WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, PA.—Since 2004, when the Convention Industry Council (CIC) appointed a green meeting task force that produced a white paper of best practices for suppliers and planners, interest in the concept of green meetings has steadily been growing. Discussions between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CIC and the Green Meeting Industry Council revealed a tremendous need in the meeting and event industry for a uniform measure of environmental performance.
Following up on this interest, the CIC’s Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) program teamed up with ASTM, and ASTM Subcommittee E60.02 on Hospitality is currently addressing a wide variety of green meeting concerns in a series of proposed standards. The subcommittee is under the jurisdiction of ASTM International Committee E60 on Sustainability.
Task groups in the subcommittee are focused on specific meeting industry segments, including accommodations, audiovisual production, food and beverage, destinations, meeting venue, exhibits, transportation, communication and on-site offices.
Concrete Guidelines, Measurements
“Once finalized, the standards will give both meeting planners and suppliers such as hotels or transportation companies concrete guidelines and performance measurements that the meetings industry and others have vetted and agree are best practices for creating green meetings,” says Karen Kotowski, chief operating officer, CIC, and a member of E60.02. “There is so much conflicting information out there, and the industry wants and needs guidance.”
All interested parties are invited to contribute to the standards developing work of E60.02. The following proposed ASTM standards are currently under development by the subcommittee:
• WK22056, Practice for Evaluation and Selection of Hotel and Meeting Accommodations Related to Meetings, Events, Conferences, Conventions and Trade Shows;
• WK22057, Practice for Evaluation and Selection of Audiovisual (A/V) Equipment for Meetings, Events, Trade Show and Conferences;
• WK22666, Practice for Evaluation and Selection of Communication Supplies for Meetings, Events, Trade Shows and Conferences;
• WK22668, Practice for Evaluation and Selection of Destinations for Meetings, Events, Trade Shows and Conferences;
• WK22669, Practice for Establishment of Exhibits for Meetings, Events, Trade Shows and Conferences;
• WK22672, Practice for Evaluation and Selection of Food and Beverage for Meetings, Events, Trade Shows and Conferences;
• WK22674, Practice for Evaluation and Selection of Meeting Venue for Meetings, Events, Trade Shows and Conferences;
• WK22676, Practice for Establishment of On-Site Offices for Meetings, Events, Trade Shows and Conferences; and
• WK22678, Practice for Evaluation and Selection of Transportation for Meetings, Events, Trade Shows and Conferences.
ASTM International welcomes and encourages participation in the development of its standards. For more information on becoming an ASTM member, visit www.astm.org/JOIN. The next meeting of ASTM Committee E60 is April 19 to 22. Contact Karen Kotowski at kkotowski@conventionindustry.org for more information.
