ROI Tracking
How Denver Won A Green Meetings Convention
By Leo Jakobson
June 24, 2010
Vancouver LEEDs the Pack
In February, the Vancouver Convention Centre's new West Building became the first convention centre in the world to win the highest level of LEED certification: Platinum. And in April, it won an Urban Land Institute Award for Excellence—one of only 10 projects throughout the Americas to do so. This award encompasses all types of construction, including industrial, commercial, residential and parks.
Opened in April 2009, the new building brings the VCC's total size to 1.1 million sf, including 466,500 sf of pre-function, meeting, exhibition and ballroom space. Among its green design features are:
• Six-acre "living roof"—the largest in Canada
• Sophisticated drainage and water recovery system cutting potable water use by 72.6 percent
• 83 percent of construction waste diverted from landfill
• Facility-wide recycling program covers half the waste generated annually—nearly 400,000 pounds
• Restored marine habitat built into building foundation, and a seawater heating and cooling system
• Natural light and ventilation maximized throughout
• Local British Columbia wood products used throughout
In February, the Green Meetings Industry Council held its annual Sustainable Meetings Conference in Denver's Colorado Convention Center. They chose the Mile-High City for a reason.
"Site selection is very important to us," says Tamara Kennedy-Hill, executive director of the Portland, OR-based GMIC. "A true partnership with a destination is a strong part of our decision-making process." And while the final choice is not based solely on how green a destination is, "we always try to walk the talk," she adds.
Being able to track things like how much waste is recycled, or composted in the case of food, is an important part of that, Kennedy-Hill says. "Denver did an amazing job of walking the talk. These issues are very important to the convention and visitors bureau, the convention center, the city. The city in particular was very helpful with sanitation. They really take these issues seriously."
So seriously that the center has a full time sustainability director, and in March 2009 added a 30,000 sf solar panel that produces 300 kilowatts.
Between its local chapter and the city and facility management, the 2010 Sustainable Meetings Conference was able to divert 97 percent of the waste it produced—its best effort to date, Kennedy-Hill says. The local GMIC Council was able to help find recipients for the compost, local restaurants with a real commitment to the environment for the dine-around, and a local non-profit that arranged for attendees to donate time to a worthy—and green—local cause. That was Mission Wear, which among other things recycles used convention banners, turning them into bags given residents of local women's shelters. It set up a cutting and sewing area right in the convention center where attendees could stop in and help out.
The event may be small, Kennedy-Hill says—this one attracted around 230 attendees, and will likely go back to a hotel rather than a convention center next year—but it is getting bigger every year, and attendees are senior-level corporate and association planners. "They are very serious about the topic, and represent a lot more conventions and meetings," she adds.
RockResorts Weans Off the Bottle
Vail Resorts and its RockResorts subsidiary are phasing out the use of plastic water bottles at the company's 14 properties throughout the U.S. and Caribbean.
Beginning at The Pines Lodge in Beaver Creek, CO., the Water on the Rocks program will replace plastic bottles with two complementary refillable glass bottles of filtered water in each guest room, and logoed stainless steel or BPA-free plastic reusable bottles available for $4 at reception. The Broomfield, CO.-based company's resorts will have water stations throughout.
The program is expected to keep 640,000 plastic water bottles out of the garbage once it is fully in place.