{"id":5133,"date":"2012-07-03T10:38:58","date_gmt":"2012-07-03T17:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unrbep.org\/?p=5133"},"modified":"2012-07-03T10:38:58","modified_gmt":"2012-07-03T17:38:58","slug":"greener-meetings-with-new-astm-standards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/greener-meetings-with-new-astm-standards\/","title":{"rendered":"Greener Meetings with New ASTM Standards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: Environmental Expert.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

A collection of standards developed by Subcommittee E60.02 on Hospitality guides planners and suppliers on how to arrange more sustainable meetings.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a meeting at an inn in Vermont designated as a \u201cGreen Hotel in the Green Mountain State\u201d that, among other benchmarks, composts leaf and yard waste. It\u2019s a corporate event by a firm that checks for needed products in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing database. It\u2019s a meeting arranged by a planner who considers a destination\u2019s public transportation system and a venue\u2019s recycling program. A green meeting may be any one of these things, and more.<\/p>\n

Increasingly, greener \u2014 or more sustainable \u2014 meetings are occurring across the landscape. Today, more sustainable meetings, encouraged by EPA guidance on the topic and also available with the help of professional planners, mean more than what\u2019s green. Sustainable meetings, in addition to the environment, consider social factors; they also make good business sense.<\/p>\n

And now, through the work of ASTM International Committee E60<\/a> on Sustainability and its Subcommittee E60.02 on Hospitality, and the broad industry representation on the group, eight recently released standards, with one more coming soon, can assist planners and suppliers in producing more environmentally friendly meetings.<\/p>\n

The Benefits of Meeting<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe as human beings have a need to meet,\u201d says Amy Spatrisano, principal of MeetGreen\u00ae, Portland, Ore., and an ASTM International member who served as a catalyst to begin the work on the new sustainable meetings standards; she also chaired the Convention Industry Council<\/a> task force for its 2004 Green Meetings Report.
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\nAnd meet we do. From local business gatherings to large industry conventions, meetings represent billions of dollars to the U.S. economy, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers study for the Convention Industry Council. These billions also represent employment: the industry directly supports 1.7 million jobs.<\/p>\n

At the same time, tighter travel and business budgets, and soaring fuel costs are making virtual meetings a more attractive option for companies and corporations alike. Meeting virtually saves time and money, as evidenced by a Forbes Insights study, yet \u201camazing things are created and have happened in the world when people come together,\u201d says Spatrisano.<\/p>\n

The Forbes survey also speaks to the importance of face-to-face business meetings. According to the survey, responding executives say that meetings build stronger, more meaningful business relationships, provide the ability to read body language and facial expressions, allow for more social interaction and promote more complex strategic thinking, among other benefits.<\/p>\n

The bottom line, however, is that if an in-person meeting will be planned, it can be done in a way to be more sustainable. \u201cIt\u2019s about rethinking how you can do your meeting in a way that\u2018s less wasteful of resources,\u201d says Sue Tinnish, Ph.D., Kendall College, Chicago, Ill., and chairman of E60.02. \u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is change the way we hold meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Describing a Green Meeting<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is a green meeting anyway?<\/p>\n

Karen Kotowski says that green meetings attempt to minimize adverse environmental effects. Kotowski, CEO of CIC, Alexandria, Va., tallies a few ways to green a meeting: not using bottled water, making handouts and programs available online instead of in printed form, using locally sourced foods and choosing hotels with towel reuse programs. That\u2019s just a start.<\/p>\n

In a more sustainable meeting, one that considers economics and social aspects, your luncheon tables might not be set up with salads waiting for attendees, and the desserts might be served buffet style. Water and iced tea might be available in pitchers, not already poured into glasses. The hotel might use energy efficient appliances; the destination city is chosen because it recycles and operates a mass transit system. And the list can be expanded.<\/p>\n

Making meetings greener helps the environment, but more than that, it can make economic sense. \u201cWe feel it\u2019s smart business,\u201d says Spatrisano, who co-founded an organization, Green Meeting Industry Council<\/a>, based on the model.<\/p>\n

For example, according to MeetGreen, collecting 1,300 name badge holders from a conference can save close to $1,000 for the event organizer. Using china instead of disposables for meals and breaks at a five-day gathering of 2,200 can keep 1,890 pounds (860 kg) of plastic from going into landfills. And, not pre-filling water glasses during three days of served lunches for 2,200 attendees can save 520 gallons (1,300 L) of water.<\/p>\n

Many checklists exist to help hold an environmentally sustainable meeting, but checklists tend to skew to one perspective, according to Tinnish. \u201cNobody to date had said, here\u2019s what planners have to do and here\u2019s what suppliers have to do to create an environmentally sustainable meeting,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a difference in the ASTM International standards \u2014 both planners and suppliers can refer to individual standards for requirements on their part of the meeting equation.<\/p>\n

A Bit of Background<\/strong><\/p>\n

The interest in green meetings is not new.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency dates its work on the topic to more than a decade ago. \u201cEPA\u2019s involvement in green meetings dates back more than 10 years and has been motivated by the agency\u2019s continuing desire to promote environmentally preferable purchasing for the federal government,\u201d says Harry Lewis, attorney adviser, EPA, and an ASTM International member.<\/p>\n

EPA worked with the Convention Industry Council on its 2004 Green Meetings Report, which lists minimum and strongly recommended best practices for suppliers and planners in holding more sustainable events.5 \u201cIt\u2019s all that we had out there prior to having these more robust ASTM standards,\u201d Kotowski says.<\/p>\n

EPA and CIC\/APEX developed draft standards that address destinations and transportation, audio visual and communications, and more, all integral parts of meeting arrangements, and approached ASTM in 2007 to propose consensus standards that would apply across the industry. An October meeting ensued, kicking off the ASTM standards effort.<\/p>\n

Spatrisano recalls, \u201cPeople spanned nine time zones in the original team that worked on the standards.\u201d Input came from stakeholders across North America and Europe, from government agency representatives both American and Canadian; convention centers and visitor bureaus; exhibit booth makers, audiovisual experts, and transport companies; independent and corporate planners.<\/p>\n

The result? A group of standards that shares the responsibility between both planners and suppliers to make a meeting more sustainable, and to do so in such a way that \u201cpeople can engage at the level where they are in their journey,\u201d says Kotowski.<\/p>\n

The standards, available as a compilation are:<\/p>\n