Sustainable Showfloor: How Green Are We?

Tradeshows and conventions represent the second most wasteful industry in the United States, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The only one worse is building construction, so the tradeshow business can no longer turn a blind eye to its impact on the environment.

With global interest and concern about environmental issues on the rise, the shift toward green practices is spreading across many industries, and corporate America is beginning to recognize that it must meet the demand for change, or risk being left behind. The tradeshow industry is no exception.

Attitudes are changing, and not a moment too soon. In its most recent summary report, released in mid-November, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that global warming was undeniable.

Meanwhile, many show management firms and venues are scrambling to demonstrate their attention to this matter, touting new eco-friendly practices in press release after press release. So, if the trend has indeed become a movement, how far along is the industry on the path to sustainability?

According to Dan Ruben, executive director of the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Conventions, the greening of the meetings business has indeed begun — but just barely.

"We have started the process," Ruben said. "(The demand for) recycling, for green meetings, is the most important driver that's (pushing) the industry to change. You're no longer viewed as unusual if you adopt green practices; you're seen as being ahead of the curve."

Taking a more sustainable approach to business, in essence becoming part of the solution, makes good financial sense as clients are increasingly drawn to businesses with a concern for the environment, according to Ruben. In this sense, green can also be the color of opportunity and profitability. By investing in sustainable practices on the front end, shows and venues can create the potential to reap greater financial savings once practices have become commonplace.

"(With) energy costs rising steadily, if not dramatically, it makes more and more financial sense to reduce energy use," Ruben said. "Waste and water costs drive the industry, particularly on the coasts, and costs are high. With all of the media attention around this issue, you can't miss that there's a strong feeling that businesses and individuals need to pay more attention to the environment."

It's no mystery that a convention is a resource-gobbling event, with waste as its No. 1 byproduct. To answer growing client demand, some venues and shows are taking steps to lighten their environmental imprint by implementing green practices: reducing, reusing and recycling resources; switching from paper and plastic to china and linen; donating leftover food and beverage to charity; and using more energy efficient lighting. Also growing in popularity is the purchase of carbon offset credits and running a show with renewable energy.

The industry "is playing catch-up and realizing that there's a lot that can be done fairly easily with minimal cost," said Matt Pizzuti, director of sales and marketing at the Oregon Convention Center, a Portland, Ore., facility that is certified through the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. "With anything that is a major industry shift, it takes years, (even) decades. There are some (venues) that will take years to jump on the bandwagon, but soon, without it, facilities will be at a disadvantage."

According to Pizzuti, sustainability questions and requests are showing up in RFPs, and planners are asking more about greening their events than ever before.

Also thinking a lot about green recently are the managers of Intl. CES, No. 1 on the 2007 Tradeshow Week 200. At the show's next staging, Jan. 7–10 in Las Vegas, the Consumer Electronics Assn. plans to debut its Green at CES program with several initiatives to limit the environmental impact of what is typically the largest annual tradeshow in the United States.

By offsetting about 20,000 tons of carbon through the help of Carbonfund.org, Intl. CES expects to be a carbon-neutral event. Organizers will also give attendees the opportunity to offset their airline travel before and during the show.

According to Tara Dunion, CEA director of communications, other green initiatives, such as recycling, will be in place at the Las Vegas Convention Center (the show also takes place at the Sands Expo & Convention Center/Venetian Resort Hotel Casino). Contractors will lay recycled carpet in the LVCC's Central Hall; food and beverage providers will serve most food in biodegradable food containers; managers will donate leftovers to charity; and the graphics company will print attendee literature on post-consumer recycled paper with soy ink. CES officials said this would be the largest tradeshow to take such steps toward sustainability.

"CEA is involved in a whole range of initiatives designed to promote sustainability in the technology industry and reduce the overall energy consumption of consumer products," Dunion said. "For the past few years, we have looked at ways to reduce the environmental impact of (the show), and it all came together this year with this Green at CES program."

Yet, in light of more serious conservation initiatives taking place in other industries, one has to ask whether all this is just good public relations, or the beginning of a true environmental consciousness.

"Any change is a positive step in the right direction," said Kimberly Lewis, director of conferences and events at the U.S. Green Building Council, "and it sends a strong message. Our conference is an example that (greening) has moved to the mainstream."

The USGBC's show, Greenbuild Intl. Conference and Expo, is one of a growing number of shows setting a high standard in green event production and an example of how a tradeshow can be both sustainable and successful by most conventional measures at the same time. The six-year-old Greenbuild grew from 13,300 attendees in 2006 to 22,800 attendees in 2007 and was a 2007 TSW Fastest 50 winner.

There is little doubt that show managers can be overwhelmed by everything they understand is involved with greening their event, Lewis said, so she recommends first-timers keep it simple by picking one or two green practices, learning to perform them effectively and building from there.

"Green is an education process at every level," Lewis said. "People do what comes easiest to them and, once they're used to doing this, it will become the norm for them."

The USGBC is also responsible for administering the LEED certification program, which is accepted nationally as a benchmark for the design, construction and operation of green buildings. LEED certification is a feather in the cap of any convention venue, as attaining accreditation is neither a quick nor an easy affair.

Out of 417 convention centers in the U.S., only five have earned some level of LEED certification:

• the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh
• the Oregon Convention Center in Portland
• the Spokane (Wash.) Convention Center
• the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City
• the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wis.

Others are in the process of attaining LEED status, and the USGBC does not identify them unless given permission by the venue. As more and more show organizers seek greener venues, however, LEED certification may spell success, making it worth facilities' time and expense to meet the stringent criteria.

The Los Angeles Convention Center is one of several venues that has set its sights on attaining LEED-EB (existing building) certification in the near future. In the meantime, the facility is implementing more and more green features in its building and practice repertoire. Its newest initiative is biodegradable service ware, later composted off site. Sustainable practices already in place at the center include a recycling system, upgraded energy efficiency and food waste diversion.

If so many leaders in the tradeshow world realize they have to implement green practices to stay relevant to the changing business world, then why aren't green practices more prevalent?

"Cost is certainly the chief factor in a number of ways," said Anah Corley, vice president of business development at Stetson Convention Services, a general contractor and decorator that promotes itself as an eco-friendly supplier. "However, if expositions and facilities start by making modest, yet important, adjustments and implement them over time, the front-end costs will be easier to swallow and will also facilitate a market shift."

One other challenge Corley noted: Green means different things to different people and, so far, there is little consistency in the events industry. She said the industry is at least a year away from comprehensive certification, one that will clear up the ambiguity of what people mean when they talk about a green meeting.

"There are a few industry associations, namely EDPA (Exhibit Designers and Producers Assn.) and IAEE (Intl. Assn. of Exhibitions and Events) that are working diligently to produce verifiable and accountable guidelines," Corley said. "There are so many facets to the tradeshow industry, this is quite an undertaking, but there is certainly a focus that I see coming to fruition in the near future."

Just as it is hard sometimes to decide what is green and what isn't, it's also hard to measure how quickly change is coming.

"There's leaders and there's laggers," said Shawna McKinley, interim executive director of the Green Meetings Industry Council. "We have a very long way to go, but there are leaders emerging in the field (who are) trying to raise the bar. The biggest thing we can do is get started and make the initial commitment. That's often the hardest step."

Those with the best opportunity to raise the bar, McKinley said, are show managers who, as both consumers and providers of services, possess the greatest influence to push the industry in the direction of sustainability.

By determining which venues and vendors are patronized, based on their ability and willingness to facilitate a green event, show managers can see to it that more segments of the industry evolve in order to stay competitive.

"I think we can expect to see a significant change in the way we do business in the next five to seven years," Corley said. "I don't know if we'll ever have a wholly environmentally sustainable industry, but I think we will certainly see practices and policies in place that will support responsible business as a significant and possibly even predominant standard."

There is no going back. Because the green movement shows few signs of stopping, those who are slow to transition will have little choice but to get on board in the end.

"(The industry) is going in the right direction, but we could always be doing more," said Lydia Ball, a representative of the Southern Nevada Sierra Club. "It's economically better to be green. You use less energy and resources, and that's directly related to the bottom line."