Choosing sustainable venues: a guide

28 November 2023

Accommodation and catering often has the second highest environmental impact of an event after transportation ^{1 2 3}and so choosing a sustainable venue for your event can make a big difference in your environmental impact. Venues are increasingly transparent about their sustainability measures and commitments, and information can be found on their website or by speaking with staff.

So what are the key factors to consider when looking for a sustainable venue?

1. Opting for renewable energies

The best indicator that a venue is promoting sustainable practices is in their choice of using renewable energy sources. Around 75% of the carbon footprint of a venue is linked to energy usage ². Since an event invariably has a high energy demand, i.e. screen projectors, lights, AC and heating, device charging, this usage has a heavy carbon footprint. To check if your venue meets this requirement, we have several indicators:

More renewable sources: choosing a venue that prioritises renewable energies, such as solar or wind energy, is one of the best ways to decrease the carbon footprint of your event
Energy saving: a venue interested in sustainability will put in place policies and technologies that help with energy saving
Less AC: intensive AC usage can increase the energy consumption by up to 39.85% ². If possible, try to minimise AC usage and try to prioritise venues that use more natural ventilation
Sustainable building: around 10-20% of the energy used during the lifetime of a venue actually comes from the original construction and maintenance of the building rather than from the day to day running. The best option is to choose a purpose built sustainable venue that promotes environmentally-conscious practices ⁴

2. Sustainable menus

Catering also makes a significant contribution to the environmental impact of an event ^{1 2 3}. You can work with the venue or the external catering suppliers to provide a sustainable menu. Signs for sustainable catering commitments?

A variety of local, organic and plant-based options available in the menu ^{1 2} ^5 6
Seasonal changes of the menu: this can minimise the environmental damage of food transportation and intensive greenhouse productions ^{5 7}

For more tips on creating a sustainable menu for your next event, see our previous blog.

3. Innovative water saving strategies

Check that a venue has measures to save water, such as:

Research and investment in technology: ideal venues combine well-researched regulations with investment in innovative technology to save water ⁹. Having either good knowledge about saving water or using innovative technologies can make an impact separately, but best results are achieved by venues that are able to combine both elements
Policies: evidence of a company commitment to decrease water waste
Encouraging guests to contribute to it

4. Effective waste management

This is another key discussion to have with the venue. What measures will a sustainable venue have in place?

Reduce: policies in place to make sure it is reducing its overall waste production
Replace: prioritise purchasing more sustainable options for onsite equipment
Recycling: multiple recycling options throughout
Repurpose: creative strategies for managing food waste, e.g. composting

5. Good working conditions and transparency

Sustainability is not only about the environmental impact ¹⁰, but also:

Ethical commitments, such as commitment to diversity and inclusion
Transparency about the carbon footprint
Good working conditions for the employees

6. Choose, engage, support

Sustainable suppliers: working with suppliers that are in line with environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) values ¹⁰ is the main tool in decreasing a venue’s indirect carbon emissions ^{10 11}
Sustainability training: staff are aware of (trained in) good sustainability practices
Teamwork: fighting climate change is a team effort, and it should involve every employee from the venue
Engage the guests: look for signage and messaging that encourages guests to be sustainability aware
Support local initiatives: the venue engages with their community to support social and environmental initiatives

7. Sustainable certificates

The best way to measure a venue’s sustainable commitments is to be certified for a sustainable strategy by an external body with transparent criteria. There are many options for obtaining a sustainable certificate, one of the most popular is the B Corp certification ¹².

Conclusions

Organising an event in a sustainable manner can feel like a challenge, but starting with small steps and choosing suppliers and venues that share your environmental commitment is a great way to create meaningful events whilst reducing your carbon footprint.

If you are looking for more advice on how to decrease the carbon footprint of your event, visit our sustainability blogs for more tips or email us at sustainability@biologists.com.

For financial support to help put your sustainable strategy in place, check out our Sustainable Conferencing Grant.