An unconventional convention centre

Any carbon accountant or sustainability advisor will tell you that working in carbon accounting has its difficulties. It means working with a substance that for many people, isn’t ‘real’. Even in a world where money is mostly electronic, we still know what it means to hold a dollar in our hands, what that dollar can buy.

Carbon is different. We know it’s all around us. We know, for instance, that cars emit greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon. But still, in the time of the Global Climate Emergency, much of the general public can’t readily equate the value of carbon. Go ahead, try it now—visualize one metric tonne of carbon. What does it look like? How do we know how much is too much? How do we know if we are doing enough to stop and even reverse the effects of global climate change?

For more than a decade, the Edmonton Convention Centre (ECC) has been leading the way as a company deeply rooted in sustainable business. In fact, the ECC made the transition to source-sort compostable waste more than 15 years ago, long before there was any traction behind commercial waste sorting in most Edmonton businesses.

Since then, environmental sustainability has become one of our company’s core values and this year, one of the largest building-integrated solar-voltaic installations in the country is being installed atop the ECC atrium.

At the same time, our executives, employees and community couldn’t ignore calls for increased urgency for climate mitigation. To echo what we’re hearing in Edmonton’s Energy Transition motion, we need to do more and we need to do it faster. And so, in 2019 we took a leap into what was, for us, the new and relatively unexplored area of carbon accounting.

In the world of business, there is a golden rule that rings true: If you are going to bother doing anything, you ought to be measuring it. At the ECC we acknowledge good business is carbon-wise business. We have entered an age where carbon footprints are measured and conveyed in annual reports, stakeholder summaries and even in executive bonuses (as is becoming common-practice in many top global businesses).

According to Forbes, 90% of top companies publish a sustainability report and nearly every business in the Forbes Top 50 rating maintains a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) position or equivalent in senior management. As a progressive, sustainable leader, the direction for the ECC was clear.

To break down carbon accounting meant the ECC was going to accomplish three things: compute the amount of GHGs our entire building and operations produce (which is no easy feat), transparently report that amount and set vigorous reductions targets. This meant engaging suppliers at every point along the supply chain and talking to our stakeholders and employees to identify real, meaningful reduction tactics.

In 2019, with the help of the City of Edmonton’s Corporate Climate Leaders Program, the Edmonton Convention Centre has released our Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan—committing to implementing operational and behavioural changes that will reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 15% by 2025 and 30% by 2035 (from 2018 levels). This goal is helping to support the City of Edmonton’s long-term goal of carbon neutrality.

This target is accompanied by a robust implementation plan with action items such as: ensuring more waste diverted from landfill, sourcing more environmentally-preferred and locally-produced food, and driving down energy demand through substantial building and lighting retrofits.

We will also begin producing renewable solar energy at approximately 230,000 kwh per year, beginning in 2020. As an extension of our work in sustainability, we’ve launched a Responsible Meetings Program.

Our hope is that this work will be a stepping stone for larger industry shift toward a shared responsibility for a low-carbon meeting and events industry. This is in line with what our company culture dictates, what is the smart way to conduct business and most importantly, ensures a vibrant and sustainable Edmonton for years to come.

Learn more about hosting a responsible meeting at the Edmonton Convention Centre.

This post was submitted by Melissa Radu, Sustainability Manager at the Edmonton Convention Centre and Edmonton EXPO Centre. If you live in Edmonton and have a climate change story to tell, let us know! Your story could be shared here too.