a typical factory, a LEED-certified shoe factory in southern Vietnam that produces exclusively for Nike uses 18 percent less electricity and fuel and 53 percent less water, according to Melissa Merryweather, the lead sustainability consultant for the project.
永續發展專案的首席顧問梅莉莎‧梅里維瑟表示，2011年的（節能）調查發現，與一般的工廠相比，越南南部一家通過LEED認證、專門為Nike生產鞋子的工廠，消耗的電力和燃料少了18%，用水量低了53%。

A market for industrial efficiency upgrades is also growing in India, where many factory owners worry about power outages, said Prashant Kapoor, principal industry specialist for green buildings at the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank. He said demand for upgrades was now consistent enough in India that a few domestic contractors were beginning to specialize in it.
世界銀行民間部門旗下「國際金融公司」綠建築首席專家卡普爾表示，印度很多工廠老闆都擔心停電的問題，對工業能效升級的需求也在提高。他說，由於在印度對能效升級的需求現在很穩定，國內一些承包商已經開始專門做節能生意。

Malaysia’s government has certified about 70,000 square meters of factory space since 2009, according to the Malaysia Green Building Confederation, representing about 1 percent of its total building certifications. And Kevin Mo, director of the China buildings program at the Energy Foundation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit, said that Chinese authorities had included eight factories among the 742 buildings it certified by the end of 2012. Most of the others were residential or commercial, he said.
馬來西亞「綠建築聯盟」宣稱，自2009年以來，馬來西亞政府大約已為7萬平方公尺的廠房面積完成認證，約占認證總建築面積的1%。舊金山非營利性機構「能源基金會」的中國建築專案主任莫爭春說，到2012年底，中國官方共給予742座建築認證，其中包括8座工廠，其餘大部分是住宅或商用建築。

Western multinationals are seeking factory certifications out of self-interest rather than good will, said Damien Duhamel of Solidiance, a Singapore-based consulting firm that specializes in Asia’s green-building sector. Such risk typically takes the form of a public relations disaster that might result from environmental accidents or scandal.
Solidiance是專門研究亞洲綠建築的新加坡管理顧問公司，共同創始人杜哈默表示，西方跨國企業尋求工廠取得認證，不是出於善意，而是基於自利。環保事故或醜聞往往對企業公眾形象造成災難，這是一大風險。

Mr. Duhamel said the risk to a global brand is heightened by the growing importance of social media, which can amplify negative publicity.
杜哈默說，對全球品牌來說，社群媒體愈來愈重要，負面宣傳遭到放大的風險也隨之升高。

“The next battle will be here,” Mr. Duhamel said of corporate environmental standards. “This is why some smart companies – Intel, for example – took the steps of being proactive.”
談到企業環保標準時，杜哈默表示：「這是下一場戰役的焦點，這也是一些聰明的企業，例如英特爾，已經主動出擊的原因。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/08/business/international/asian-factories-see-sense-and-savings-in-environmental-certification.html

2014-01-28聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 張佑生譯 原文參見紐時週報七版右