New sustainability policy for Well Met Conferencing
Well Met Conferencing at Leeds Metropolitan University has produced a new sustainability policy for its portfolio of venues. The new policy sets out the values of the organisation on a social, economical and environmental level and will hopefully help the university position itself as an industry leader.
The policy outlines the sustainable credentials for Well Met Conferencing and includes many aspects such as how they work with suppliers who also have strong credentials, favouring those companies that recycle and make use of recycled materials, use local suppliers and consider food miles in their tendering process.
Research undertaken by Well Met Conferencing has shown that one of the largest impacts from hosting events is the associated delegate travel. Well Met have therefore created a number of residential accommodation options which enable delegates to stay on-site throughout the duration of their event and, with the venues all being centrally located, they are well served by a strong public transport infrastructure. Well Met also provide videoconferencing facilities and promote this as a sustainable way to do business.
Well Met Conferencing has already been recognised for their sustainable venues. New buildings such as the Rose Bowl, which opened in 2009, received BREEAM excellence status (the world's longest standing and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings) due to its key environmental features. These include automatic lighting controls, a combined heat and power unit and carbon emissions 10% below the necessary statutory level. Recent venue additions, Carnegie Pavilion, Carnegie Village and Broadcasting Place, also achieved BREEAM score of Excellence.
Kate Pitcher, Business Development Manager for Well Met Conferencing, commented:
"For us sustainability means carrying out our work in responsible and thoughtful manner, giving full consideration to everyone and everything we work with. By being innovative in our approach we are now able to promote our sustainable credentials when attracting conferences and events to the university. This is something that many of our clients consider to be an important factor when choosing a venue so by being able to adapt our way of working as well as our facilities to meet their needs we will hopefully be able to attract new business."
Jan Novitzky, Programme Director for NIACE (The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education) said:
"We specifically chose the Rose Bowl for our event because of its green credentials- the 'greenest building in Leeds'. NIACE is keen to promote the low carbon economy and the striking architecture of the Rose Bowl, together with its proximity to public transport and Leeds station - fits the bill."
Other key areas included in the new policy are reducing waste, pollution and carbon emissions, increasing recycling and promoting the use of recycled materials in products and buildings, promoting and managing energy and water efficiency in all operations and, incorporate standards (such as BREEAM) into all future building projects.
The team are also actively working within the community and are committed to their relationship with a number of local charities. Well Met annually works with CALM & their Residential Officers to host an annual Christmas Party for the very young and elderly at the University.
Click here to download our full sustainability policy.
.jpg)
.jpg)