Friday, March 29, 2024
Home Minnesota MN News Minneapolis Convention Center Obtains Environmental-Friendly Events

Minneapolis Convention Center Obtains Environmental-Friendly Events

By Felicia Felmlee

A go-to venue for large meetings, the Minneapolis Convention Center (MCC) recently achieved Level One certification from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard, which evaluates and selects venues for environmentally-sustainable meetings, events, trade shows and conferences.

“We are proud and excited to attain the ASTM Venue certification,” said Jeff Johnson, executive director, Minneapolis Convention Center. “Certification to the industry’s global standard is further evidence of the MCC’s ongoing commitment to sustainability.”

With over 1.5 million visitors annually, the MCC is the largest convention center in the Upper Midwest. The venue offers nearly 480,000 square feet of trade show space, 87 column-free conference-meeting rooms, a 28,000-square-foot ballroom and an auditorium with production and technology options.

To achieve this level of sustainability, the MCC installed LED light fixtures in all exhibition halls and has started to recycle 49 percent of all waste entered into the building. Mark Zirbel, director of events at the convention center, is expecting MCC to save 72 percent in electrical use where the LED lights are installed and, by 2015, reduce water-use by 50 percent.

“Responsible environmental and social practices in the meeting industry is a global concern,” said Michael Luehrs, president, Green Meeting and Industry Council (GMIC), the nonprofit professional meetings association that led the development of the ASTM Sustainable Meeting Standards. “We congratulate the Minneapolis Convention Center on this achievement and hope that this will encourage others in the Minneapolis meetings and convention industry to pursue certification.”

To celebrate Minneapolis as one of the country’s most eco-focused cities, city officials, Barbara Johnson, Jacob Frey, and Jeff Johnson, announced the MCC’s progress in sustainability initiatives on March 21 at the MCC. Additionally, the MCC offered a behind-the-scenes sustainability tour for students from two local high schools, De La Salle High School and Minnetonka High School.

iCompli, a division of BPA Worldwide, a nonprofit international auditing organization, developed the certification protocols for the ASTM standards and performed the independent third party certification of the MCC’s compliance with the requirements.

“Our certification of the event sustainability standards driven by GMIC, and now adopted by the MCC, continues our long-standing partnership with the event industry to promote transparency,” said Glenn Hansen, CEP of BPA Worldwide.

Meet Minneapolis is also in the process of obtaining Level One certification to the ASTM Destination Standard later this year. Melvin Tennant, president and CEO of Meet Minneapolis, said, “This is great news for the MCC and all of us working to make Minneapolis the sustainable destination choice of convention planners.”

RECENT POSTS