sustainable event report 2010€¦ · 2 3 events: greenbuild international conference and expo...

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E V E N T S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y E X E C U T I V E S U M M A RY

Are things better the second time around? For the first time in the event’s history the 2010 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo returned to Chicago. With a legacy of event experience in the destination would it prove easier to implement sustainable event practices? In some ways, yes, and in other ways the bar can continue to be raised. The following summarizes success in making Greenbuild 2010 a sustainable event:

LEED®ing venues• : For the first time in the event’s history 100% of venues used were LEED®-Certified.Poweringdownproduction• : Lighting technology consumed 56% less power, or 180,316 fewer watts than traditional alternatives.Improving signage sustainability• : Graphics produced for Greenbuild declined by 39% between 2009 and 2010, with 22,786 fewer square feet of signage material used. 81% of graphics met sustainable procurement criteria for signage, jumping from 65% in 2009. In addition graphics available for reuse improved to 59% of the total produced in 2010, an increase of 36% over 2009. Greening hotels• : 100% of hotels met seven minimum sustainable guest room practices requested by USGBC for Greenbuild, a first for this event and an improvement over 2007.Verifyinggreenexhibitorpractices• : 2010 is the first year Greenbuild Mandatory Exhibitor Guidelines (GMEGG) took effect, which require all exhibitors to implement basic sustainable practices. 97% of exhibitors participated in GMEGG by submitting documentation for auditing. A random audit of 100 exhibitors revealed 90% compliance rate. Leaving a legacy• : Greenbuild creates community benefit through multiple programs, such as the Legacy Home, Job Fair, scholarship opportunities, community grants and environmental education. This year $20,000 was granted to six local projects in partnership with Com Ed.

The attached report outlines progress toward USGBC’s goal to provide leadership for the meeting industry through sustainable practices. It also presents issues and recommendations for improving event sustainability moving forward.

There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth.

We are all crew.

Marshall McLuhan 1911 - 1980Canadian Scholar

Prepared by MeetGreen®

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Events: Greenbuild International Conference and ExpoDate: November 17-19, 2010Host City: Chicago, IL, USAVenues: McCormick Place (Primary venue), Chicago Merchandise Mart (Offsite event)Hotels: 11 hotels, 18,655 room nightsExhibits: 1,017 exhibitors Audience: 28,183 registrants, representing designers, architects, manufacturers, trades people, educators, students and other champions of the green building movement from around the world.

Event Purpose: Greenbuild is the world’s largest conference and expo dedicated to green building. Buildings play a critical role in protecting and improving our environment and the health of the people who occupy them. USGBC’s Greenbuild Conference and Expo provides an opportunity to connect with other green building peers, industry experts, and influential leaders as they share innovations in the green building movement.

Event Elements: LEED Workshops and green building Education Sessions• Special-topic Forums: International, Legal and Chapter Forums• Special Summits, including: Green Jobs Summit, Residential Summit, Affordable Housing Summit• Greenbuild Salon, Specialty Updates and Executive Roundtable• Special events, including: USGBC Hanley Award Dinner, Greenbuild Film Festival, Chicago Merchandise • Mart Leadership Awards, Chicago Jazz Crawl, Community Lounge and Green Building Job FairExhibition and Trade Show• Special offsite educational sessions, Green Building and Community Tours•

Conference and Event Team Leads for Event Sustainability:All USGBC Conference and Event staff are required to integrate sustainability into their roles and responsibilities for Greenbuild and all USGBC events. This includes everything from housing, to transportation, communications, exhibits, food and beverage and beyond. Primary responsibility for event sustainability rests with Kimberly Lewis, Vice-President, Conference and Events, USGBC and Kate Edwards, Director Greenbuild Conference and Events. Jenny Niemann, LEED AP, Program Planner, Greenbuild Conference and Events plays a central coordinating role for all sustainability efforts at Greenbuild. USGBC is provided with consulting support by MeetGreen®.

Stakeholder Engagement:USGBC engages vendors, attendees and exhibitors in event sustainability. Vendors receive explicit request for proposals (RFP) and contract requirements which include any expectations for post-event sustainability data. Exhibitors are engaged through the Exhibitor Advisory Committee (EAC) and Resource Center (ERC). Attendees are informed of event sustainability through the Greenbuild website, emails, program and walk-in slides onsite. All stakeholders are invited to provide comments and ask questions about event sustainability through the conference website and evaluation forms.

Event Sustainability Planning Process:USGBC’s Conference and Events team achieved BS 8901(2007) certification in March 2009. Management processes for all events are independently verified to conform with this standard. This approach requires, among other practices, that clear values, objectives and targets for sustainability are set for events, priority sustainability issues are documented and event sustainability plans and programs are reviewed and evaluated in order to continuously improve.

S C O P E , P R O C E S S & PA R T I C I PAT I O N


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V I S I O N , P O L I C Y & O B J E C T I V E S

Mission Statement for Conference and Events Department:The Conference and Events department of USGBC endeavors to provide leadership for the meeting industry through sustainable practices while providing USGBC with a superior level of service for meetings and events and acting as a resource for green meetings to our Chapters and our peers in the industry.

Sustainable Development Policy:Every meeting or event USGBC owns or sponsors will follow our minimum green guidelines. Environmental standards/requirements are built into our RFP process for all vendors and venues.

Greenbuild Event Purpose:USGBC’s Greenbuild Conference and Expo connects green building peers, industry experts, and influential leaders to share innovations in the green building movement.

Greenbuild Overall Sustainability Goals:Ensure that we have a consolidated plan to use Greenbuild as a tool to move the 1. hospitality industry forward in sustainability knowledge and practices in each host city that Greenbuild visits.Make Greenbuild the leading tradeshow and conference in sustainable planning, 2. operations and performance.Decrease the total amount of materials produced.3. Decrease the overall environmental impact of the conference.4. Push Greenbuild suppliers and vendors to improve their sustainability practices and help 5. them become leaders in sustainable event management in the hospitality industryUse Greenbuild as a tool to increase the demand for LEED6. ®, and advertise the benefits that LEED® certification offers, within facilities that Greenbuild utilizes.

L a y e r e dP u r p o s e


The RISE Award for Organizational Achievement was presented to USGBC from Meeting Professionals International in July 2010. The Award acknowledges USGBC for its leadership in using meetings and events to educate the hospitality and building industry concerning green design initiatives. Since its formation in 1993, the organization developed the LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building certification program and launched the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. LEED encompasses more than 33,000 commercial projects in the U.S. and 114 countries. Greenbuild is the global gathering of the green building movement worldwide and continues to grow with more than 28,000 attendees in 2010. Its role is one of the most impressive in the entire meetings industry because it is an event that shapes the direction of an entire movement that creates community and is an event that creates a lasting legacy in the cities it visits.

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Greenbuild2010SustainabilityObjectives:

OBJECTIVE TARGET1 Ensure a consolidated

plan is used to move the hospitality industry forward in sustainability knowledge andpractices.

2. Make Greenbuild the leading tradeshow and conference in sustainable planning,operationsandperformance.

Achieve the following targets for GMEGG: 1. a) 75% of exhibitors participating (Exceeded); b) 10% of exhibitors audited (Met); c) 100% of exhibitors passing onsite audits (Not Met - 90%).

Achieve the following for the Green Exhibitor 2. Award:

a) 15% of exhibitors participating (Met); b) 100% of Leadership candidates audited (Met).

3 Decrease the total amount of materials produced.

Reduce paper use compared to 2009 (Met).3. Reuse 40% of signage (Not met).4. Provide 100% of exhibitor communications online 5. (Met).

4 Decrease the overall environmental impact of the conference.

Establish and maintain targets for sponsorship 6. fulfillment:

a) 100% recycled content in items used; b) 100% domestic sourcing; c) 100% of items recyclable or biodegradable.

Achieve 95% waste diversion from landfill (Not met 7. - 87%).Achieve 1 lb of waste per person or less (Met).8.

5. Push Greenbuild suppliers and vendors to improve their sustainability practices.

50% certified organic food (Chicago Restaurant 9. Partners) (Met).30% local food (100 miles) (Chicago Restaurant 10. Partners) (Met).Establish and maintain targets for merchandise 11. store:

a) 100% use of eco-friendly dyes/inks, b) 75% sourcing within the Mid-west; c) 50% recycled content; d) 90% produced/extracted within the USA.

Source 100% post-consumer recycled content 12. badge stock (Active) (Not met).Use 100% post-consumer recycled content in the 13. on-site printing office (FedEx) (Met).Ensure all exhibit hall decor provided complies with 14. 2009 baseline (Champion) (Met).100% of shipping done by SmartWay Transportation 15. Partner (Champion) (Met).Reduce collateral brought on-site by Job Fair 16. companies and ensure that paper is minimum 30% post-consumer recycled content.

6. Use Greenbuild as a tool to increase demand for LEED®.

Hold all major events at LEED17. ®-certified buildings (Met).

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Greenbuild 2010 presented the following sustainability issues:

ISSUE DESCRIPTION PRIORITY

I Greenbuild 2007 sustainability baseline

2010 is the first year Greenbuild has returned to a destination. This provided a unique opportunity to observe any legacies of event sustainability that may have remained in Chicago following Greenbuild 2007 . With this came pressure to meet and exceed waste management targets set in 2007, which was a very tall order.

High

II Staffcapacity-building As a BS 8901-certified organization, USGBC is required to demonstrate staff expertise in event sustainability and provide opportunities for professional development in this field. This is particularly important to compensate for employee turn over and shifting staff responsibilities which were especially evident in 2010.

Medium

III GMEGG implementationandauditing

Greenbuild is very reliant on the financial support of sponsors and exhibitors. In addition USGBC would like to ensure the trade show operates in a sustainable way and promote high levels of leadership in this area by exhibitors. 2010 was the first year exhibitors were required to comply by contracted Greenbuild Minimum Exhibitor Green Guidelines (GMEGG). This innovative new program presented new administrative and customer service issues.

High

IV Volunteer program Securing access to sufficient numbers of trained and engaged volunteers is necessary for the success of Greenbuild’s waste management program.

Medium

V Available internal resources onsite

The education and exhibitor demands of a large-scale program like Greenbuild make it difficult for USGBC to dedicate staff to onsite management of event sustainability.

Medium

VI Hotel compliance In previous years hotels have been non-compliant with contracted practices. Realtime auditing and responsiveness of hotels to address performace gaps is an on-going issue.

High

VII Audio-visualpractice Until recently AV and production practices have not been inventoried and measured. Emergent standards are anticipated to require sustainable performance in this area.

Medium

C h a l l e n g e s &O p p o r t u n i t i e s

K E Y I S S U E S


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The following list highlights key sustainability actions and achievements at Greenbuild 2010.

P Fully-implemented tactic currently.8 Partially-implemented tactic. Implementation may be significant, but is not yet 100%. Incremental progress is made each year. Prospective tactics are indicated in italics.

TACTICSCOPE OF TACTIC IMPLEMENTATION OF TACTIC

Planet People Profit First Year Current Status

Create Sustainability Plan & Policy, with a clear vision, objectives, targets and actions.

P P P 2008 P

RFP for sustainable practices by suppliers. P 8 P 2003 P

Contract for sustainable practices by suppliers. P 8 P 2002 8

Measure sustainable practices - Venue practice Hotel practice Catering practice General service contractor practice Transportation practices - Freight Transportation practices - Attendees Signage production Print production Audio-visual practices Energy (venue & purchasing scope) Water (venue & purchasing scope) Waste (venue & purchasing scope) Emissions (venue, hotels, transport & purchasing scope) Community legacy/donations Attendee feedback Pre-event impacts Cost/savings

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

PPPPPPPPP

P

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

2002200220022002200320052004200920072010200220022002200220022002

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

Engagement & Education - USGBC staff & Chapters (training) Attendee/exhibitor communications issued (see below) Industry education and advocacy (GMIC, PCMA, MPI)

PPP

PPP

PPP

2002200220022004

PPP

Reduction efforts - Water stations/no bottled water, bulk refreshments Promotion of transit accessibility to attendees Renewable energy sourcing (direct) Hotel practices that conserve water, energy and reduce waste (LEED® preference) Venue practices that conserve water, energy and reduce waste (LEED® preference) Ground shuttles provided for attendees Local food, decor China & linen service as priority Bulk condiments/food purchases No floral decor, minimal garnishes Staff travel to reduce footprint (i.e. bus, train) Streamline sponsorship purchasing process to reduce waste caused by over-ordering Prioritize reusable, local and efficient staging/AV

PPPP

P

PPPPPPP

P

P

P

PPPP

P

P

PPPP

P

20022002200220092002

2002

2003200220022002200220032010

2010

PP8P

P

P88PP88

8

A C T I O N P L A N

S u s t a i n a b i l i t y Ro a d m a p


8

TACTIC SCOPE OF TACTIC IMPLEMENTATION OF TACTIC

PLANET PEOPLE PROFIT First Year Status

Reuse/Donation programs - Name badge collection Hotel amenity donation Donation programs for food, signage, bags and other left over materials Exhibit hall reuse of carpet, padding, furnishings, drape, panels, counters and aluminum extrusions Source re-usable local decor Signage reuse

PPP

P

PP

PP

PPP

P

PP

2002200220022002

2003

20022002

8PP

P

P8

Recycling programs - Venue recycling for paper, plastic, glass, metals Venue comprehensive composting Hotel recycling programs for paper, plastic, glass, metals Hotel composting programs

PPPP

PPPP

20022002200220022004

PPP8

Sustainable procurement - Recycled content paper, vegetable-based inks Signage substrates Compostable food & beverage serviceware Recycled content lanyard Green-certified cleaners at venue Recycled content bathroom papers at venue Green-certified cleaners at hotels Recycled content bathroom papers at hotels Recycled content carpet, padding, visqueen, aluminum Sustainable procurement for Greenbuild merchandise Sustainable procurement for sponsor fulfillment Fair trade coffee/tea Organic food (certified) Conference bags made of sustainable materials Energy efficient equipment for lighting, computing Shuttle sourcing (newest technology)

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

PPP

PPPPPP

P

PP

P

20022002200320022004200220022002200220032006201020022002200220042005

P8PPPPPPP88P8PPP

Responsibility/Accountability - Random on-site audits by staff, contractors Conduct third-party verification of event sustainability Use BS 8901 planning process Offsetting travel, hotel, freight Host & Advisory Committees

PPPPP

PPP

P

PPPP

200220022002200820022002

PPPPP

Sustainability experiences - Tours and offsite events Legacy experiences/Community projects (including an experience element) Job Fair LEED® Platinum Legacy Home

PP

P

PP

P

P

200220022002

20092008

PP

PP

Communications - Keynote communications Educational signage/sessions Event greening web page & ERC Podcast/webcast Industry press/presentations/tours Green Exhibitor Award Greenbuild Mandatory Exhibitor Green Guidelines Volunteer, staff, vendor training Include question on attendee evaluation about event sustainability

PPPPPPPPP

P

2002200220022003201020032006201020032009

PPPPPPPPP

Legacy - Community-based projects (financial contribution) Scholarship program LEED® Platinum home

P

P

PP

P2002200220092008

PPP


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VENUES: LEED®ers Only!For the first time in 2010 100% of venues used for Greenbuild events were LEED®-certified. This included:

McCormick Place: Main conference venue (LEED® certified - West Building)• Chicago Merchandise Mart: Leadership Awards Celebration (LEED®-EB Silver)• Spertus Institute for Jewish Studies: Executive Luncheon (LEED® Silver)• Art Institute of Chicago: Hanley Dinner and Board Meeting (LEED® Silver - Modern Wing)• Province Restaurant: Board Dinner (LEED® Gold) •

This was an intentional effort by the conference and events team to fulfill a goal to only hold events in LEED®-certified spaces.

PRODUCTION:ReportingPracticeandPowerPreparing for new sustainability guidelines for audio-visual and production, MagicWig produced extensive reporting on these aspects for Greenbuild 2010. All minimum guidelines stipulated by USGBC for technology sourcing were met, prioritizing local sourcing of reusable equipment and reduced power draw. MagicWig prepared an analysis of the power savings of efficient equipment compared to conventional options post-event. The outcome: lighting technology for Greenbuild consumed 56% less power, or 180,316 fewer watts than traditional alternatives. In addition, scenic and staging items in the Skyline, Lakeside and 196 Ballrooms were reused and reusable, rented locally and designed for disassembly. Special effort was taken to cooperate with a colleague company to ship two trucks of equipment between Albany and Chicago in a consolidated fashion, avoiding an extra trip of 1,583 miles. Furthermore, use of non-local crews was reduced by 25%, reducing typical air miles traveled.

GRAPHICS: Signs of ProgressTo be considered ‘sustainable’, Greenbuild graphics must meet one of the following criteria: be made primarily from renewable fibers, such as cardboard, include a minimum 30% post-consumer recycled content and/or meet ASTM requirements for compostability or biodegradability. 81% of graphics produced by Champion Expositions, the event general services contractor, met this requirement in 2010, jumping from 65% in 2009. In addition graphics available for reuse improved to 59% of the total produced in 2010, an increase of 36% over 2009. Furthermore, graphics produced for Greenbuild declined by 39% between 2009 and 2010, with 22,786 fewer square feet of signage material used. Champion designed the entire Chicago event in a way that many graphics and structures can and will be used in Toronto for 2011.

2 0 1 0 S U C C E S S S TO R I E S & B E N C H M A R K S


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SHIPPING: More...for Less?Post-event data tells an interesting story about Greenbuild shipping. It appears USGBC and Champion are shipping more, for less! Between 2009 and 2010 a 45% reduction in show management freight fuel use and 7% reduction in the number of shipments was noted. However, there was a 49% increase in shipped weight observed. This can be explained by improved shipping consolidation and selection of a more central meeting location, reducing the distance traveled by freight, even though more is shipped. Of course, this is also a cautionary tale to explore ways that shipped weight can be reduced as this may increase fuel consumption over longer distances in future where the host city for the event is less central. In addition, the Greenbuild Mandatory Exhibition Green Guidelines include a section on shipping which gave exhibitors credit for consolidated shipping practices. This may have had an impact on reducing the amount of total shipments by exhibitors.

HOTELS: Raising the BarGreenbuild was first held in Chicago in 2007. At that time local hotels committed to work toward compliance with green building certification standards. Of the properties contracted in 2007, none were certified nor able to provide formal environmental policies at the time. In 2010, 81% of properties contracted had formal environmental policies and practices, and 56% were participating in an externally-validated hotel sustainability program. Although onsite audits revealed some non-conformities in individual guest rooms, 100% of hotels met seven minimum sustainable guest room practices requested by USGBC for Greenbuild, a first for this event.

AWARDSPARTY:HighlightingtheArtofLocal,Organic,ReuseThe 2010 Leadership Awards at the Chicago Merchandise Mart integrated reuse, art and local and organic fare. Decor was provided by sculptor Dwayne Bass of TwoVital, who created unique art pieces made from reused and reclaimed materials. After guests had a chance to enjoy his pieces the night of the event, the pieces were then donated to Al Raby School for Community and Environment where students were also treated to a workshop by Dwayne. 77% of all food and beverages served at the event were sustainable, meeting at least one of the following criteria: local (sourced from an adjoining state to Illinois), organic (grown or raised using organic methods, but not necessarily USDA organic), local & organic, hormone-free, and/or fair trade-certified. In addition Zullo’s Catering worked hard to divert 96% of all event waste from landfill.

FOOD&BEVERAGE:BetterunderstandingfoodmilesandprocurementOverall, sourcing of food and beverage at the main meeting venue was fairly static between 2009 and 2010, holding at a little better than 80% of menu items meeting either local, organic or fair trade requirements. Certified organic sourcing by the venue caterer improved by 3% while local sourcing dropped by 9%. Greenbuild also succeeded in capturing a baseline of food miles per function at the primary venue in 2010, confirming an average of 12,130 miles traveled by menu ingredients across a sampling of breaks, lunches and receptions.


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EXHIBITS: Pioneering GMEGG2010 marked the first year all Greenbuild exhibitors were required to comply with the Greenbuild Minimum Exhibitor Greening Guidelines (GMEGG). GMEGG is the next step in on-going exhibitor education about reducing their booth footprint. This process began in 2005 with the Green Exhibitor Award, a voluntary initiative to identify those exhibitors taking extra steps to ‘green’ their booths. In 2010 all exhibitors were required to comply with GMEGG and leading exhibitors could apply for the optional Green Exhibitor Award to acknowledge special sustainability efforts. Those exhibitors audited to be non-compliant with GMEGG are not able to book space for Greenbuild 2011 until non-conforming issues have been addressed. GMEGG audits were conducted by the Green Building Certification Institute and considered both documentation provided by exhibitors pre-event and onsite practices. 995 of 1,017 exhibitors submitted documentation for auditing, confirming a 97% participation rate. A random audit of 100 exhibitors revealed 90 conformed to GMEGG, confirming a 90% compliance rate. 137 exhibitors applied for the voluntary Green Exhibitor Award. Exhibitors receive different levels of recognition based on sustainable practices they adopt that exceed GMEGG. 12 companies achieved the highest tier of recognition and were identified as Green Leaders following an onsite audit. All Leaders are entered into a draw to win a free booth at next year’s show.

What’s your “Green Booth” practice? Greenbuild exhibitors have to claim credit for at least one sustainable practice in each of six areas to be compliant with GMEGG. Following are the most common sustainable practice credits claimed in 2010:

Booth materials: 70% reused booth builds from 2009.• Water reclamation: 95% did not use water features in their booth.• Shipping practices: 48% reused their padding material.• Communications & Collateral: 73% limited the quantities of print and giveaway collateral • to no more that 5,000 pieces.Booth flooring: 60% used the sustainable flooring option offered by the show contractor.• Graphics & Signage: 62% did not use new graphics or signage, reusing existing inventory.•

ON-SITESTAFFING:GoingGreenerSince 2008 ProShow has worked closely with staffing partners well in advance of the event to ensure onsite staffing contributes towards Greenbuild’s waste diversion goals. This includes training all event staffers in special waste management practices. It also invites them to go that extra mile to ‘be green’ onsite by engaging in random acts of sustainability. Those taking extra effort are acknowledged through a Green Prize program. This year approximately 200 staffers - about 50% of total staff used -participated in this program. Random acts of green-ness included using re-usable water bottles, coffee cups and lunch containers. ProShow supervisors selected Kathleen Williams as the 2010 Greenbuild Green Prize winner for going above and beyond at work, home and everywhere she goes.

MERCHANDISE: “Greening” the Greenbuild StoreUSGBC takes steps to ensure sustainable procurement of items sold in the Greenbuild store. Careful attention is paid and targets are set for provision of:

Organic cotton products• Merchandise with eco-friendly inks and dyes (100%)• Local products from within the Mid-west (75%)• Recycled content goods (50%)• Materials produced or extracted from within the USA (90%)•

Signage and labels communicate sustainable attributes of products and sustainable packaging and shipping options are used wherever possible.


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LEGACY: Having the Right Kind of ImpactWhether it be through donation programs, volunteer work, job training, scholarship programs or other efforts, USGBC is working hard to make a positive impact on Greenbuild destinations.

Greenbuild 2011 Legacy Home Project: Each year, the Greenbuild Legacy Project Committee selects a project to express gratitude to the host city and share with that region the benefits of green building. USGBC, Habitat for Humanity Lake County and Bank of America teamed up to create two affordable green homes in Lake County, Ill., funded by a $125,000 donation from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. Construction coincided with Greenbuild and was completed by a beneficiary families and a network of volunteers from USGBC, Bank of America Community Volunteers and Habitat for Humanity.

Both homes have the same floor plan but were built using two different construction methods. One home featured state of the art ICF and panelized construction, while the second home was built using conventional stick construction as an opportunity for Greenbuild attendees to view its construction process. Both homes are aiming to achieve LEED for Homes Platinum certification. Construction cost data and performance will be tracked and published. USGBC’s commitment to affordable green housing extends beyond Greenbuild, as 40 percent of the homes in the LEED for Homes program are affordable.

Greenbuild 2011 Legacy Community Project: Thanks to matching funds from ComEd, $20,000 was made available to deserving environmental and social equity programs in the Chicago area through Greenbuild 2010. The Chicago Host Committee selected six legacy projects:

YouthBuild Lake County: Awarded $5500 to help purchase equipment for job training in • residential weatherization and energy retrofits.Goodcity’s Food Desert Action: Awarded $3000 to help reconstruct a CTA bus into a • mobile food market to serve areas of the city with little or no access to fresh produce.Sunlight of the Spirit Rooftop Recovery Garden: Awarded $3000 to help build a green • food-producing roof on a residential building that houses and provides services for individuals at risk of becoming homeless.Fuller Park Community Development Corporation: Awarded $2500 to help construct a • walk and accessible observation point for the native prairie preserve in the only nature center on the south side of Chicago.Family Shelter Service: Awarded $3000 to help perform energy audits of family shelter • facilities in order to enable energy efficient retrofits.Academy for Global Citizenship Elementary School: Awarded $3000 to help construct a • Solar Energy Learning Lab onsite.

Job Fair: In 2009 Greenbuild introduced a Job Fair. Initiated in the heels of the economic downturn, this program was developed to stimulate connections between green-building companies and professionals with skills in the field. 29 companies and 446 job-seekers attended the 2010 Greenbuild Job Fair.

Materialdonations:Champion Expositions arranged for the donation of 16,872 lbs of materials post-event, including tote bags, office suppliers, flooring, recycling bins and furniture. Four Chicago-based charities were assisted with donations from Greenbuild exhibitors, in addition to over 3,000 lbs of food donations provided from the event.

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Recyclingeducation: Over 100 special recycling and composting centers sponsored by Rubbermaid and Waste Management were provided throughout the event space to ensure attendee engagement in achieving waste management goals. These centers were staffed by 361 volunteers who provided 2888 hours of service educating attendees about how to to properly dispose of materials. This year the recycling volunteer corps included members of YouthBuild, a program that helps low-income young people ages 16-24 work toward their GEDs or high school diplomas by learning job skills that serve their communities. Education by this dedicated group of volunteers under the guidance of their USGBC Team Leaders helped improve baseline recycling diversion at McCormick Place from 56% to 87%.

Scholarship programs: USGBC provides financial support to help offset registration to deserving individuals. This year 33 individuals received scholarships that enabled them to take part in education and networking sessions. As is evidenced in the following testimonials the experience proves both inspiring and transformational for recipients:

At this Conference and Expo, I have been introduced to many people, new knowledge, and even many “green inventions” that gave me anticipation to get back to my university so that I could share it with my counterparts. To me, that is the most important thing. It’s easy to go somewhere, take notes and ask questions, but it’s easier when your notes aren’t just about what you learned, but about what you understand and how you can use what you understand to create an understanding for people who have no idea why it’s so important to be green. I came into the conference with a small view on why it’s essential to be green, and I left with a wide outlook on how I can be green as a future electrical engineer as well as a small town college student, and I thank the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo for giving me that experience.

~ Tosha John, ACE Scholarship Recipient

I knew GreenBuild was going to be a wonderful event to experience and it truly was more than just wonderful. I have learned that the people who go to this event are the ones who put the world before profit and the poor before themselves, and to me that is an amazing way to help out the community. I am also very interested in helping out our environment once I start my career.

~ Elizabeth Amado, ACE Scholarship Recipient

Greenbuild was a fantastic opportunity to meet a network of professionals committed to improving the building community and construction industry. Colin Powell’s speech was one of the most inspiring that I have gotten to listen to and it was very inspiring to see a man of his rank be so humble. Overall Greenbuild opened my eyes and showed me that there are so many individuals, companies, and cities working towards a sustainable future and more adaptive living environment. I’m currently in the design stage of house and was able to collect brochures to take back to the client to hopefully incorporate into her new home.

~ Holli Tripp, ACE Scholarship Recipient

YouthBuild participants with USGBC President, CEO and Founding Chairman Rick Fedrizzi

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14 15

USGBC hired MeetGreen® to conduct a verification of onsite practices at Greenbuild. In addition MeetGreen® was responsible for collecting and reviewing all event measurements submitted by vendors and staff. MeetGreen® was able to conduct back of house tours at McCormick Place. In addition USGBC staff and contractors assisted with guest room auditing at hotels to substantiate sustainable practices.

In addition to collecting and reporting on the benchmarks above, MeetGreen® prepared an event calculation using the MeetGreen® Calculator. Those events that score highly are run by planners who not only request sustainable practices, but also ensure that these requests are implemented through systemic processes, that procedures are tracked and that a high level of performance is achieved. For example, to score highly in the venue category a planner would request and implement recycling through contract procedures, in addition to measuring a high percentage of waste diversion from landfill. Practices and measurements tracked by the MeetGreen® Calculator meet or exceed United States Environmental Protection Agency purchasing policies and align with proposed APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meeting Standards. The Calculator also credits actions that support a BS 8901-compliant approach to sustainable event management.

The Calculator tracks practices in the following areas:• Destination Selection• Meeting Venue Selection• Accommodation Selection• Transportation• Food & Beverage• Exhibit Production• Communications & Marketing• On-site Office• Audio-Visual*• Carbon Offsets* * New 2010

It is important to note that the baseline measured by the MeetGreen® Calculator has shifted in 2010. Increasing expectations for sustainability within and without of the meetings industry have led to an update in the criteria assessed by the Calculator. This makes it far more difficult for meetings to score as high as they have in the past when a lower baseline was used. Comparisons between 2010 and those events pre-2010 should be qualified accordingly. The good news for USGBC is that even with this new baseline, total event score increased! Decreases in score were noticed for Destinations, Accommodation, Venues and Transportation. This should not necessarily be attributed to reduced practices. The expectations for these categories are higher, therefore reduced scores can be expected where practices were maintained.

M e e t G r e e n ®Ve r i f i c a t i o n

AU D I T I N G


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16

The following graphs show scores for Greenbuild since 2010:

Total Conference Comparison Report:• Shows the total score achieved as well as the total score of other randomly selected conferences in the MeetGreen® Calculator. The bar value represents the percentage of total points earned in all categories.

Conference Summary Report:• Shows the scores achieved in all categories. The bar value represents the percentage of total points earned in that category. The first graph shows only Greenbuild 2010. The second graph shows archived data for all Greenbuild events.


16 17Prepared by MeetGreen®

18

This is the ninth verification of Greenbuild that has been completed by MeetGreen®. Continued positive evolution in support of event sustainability has been very noticeable.

YOU'RE DOING IT RIGHT!

1.Advocacyandleadershipisevidentandtransformational.

Throughout the history of Greenbuild, USGBC has continued to push suppliers to implement more sustainable practices. As the event has grown this influence has become transformational at a destination and meeting industry-wide level. 2010 is the first year that USGBC has returned to a destination. Improvements in sustainable practice since 2007 were evident. McCormick Place had renegotiated cleaning contracts with improved minimum guidelines for purchasing of cleaning products. The facility had also developed a new exhibit hall recycling program that had improved diversion from landfill from 3% in 2007 to an average of 58% in 2010. Management attributes changes as a direct result of requests by USGBC and the Greenbuild 2007 experience. Greenbuild 2010 further improved on baseline diversion at McCormick Place by 25% during the event, and exceed 2007 metrics by 4%. Moving into the future McCormick Place has identified an opportunity to integrate composting expectations into catering contracts.

In addition to improvements at the meeting venue, hotel compliance with sustainability guidelines had improved since 2007 and continues to advance through pressure applied by USGBC at a corporate level and civic support for green building initiatives in Chicago. The introduction of the first mandatory sustainability guidelines for exhibitors is also revolutionary. In 2010 97% of exhibitors participated in the GMEGG process.

2.Vendorsandsupplychainareinformedandactiveaboutsustainability.

Suppliers clearly understand that sustainable practices are important to USGBC and that they are responsible for measuring impacts of action at Greenbuild. Improvements in audio-visual, food and beverage and hotel reporting were particularly evident this year. General services contractor reporting continues to be strong. Reporting expectations by USGBC have enabled several vendors to implement standard sustainability programs that other meeting hosts can benefit from. For example, freight and purchasing report forms used by Champion have been received by MeetGreen® at other non-USGBC events.

3.Measurementisconsistentandcomparative.

As can be seen by the Benchmarking section, USGBC is improving its ability to collect a consistent set of measurements for Greenbuild. This is helping to better compare efforts across multiple years so that realistic sustainability targets can be set. Measurement accuracy is also improving where consistent auditing, analysis and verification can take place. This was particularly evident with the creation of a new auditing procedure for GMEGG.

L e s s o n sL e a r n e d

E VA LUAT I O N & R E V I E W


18 19

4. Improvements in procurement were noted.

Even after nine years, USGBC continues to source more sustainable event materials. Notable improvements in 2010 included increased use of sustainable signage substrates, certified organic food and 100% LEED-certified venues. Hotels were also confirmed 100% compliant in minimum practices following onsite auditing. USGBC has created a quick report form for staff and contractors to share compliments and critiques of sustainable hotel practices. This enabled timely trouble-shooting of breakdowns in ‘green’ housekeeping practice, closing the feedback loop with hotels so minor non-conformities in individual guest rooms could be addressed.

5.Reducedconsumptionandwasteisevidentinsomeareas.

Although consumption increased in some areas, less signage and freight fuel was used in 2010. Paper consumption is also not increasing, declining slightly in 2010. In addition USGBC is better able to guage reduction activities by exhibitors through GMEGG tracking.

CHALLENGES & RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Internal capacity building

Greenbuild’s event sustainability program has been developed through partnerships between USGBC and MeetGreen®. USGBC has had a central staff coordinator for event sustainability since 2009 which has helped improve internal management of many aspects of this program pre-event. However, participation in onsite event sustainability management has proven difficult where coordinators are required to split attention between multiple job responsibilities. Designation of an onsite USGBC staff coordinator is the next step to enabling in-house management of event sustainability. This will allow USGBC to expand their direct involvement and advance staff expertise in event sustainability training, verification and trouble-shooting. USGBC is also encouraged to take advantage of onsite Team Leader expertise earlier to make improvements to the volunteer program.

2.Vendorcapacity-building

Greenbuild is a great testing ground for suppliers to develop sustainability management and reporting tools. Making facilities and vendors responsible for practices and benchmarking empowers them to find solutions that they can leverage forward to other clients. As a leader in this field, USGBC often has to take more time to train and prepare vendors to achieve the level of performance expected for Greenbuild. There is a learning curve that inevitably repeats itself with each new city Greenbuild visits, or as new vendors join the event. Making decisions with enough lead time for one-on-one mentorship and including training opportunities in planning timelines are essential to achieving expected outcomes. However, despite best efforts to prepare, it appears a continual challenge for venues to really understand what is required to ensure waste management success specifically. Moving forward it is recommended venue operations and catering staff who will host the event in the following year attend Greenbuild in person for a back of house experience the year prior in order to prepare them for what to expect. Further, contracting with venues to provide mentorship support to the venues who host Greenbuild following them is advised.


USGBC provided a special back of house tour of Greenbuild to the Chicago Chapter of the Green Meeting Industry Council. These kinds of efforts to educate other event professionals about sustainable event practices have helped earn USGBC three IMEX Green Meeting Awards and the 2010 RISE Award from Meeting Professionals International for innovation in event management.

20

3. Hotel sustainability

Two challenges are included in this item. Because USGBC aims to transform hotel practice to support sustainability, hotels are continually pushed to raise the bar during the contracting process. There continues to be a disconnect between what a hotel contracts for and what they are able to deliver. Again, as indicated above, this can require more time on the part of USGBC to work with individual properties to improve compliance. USGBC is encouraged to continue to dialogue with hotels to promote corporate programs that better mandate, train, enforce and measure sustainability programs across hotel brands. Secondly, although USGBC strives for consistency in contracted sustainable practices for hotels this is not always possible. Built infrastructure, local climate, regional energy infrastructure and brand standards can lead to alterations of standard contract language. This is an unavoidable situation in many respects and can take significant time and financial investment to change. USGBC can play a role in learning about and sharing innovative solutions that have allowed hotels to overcome property-specific issues.

4. What measurement can tell

Measurement can be a good and a bad thing. Sometimes ignorance of impact is, indeed, bliss! Once you start to benchmark however, you expose yourself to seeing a situation in a new way. Measurement of Greenbuild presents some interesting observations for which USGBC is presented with different choices, and better information with which to set targets:

Food miles• : Analysis of the closing party in 2009 revealed food traveled an estimated total of 44,000 miles for that function. In 2010 analysis using the same method revealed average food miles dropped to 12,000. Is there an opportunity to challenge caterers to reduce food miles per function to under 10,000 miles? Possibly less?Shipped weight• : Data across 2009-2010 reveals that although fuel use and shipment quantities were reduced, more material was shipped by show management. Are there opportunities to reduce what is brought to show site?Printing• : Paper use at Greenbuild has remained fairly constant from 2009-2010, holding at about 22 tons. Although this dropped significantly between 2008-2009, are there opportunities to push further through digital guides, pocket programs and elimination of pre-event mailers? This may present cost savings opportunities, provided audiences are prepared to move to new methods of communication.Perparticipantwaste• : In addition to measuring diversion from landfill should more attention be paid to per participant waste as an event sustainability KPI? This figure can tell an additional story about reduction, in addition to recycling and composting efforts.Name badge reuse:• USGBC sources badges, holders and lanyards that have sustainable qualities for recycled content and recyclability. For many years badges have been collected and disassembled to enable reuse and proper recycling. Approximately 1000 name badges are returned by attendees. Could incentives to return badges be provided in order to improve reuse?

5.Carbonoffsets

USGBC has offset unavoidable emissions from Greenbuild through a sponsored carbon offset program facilitated by Leonardo Academy since 2002. For the first time in 2010 USGBC invited attendees to voluntarily offset carbon given reduced sponsorship of this program. Donations by attendees offset 99,208 lbs of emissions, or less than 1% of the event footprint. USGBC has committed to make up the difference to ensure 100% of event emissions are offset, as in the past, by purchasing offsets through Sterling Planet. In future USGBC may want to consider ways to integrate the cost of this program into registration, or discuss ways to improve visibility to attendees. Typical participation in voluntary offset programs enables offsetting of 5-10% of event emissions.


20 21

6.Attendeefeedback

Attendee evaluations suggest the impact of sustainable practices on the Greenbuild experience is dropping. Post-event feedback shows ‘greening’ has mid-range impact for attendees in terms of importance and satisfaction. It’s not a critical issue, but it’s not the least important of issues either. Fewer people feel ‘greening’ is very important than did in 2009. Attendees are also less satisfied with ‘greening’ than they were in 2009. This data presents a dilemma for organizers. If the issue is less important to attendees, should less time be devoted to it? Or does weakening importance indicate they feel it is adequately addressed and therefore less critical? Alternatively if satisfaction is declining, should more effort be taken to address sustainability? Or, is it less an issue of action taken and outcomes achieved to support event sustainability and more a question of better informing attendees about what is being done? It’s difficult to know, especially when attendees in each region may have very different expectations about sustainability that cause them to be more or less attentive to it. Nonetheless, shifting attendee perceptions will be an important factor to consider when crafting next steps.


22

Prepared by Shawna McKinley for MeetGreen®6220 NE Glisan Street Portland, Oregon 97213, U.S.A. | Phone: (503) 252-5458 [email protected] | www.meetgreen.com

C O N C LU S I O N

Since Greenbuild 2002 USGBC has:

Diverted enough trash from landfill to fill 12 garbage trucksAvoided emissions equivalent to taking 118 cars off the road for a year

Conserved enough water to fill 1 Olympic-sized swimming poolSaved enough energy to power 22 American homes for a year

Prevented the cutting of 1,386 trees

Into the future USGBC is encouraged to continue to push the envelope of what defines event sustainability as it has in the past, while also being mindful of internal capacity to consistently execute sustainability goals.

ENDNOTES

2009 data 1. includes 8,393,272 lbs of carpet that was recycled which is not factored into percent diversion. Prior to 2009 data only included landfill, recycling, compost, donation and diverion metrics at the primary meeting venue. From 2. 2009 forward data includes these metrics at the party venue as well. Note waste diversion for 2007 was adjusted in 2010 when it was learned that waste hauled from McCormick Place’s South Building kitchen was missing from initial event analysis in 2007. This caused landfill waste to increase and diversion to be reduced from 91% to the presently reported 83%. In addition it is important to note that hauler-reported waste volumes have been adjusted to reflect shared use of kitchen space with another event in 2010.Show management only.3. Food miles are based on sample analysis of main meal functions. 2009: Party only; 2010: Break, Lunch, Reception and Party. 4. Food miles for prepared foods are tracked back to point of processing while raw ‘scratch’ ingredients are tracked back to farm. Reported miles account for some consolidation in shipping where verifiable. Local food is based on total percentage of ingredients that are sourced within 100 miles of the venue. Pre-processed ingredients 5. that are purchased as such are tracked to point of processing, ‘scratch’ ingredients are tracked back to farm. Organic food must bear a third-party certification. Based on percentage of ingredients used.To meet sustainability criteria 6. motor coaches must either use Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) fuel or B20 biodiesel as a minimum. Based on percent of total buses used.To be included in this figure signage substrate must meet a minimum of one of the following criteria: made primarily from 7. renewable fibers, such as cardboard, include a minimum 30% post-consumer recycled content and/or meet ASTM requirements for compostability or biodegradability. Based on percent of total square feet used.Percent post-consumer content.8. Percent post-industrial content.9. Percentage of properties providing contracted room block. In 2010 this included 11 properties. Practice was verified through 10. document disclosure pre-event and random guest room audits by USGBC staff and contractors. 31 non-conformities were noted throughout the event which were trouble-shooted by hotels to bring them into compliance. 100% of hotels reported recycling in place with a documented 18% average diversion from landfill.Based on audit of 100 exhibit booths. 90 were deemed in compliance with GMEGG following analysis of submitted 11. documentation and onsite review at Greenbuild 2010. Audits conducted by the Green Building Certification Institute.This section reflects the estimated cumulative benefits of decisions to reduce, reuse and recycle, based on available data. This 12. may include things like use of recycled content paper, water bottle reductions, recycling benefits, fuel use reductions, shuttle elimination, virtual participation etc. Where reduction is measured it reflects the reduction over previous year, based on decisions made and actions taken within the single event cycle. Source data supplied from vendors and supplemented by the Environmental Defense Fund Paper Calculator, US EPA WasteWise Tool, Carpet America Recovery Effort, International Bottled Water Association and Plastics Europe - Association of Plastics Manufacturers. Ability to track benefits improves as more tools and information becomes available. Increases in benefit therefore may reflect less an improvement in performance, but an improved ability to measure based on new information and tools that help better measure the impact of a planning decision. Note that tree savings correlates to the use of post-consumer content over virgin paper, not reductions in paper use.

Copyright 2010 MeetGreen®

sustainable event report 2010€¦ · 2 3 events: greenbuild international conference and expo...

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