One of the most impressive reports to come along in recent years is the Green Venue Report. Just released for the second time, it is available for free (sign up here to download it). The 59-page report highlights the results of a 158-question survey. Topic areas range from energy, waste and staff involvement to food and beverage, water and air quality. Conducted in the spring and based on 2014 information, this year’s data set includes 30 convention centers from six countries and four continents. Compared to year one of the report, the number of participants nearly doubled. Twenty-one of the 205 convention centers in the United States are represented (10 percent). Well designed graphically with callouts of fascinating findings, the report is rich with best practices and is mostly a snapshot of the best of the best convention centers when it comes to practicing sustainability. The report was conducted by Washington D.C.-based sustainability consulting firm Greenview and Oakland, Calif.-based event planning company Twirl Management.
Strong leadership is critical to the success of any sustainability program and that is certainly true among convention centers. Seventy percent of participating centers have a dedicated Sustainability Manager or Coordinator on staff. Seventy-seven percent of centers have a Green Team with an average of 11 cross-departmental members engaged in sustainability programs and employee engagement. Eighty-five percent of centers participate in sustainability programs led by their local governments.
Convention centers participating in the survey share a common focus on green building, energy and water efficiency, waste reduction and green cleaning. Ninety percent of centers have achieved or are working towards green building certifications such as LEED. Thirty-three percent of centers have green roofs. These include innovations such as beekeeping and producing food on-site. Forty-two percent of centers are producing renewable energy on-site, most commonly solar. Fifty-nine percent are procuring renewable energy off-site, most commonly wind. Twenty-eight percent use native plants for landscaping and 13 percent reuse gray water. Fifty-two percent is the average waste diversion ratio. Eighty percent of centers have year round food donation programs for local charities. Seventy-six percent of cleaning products (by dollar spend) used in centers are third party certified green cleaning products.
Easy Access to Public Transportation
Convention centers with ambitious green programs tend to have easy access to public transportation. Ninety-three percent of centers are accessible by public train, light rail, or subway/metro system. The authors of the Green Venue Report say municipalities are often key partners in a convention center’s sustainable operations. Eighty-seven percent of convention centers have secure bike parking for employees and two-thirds have electric vehicle charging stations promoting alternative transportation.
According to the report, when asked what percent of event organizers discuss “greening” when engaging with the venue, responding centers indicated that, on average, 27 percent of planners discussed sustainability (up from roughly 20 percent in 2012). “Anecdotally, this figure does not align with the number of planners that claim to be incorporating ‘green practices’ into their meetings,” the report says. “This gap in conversation led to the addition of a new question in the 2015 Green Venue Survey related to the venues’ sales teams’ familiarity with sustainable programs. Eighty-six percent of responding centers reported that sales staff are versed in the venue’s sustainability practices and or ‘green meeting’ options and discuss these options during the pre-event planning process.”
The Green Venue Report includes fascinating success stories and highlights from convention centers around the world. For example, the Enercare Centre (Toronto) started 2015 off with a staff environmental program that will run throughout the year. Employees from all departments are part of the “GreenAcres” contest, in which staff members participate in fun, friendly, and engaging activities throughout the year. The program focuses on team building and furthering the centre’s commitment to sustainability. Eight teams were formed with each team creating an environmental challenge. Each challenge is the focus of activity for the month and all teams participate in hopes of making the most impact in that area.
If you represent a convention center that has not participated so far, be sure to sign up to participate in the third version of the Green Venue Report. Click here for more details. Past participants are also, of course, encouraged to participate again.
Who is Your Sustainability Champion?
Green Lodging News is always looking to profile sustainability champions in our Personnel Profile section. If you would like to nominate someone for this section of Green Lodging News, contact me at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
Looking for Guest Columnists
Every two weeks Green Lodging News posts a new guest column on its website. (Click here for examples.) The guest column also appears in the weekly e-newsletter. Green Lodging News is currently in need of industry experts to contribute occasional guest columns. Experts may include consultants, architects, designers, suppliers and those who own or operate green lodging establishments. Columns may be articles that take a stance on a particular subject or be strictly educational in nature. Columnists benefit by having their photo included along with a one paragraph description of their company. Interested in writing a column? Contact Glenn Hasek, publisher and editor, at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
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