Brad Gessner, senior vice president of AEG Facilities and general manager of the L.A. Convention Center holding the award with L.A. Convention Center senior staff.
Congratulations to the AEG-managed Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC) on receiving the Sustainable Innovation Award in the Materials & Resources category at the United States Green Building Council (USGBC)-LA’s 11th Annual Green Gala. The Sustainable Innovation Awards recognizes projects across seven categories that exceed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credit satisfaction and exemplify innovation, multi-tier collaboration, and positive community impact.
“We are honored and excited to have been selected as the recipient of the highly sought after Sustainable Innovation Award,” said Estella Flores, facilities manager at the Los Angeles Convention Center, in a statement. “Consistently seeking ways to improve our operations and processes in order to mitigate negative environmental impact is of utmost importance for the LACC. While we have a robust C&D [construction and demolition] program in place, we believe in on-going collaboration and will continue to refine and update the program.”
The LACC became the largest U.S. convention center to earn LEED EB+OM Gold re-certification in September 2015. The LACC Facilities and Operations Department collaborated with Waste Management to develop the Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste management program, which includes collection and hauling of the waste as well as establishing guidelines for event producers and organizers to follow in disposing of their C&D waste, the venue wrote in a press release. Within the past 12 months, the C&D program has diverted more than 1,000,000 pounds of waste from the landfill, which is a significant portion of the LACC’s overall waste.
The LACC implemented a waste management program for compostable kitchen waste, ongoing consumables, and durable goods that engages event attendees, staff, and community nonprofits. For example, the LACC partnered with the Los Angeles Conservation Corps to assist with a portion of the LACC’s ongoing consumables recycling. The Los Angeles Conservation Corps provides at-risk young adults and school-aged youth with opportunities for success through work experience on conservation and service projects. Partnering with this organization allows the LACC to simultaneously give back to the local community while reducing its environmental footprint.
“The LACC is proud to be recognized as a champion of environmental and social responsibility by the USGBC,” said Brad Gessner, senior vice president of AEG Facilities and general manager of the LACC. “The Sustainable Innovation Award celebrates our efforts in an important category but environmental best-practices are present in every aspect of our operations at the facility. We strive to be an exemplary, green facility both in L.A. and in the convention center industry at large.”
(Story source: LACC news release)
