London Green Theatre Nights
Tuesday, 08 Sep, 2009
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Arcola Theatre
Arcola Theatre, a former textile factory on Arcola Street in East London, is leading the way in greening London’s theatres. In 2008 it became the first theatre in the world to install a permanent hydrogen fuel cell. The cell has pride of place in the theatre foyer and operates almost silently, producing nothing but electricity and clean water.
The first show to be powered by the cell, The Living Unknown Soldier, had a peak power consumption of 4.5kW, 60% less than similar lighting installations. Says Executive Director Ben Todd ‘We have shown theatre producers that you do not need to start with the assumption that more lighting is better! And we have reduced energy costs in the process.’
The Arcola opened in September 2000, the brainchild of Mehmet Ergen, Artistic Director, and is known as one of London’s most adaptable and artistically courageous theatres. Today the theatre has a main theatre and studio space seating around 400 and a turnover of a £1mn.
Arcola aims to become the world’s first carbon neutral theatre but faces quite a challenge. The building is energy inefficient – as well as leasehold – and the opportunities to dent the theatre’s 54 tonnes of CO2 emission per annum are limited.
So Arcola recently called in Green Tourism for London to undertake a full audit and to provide advice on next steps. Green Tourism for London is a scheme for hotels, guesthouses, theatres, attractions and venues, operated by the Green Tourism Business Scheme for the London Development Agency, aimed at improving resource and energy management and cutting costs in tourism businesses.
Ben Todd says ‘Green Tourism for London auditors are incredibly knowledgeable about buildings management. Most theatres could cut 25% off their energy bills if they followed Green Tourism for London advice.
‘The auditors also provide sensible advice that all our staff can follow easily. And we like the fact that it is not a pass or fail scheme. We have an old and inefficient building and had to start somewhere and Green Tourism for London helps you move up the ladder. We were delighted to be awarded a Bronze level and are aiming for a Silver next year.’
The Arcola team of 15 full time staff plus many volunteers are also committed to driving green awareness in the local community and in the arts world.
• Arcola acts as Secretariat to ‘Green Theatres’ launched by the Mayor of London in late 2008. The initiative is designed to share best practice and reduce the overall total emissions from London theatres of around 50,000 tonnes of CO² a year (excluding audience travel).
• In July 2007 the theatre launched Arcola Energy which provides a detailed website and monthly newsletter, full of advice for organisations looking to go green.
• Arcola has also renovated space within the building to act as a Business Incubator for start up local green technology companies.
• Launched in Spring 2009 ‘Green Sundays’ are now a regular feature of the theatre’s programming. The first Sunday of every month is dedicated to music, poetry, film, spoken word, games and discussions on ecological themes and is attracting a large local following.
Arcola received the Green Award in the CBI’s Growing Business Awards 2008.
Green Tourism for London and Arcola are hosting a morning workshop on greening for theatres at Arcola on Wednesday 21 October 2009. For more information on the workshop or on joining Green Tourism for London see www.lda.gov.uk/greentourism or call 0845 863 0770.
Businesses signing up to Green Tourism for London before the end of March 2010 receive a subsidy of 50% off the membership plus a FREE advisory visit and no joining fee.
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