Edmonton’s Shaw Conference Centre has become the latest convention center to be certified to an international sustainability standard for the meetings and event industry. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) certification is awarded to venues that achieve high standards in environmentally sustainable meetings, trade shows and conferences.
The Shaw Conference Centre is only one of five venues in Canada to currently be certified to the ASTM standard for the evaluation and selection of venues for environmentally sustainable meetings, events, trade shows, and conferences. The venue is also
BOMA BEST certified and the first conference venue in Canada to receive Green Key level five certification.
“This certification increases Edmonton’s competitiveness as a global meetings and conventions destination,” said Lisanne Lewis, general manager, Shaw Conference Centre. “We’re proud to be leading the way and building Edmonton’s brand and reputation as a leader in sustainability.”
The ASTM venues standard serves to outline the requirements for researching, evaluating and selecting a sustainable best-practices venue. It specifies performance criteria for staff management, communications, waste management, energy, air quality, water, procurement, and community partners. The standards were created in partnership with ASTM International, an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited standards development organization.
Roger Simons, president, Green Meeting and Industry Council (GMIC) added, “Responsible environmental and social practices in the meeting industry is a global concern. We are delighted to see a leading Canadian facility such as the Shaw Conference Centre step up and make a commitment to sustainable meetings.”
iCompli, a division of BPA Worldwide, a non-profit international auditing organization developed the certification protocols for the ASTM standards and performed the independent third party certification of the Shaw Conference Centre’s compliance with the venues standard.
