IMEX Announces Green Award Winners

IMEX and the Green Meeting Industry Council developed the Green Supplier Award shortly after last year’s show to recognise environmental excellence and innovation within the meetings industry. The Award represents the highest accolade for environmental responsibility among meeting suppliers.

Due to the exceptionally high volume of entries and their overall quality, judges decided to present both Gold and Silver Awards this year.

IMEX Chairman Ray Bloom said “It shows how eager the meetings industry is to participate in driving environmental change and to really making a difference in the way they conduct business for their clients. As this issue gathers momentum – and awareness increases – it is very clear that the green suppliers of the future will have a distinct advantage over their competitors.”

– The inaugural IMEX Green Supplier Award was won by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

Fairmont first launched their Green Partnership Programme in 1990. The Group has since developed and expanded the scheme to include sustainable procurement processes, waste management plus water and energy conservation measures. In 2007 Fairmont launched ‘Eco-Meet’, a four-point, proprietary green meeting and conference planning tool designed to help planners reduce conference waste. The Group also recently entered into a partnership with the World Wildlife Fund to develop a climate change strategy.

The 2008 Silver Award was made to Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre in recognition of its 20-year history of taking active steps to manage and minimise its impact on the environment. IMEX judges also “highly commended” excellent nominations from The Direct Energy Centre and Apex Hotels.

– Malta was named 2008 IMEX Green Exhibitor of the Year

Malta were awarded the prize in recognition of the extensive ‘greening’ of their stand. As judge, Amy Spatrisano, explained, “Once people start rethinking their approach to the environment as an exhibitor, they become very energised by it. The Malta stand was a great example of how to use natural daylight and how to plans materials so they can be recycled or reused. They also established a good working relationship with the stand designer, who was equally enthusiastic about the challenge.”

Malta’s success this year is attributed to its use of lightweight, recycled materials and water-based paints in its stand construction together with a much reduced use of plastics, paper and water. With the help of stand designers, Zaffarese Exhibitions & Events Ltd and German suppliers of modular systems, Octanorm, judges decided that Malta had achieved a high standard of environmentally-friendly compliance. They also heard how Malta had been inspired by the new Eco-Certification Scheme recently introduced by the Malta Tourism Authority. This helps the islands many hotels to attract more visitors by demonstrating clear environmental performance measures.

– The Green Meetings ‘Gold’ for 2008 went to to Scandic

The Green Meetings Gold Award 2008 was made to Scandic in recognition of a meeting held at the Scandic Ariadne in Stockholm in October 2007. Each of the 128 participants was an environmental coordinator or chief engineer from all of Scandic’s Swedish hotel units. The one-day meeting typified Scandic’s “Compass for Sustainable Business”, a ‘triple bottom line’ principle introduced in 1994.

As a hotel chain, Scandic owns the operation of its hotels and concepts such as meetings are highly standardised within the business. Judges praised Scandic Hotels for the depth and detail provided in their submission, one of the many impressive entries received.

They also acknowledged the extensive and systematic efforts made by the hotel chain in its commitment to measuring green practices.

Examples include a programme for improving the utilisation of natural resources called “Save and Change” and a monthly report – The Sustainability Indicator. This SIR sets yearly savings targets for each hotel on electricity and energy usage. Compared to 1999 when the Ariadne property joined the Group, energy consumption per guest night has been reduced by 12.27% thanks to careful monitoring, changes in behaviour and the application of new technology. Scandic Hotels also systematically measure and set targets for elements such as air quality, environmentally friendly cleaning products, use of organic food, water conservation and waste management.

After having presented the Award to Jan Peter Bergkvist, Vice President of Sustainable Business at Scandic Hotels, Head of the Judging Panel, Amy Spatrisano, explained, “Scandic Hotels demonstrably exceeded other hotel chains in their level of commitment to sustainable practices and the green meetings industry. In our discussions with Scandic’s management team, we were also impressed with a number of really innovative environmental plans and developments they have underway for the next 12 months or more.”

By :Valere Tjolle