Convention center gets green certification
The Minneapolis Convention Center, which is the largest convention center in the Upper Midwest, has reached a new international standard for sustainability in convention centers. This certification helps make Minneapolis the sustainable destination of choice for convention planners.
Part of the convention center’s mission includes integrating a no-waste mentality. Convention center employees have been working toward goals to significantly reduce the building’s water and energy use and increase the amount of waste it recycles by the year 2015. Some recent accomplishments:
- Increasing its annual recycling rate to 49 percent in 2013 – recycling 467 tons last year.
- Reducing its annual energy use by 8 percent since 2009.
- Saving 3.7 million gallons of water since 2009.
These successes helped the convention center earn its Level One Certification from ASTM International for the ASTM Standard pertaining to the Evaluation and Selection of Venues for Environmentally Sustainable Meetings, Events, Trade Shows, and Conferences.
Plan a group tour
Go behind the scenes and see how the Minneapolis Convention Center is going green in a free tour. You’ll see how a bay door that opens and closes in 22 seconds can significantly reduce heating and cooling costs and how simply collecting used pallets after tradeshows can result in 20 tons of eco-friendly recycling.
To set up a one-hour tour, contact Michael Rainville at 612-767-8074 or michaelr@minneapolis.org.
Published Apr 1, 2014
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