Liverpool’s award-winning BT Convention Centre at Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool played host last week (Thursday May 21st) to officials from eco-friendly counterpart convention centres in Cape Town and Vancouver, as they visited the city to debate green developments and share industry best practice.
Rashid Toefy and Dirk Elzinga of Cape Town and Ken Cretney and Claire Smith of Vancouver joined BT Convention Centre General Manager Jacquie Rogers for a tour of the convention centre and to discuss ideas for venue development that support global environmental targets in the meetings industry.
Jacquie Rogers said: “Within just one year of opening, the BT Convention Centre has established its credentials on the world stage as one of the greenest venues in Europe. We are delighted to have the opportunity to showcase our stunning facility to colleagues from around the world who share our passion for developing venues that support sustainability targets.”
Rashid Toefy, CEO, from Cape Town International Convention Centre added: “The green debate is a key aspect of the meetings industry and we are committed to ensuring sustainability targets are met. Two heads are always better than one and it is great that we can share ideas and discuss new techniques and design features with like-minded organisations. In this way we can help each other to further develop our eco-friendly venues to the benefit of the industry as a whole.”
Ken Cretney, GM, from Vancouver concluded: “The BT Convention Centre in Liverpool and Vancouver Convention Centre are among the newest eco-friendly venues in the world and we welcome the chance to confer with our international colleagues and share best practice.”
The BT Convention Centre was built with the environment in mind and includes a significant number of design features that maximise renewable energy sources and contribute towards the venue’s sustainability agenda as detailed below:
- Due to ACC Liverpool’s environmental measures it produces half the CO2 emissions it would without any and uses 20% less electricity.
- The design of the building, along with its insulation and air control system, is inherently efficient and requires significantly less energy than a traditional build would.
- Lighting is high efficiency and controlled by motion detection (so a room is dark unless someone is in it).
- Five 20 metre low-noise wind turbines contribute to ACC Liverpool’s power provision.
- Rainwater is collected on the roof of the building, which is then used to flush toilets. The rainwater accounts for approximately 40% of the water used for flushing toilets within the arena.
- ACC Liverpool is powered by E-on: official energy suppliers to the Echo Arena and BT Convention Centre. All electricity comes from E-on’s ‘green’ portfolio – which means it is generated either by wind or hydro electric power.
- ACC Liverpool has a ‘very good’ BREEAM rating, which measures environmental credentials.
- A comprehensive waste disposal policy is in place and this incorporates green waste – including food - to be composted; separated paper and cardboard; glass, metal
and wood recycling direct from site and paperless office principles.
- A Northwest caterer has been chosen to keep ‘food miles’ at a minimum; the appointed contractor – Heathcotes – are committed to using local, fresh produce to minimise the impact of transport and frozen holdings.
- ACC Liverpool has an in-house ‘Green Dream Team’, dedicated to minimising the effects of our business on the environment.
- ACC Liverpool have adopted an Energy Saving Task force, dedicated to minimising energy use across the organisation.
Further information on the convention centres can be found at:
Vancouver - www.vancouverconventioncentre.com
Cape Town - www.capetownconvention.com
Image: ACC Liverpool
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