SAN DIEGO—San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer joined the staff of the San Diego Convention Center at a public celebration last month to publicly celebrate the venue’s certification as a LEED Gold facility.
Mayor Faulconer praised the venue’s efforts in achieving the standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the foremost program for buildings, homes and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human health performance. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED-certified buildings are resource efficient. They use less water and energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“San Diego is one of the greenest cities in the nation, so it makes sense that we are home to one of the greenest convention centers as well,” Mayor Faulconer said. “As we move forward with plans to modernize and expand the San Diego Convention Center, this news shows how important it is to continually invest in this economic engine. With the support of organizations like the San Diego Convention Center, we can achieve the goals in our landmark Climate Action Plan to cut our city’s carbon footprint in half by 2035 and build a better future for all San Diegans.”
Center Official Presented with Proclamation
The Mayor presented a proclamation to Aimee Faucett, representing the San Diego Convention Center Board of Directors, declaring April 19 “San Diego Convention Center Excellence in Sustainability Day.”
He then joined San Diego Convention Center President & CEO Clifford “Rip” Rippetoe, Faucett and Elaine Aye of Green Building Services on behalf of the USGBC in planting a tree in Plaza Park.
LEED Silver certified in 2011, the convention center staff has been working to reach the Gold standard and improve a sustainability business model that began when the venue first opened in 1989. The next highest level from LEED Gold is Platinum. Long before “green” was popular, the San Diego Convention Center was the first to install recycling bins in 1990.
Here are some stats that helped SDCCC earn the Gold certification:
- In 2016, the convention center diverted a record 79 percent of materials or 3,162 tons.
- To put that into context, that’s almost equal to the weight of eight Boeing 747’s.
- The convention center replaced their old fluorescent lights with 11,650 energy-efficient LEDs in the exhibit hall, meetings rooms and offices.
- Ninety-eight percent of all restrooms have been renovated to low-flow water usage, helping reduce indoor water usage by 32 percent.
- The facility recycles 100 percent of all cardboard, thanks to two cardboard balers.
- During Comic-Con alone, the convention center recycled 50 tons of cardboard. That’s more than eight times the weight of the Gaslamp Quarter Archway sign that hangs above Fifth Avenue.
- There are no garbage disposals in the convention center kitchens—food scraps are all composted and reused by local gardeners.
- Untouched food that hasn’t spoiled gets donated to the San Diego Rescue Mission.
Ninety-one tons of edible food leftover from events was donated last year by the San Diego Convention Center. That helped feed 145,000 hungry San Diegans.
