How sustainable is your event venue?
First Published: 22nd April 2024
Today is Earth Day.聽
Since 1970 Earth Day has been on a mission to mobilise people to take action to protect the planet. It now works with more than 150,000 partners in 192 countries.聽
The movement champions a range of campaigns that aim to reduce plastics, energy, and waste. Most importantly, they also seek to educate people and inspire them to get involved.
Today and every day
Environmental awareness days are a great reminder that we all need to do our bit to mitigate climate change, reduce waste, and protect the planet. As event organisers, we too have a responsibility.
The meetings and events industries are major contributors to climate change. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the industry accounts for 2 to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. To reduce their environmental impact, conference venues around the world are implementing a variety of sustainable initiatives.
Here at Mice Destination, we are always keen to promote such venues and give event organisers ways to make events more eco-friendly.
Defining sustainable venues
What makes one venue more sustainable than the next? There are many criteria you can use and there are also several accreditations you can look for. To be considered green or sustainable a venue would generally be taking steps to :
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Manage energy usage and water consumption
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Use local produce
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Reduce waste and adopt recycling practices
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Be accessible by public transport or offer greener options
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Employ the latest technology to reduce energy consumption
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Educate staff and visitors on how to be greener
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Publish a corporate responsibility charter
Schemes vary in what they measure. There are some that rate a venue on the list above, whilst others such as BREEAM, for example, rate the efficiency of the physical building.
In this week鈥檚 edition, we look at some of the bigger venues that are taking steps to offer a more sustainable solution.
Bella Center – Copenhagen
Bella Centre Copenhagen is Scandinavia鈥檚 largest conference and exhibition centre, and it is also one of the most sustainable. Having collaborated with Schneider Electric, The Bella operates as a smart building, whereby the energy usage in specific areas can be monitored and tracked to better understand their energy consumption and therefore adjust accordingly to meet their goals.
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Using 100% renewable energy
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Recycling and composting all waste
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Serving locally-sourced, sustainable food
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Offering carbon-neutral transportation options
Waterfront Congress Centre –聽STOCKHOLM聽
Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre is a conference centre that is committed to sustainability. When you arrange a meeting there, they will help you reduce your company鈥檚 carbon footprint by automatically offsetting the carbon footprint of every meeting, at no cost to you.
You can expect:
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽A green roof with solar panels
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽A rainwater harvesting system
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽A natural ventilation system
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽A sustainable catering program
Aviva Stadium – Dublin
Aviva Stadium is certified to ISO20121 and operates as a sustainable venue. In taking a sustainable approach to operating the stadium they work on managing three pillars of sustainability:
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Economic Impact
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Environmental Impact
路聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Social Impact
The Lowry – Manchester聽聽
