PHILADELPHIA — The Pennsylvania Convention Center achieved Gold Level certification from the Events Industry Council (EIC) Sustainable Events Standards. The ASM Global-managed facility met the standards for environmental and social responsibility laid out by the EIC Sustainability Committee, providing trade show organizers the ability to hold sustainable events.
Throughout the years, the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority invested significantly in tools and initiatives to lessen environmental impact and provide operations efficiency and a clean facility. In 2016, the facility launched its “Green Team,” which is a network of staff from the facility and ASM Global, service providers and stakeholders that develop, implement and enforce best practices for sustainability programs.
This team also worked in partnership with trade show organizers to help them reach their own sustainability goals for their shows, including Natural Products Expo East.
“One such initiative is the interconnection of the two central heating and cooling plants on the eastern and western sides of the building so that, during moderate weather conditions, only one plant is needed to heat or cool the entire building,” Tony Hodgins, General Manager, Pennsylvania Convention Center, said. “This has resulted in significant energy savings for the facility.”
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The facility also partnered with a variety of sustainability, technology and environmental management companies, including Honeycomb Strategies, Republic Services and Siemens, to help make innovative changes in the areas of utilities management and waste diversion among others.
“The modernization initiatives done through the partnership between the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority and Siemens, have been quite effective in helping the Center manage its energy consumption and that of our customers. The upgraded building automation system now allows us to have real-time monitoring and control of the air handling units and our energy usage, as well as a more detailed and timely reporting system which allows us to be a more reliable sustainability partner to our customers,” Hodgins said.
Along with the Authority’s investments, the convention center is part of the ASM Global Acts program, which is a platform for corporate social responsibility that the venue-management company launched in 2021. By being a part of the program, the Pennsylvania Convention Center implemented initiatives to increase purchases of renewable energy certificates, increasing waste diversion rate goals and totally eliminating single-use plastics.
The facility has increased its daily purchase of renewable energy certificates to 50% and its waste diversion rate goal to 50%.
“The Pennsylvania Convention Center takes seriously its role as a steward of the public good. As such, the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority and ASM Global are both fully committed to making a positive impact in the community in which we serve and to reducing the environmental impact of our operations,” Hodgins said.
Reach Tony Hodgins at thodgins@paconvention.com
