New APEX Standards Offer Green Yardstick
For planners and suppliers searching for a comprehensive set of green standards for the hospitality industry, the wait is almost over. The Convention Industry Council (CIC), in collaboration with American Society for Testing and Materials International (ASTM) and the Green Meeting Industry Council, plans to release a set of green guidelines early in 2010. Adherence is voluntary, and the standards offer varying levels of participation, so an organization can begin where its current resources permit, and achieve higher levels over time.
“We wanted people to get engaged. They can get in on a baseline level, and when they see how well they’ve integrated it into their daily routines, they can aspire to a higher level for their next meeting,” said Karen Kotowski, CMP and chief operating officer of the Convention Industry Council.
The Accepted Practice Exchange (APEX) standards, as they are now known, address nine different sectors of the hospitality industry: Accommodations, Audio/Visual and Production, Communications and Marketing, Destinations, Exhibits, Food and Beverage, Meeting Venue, On-Site Offices, and Transportation.
Each of these sectors is further divided into eight components, many of which are already available for review on the CIC’s website. Planners and suppliers can use them to measure how well they’re doing now, and to set goals for future meetings.
Once the standards are final, the CIC plans to offer training, and may eventually establish a certification process. Initially, certification would be self-reporting, but could become a third-party evaluation later.
“We are defining ‘sustainability’ as the environmental, the economic, and the social aspects of our meetings and events. Our goal has been to create something that’s industry-wide, that can be a roadmap for planners and suppliers, and that will encourage an improvement in sustainable practices in communities, in venues, everywhere,” Kotowski said.
The CIC developed the APEX standards over a two-year period, in response to a request for green meeting guidelines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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