5 Key Lessons From the World’s Largest Green Events Venue
Photo Credit: The bright, sunlit lobby of the Georgia World Convention Center. Georgia World Congress Center Authority
Skift Take
The Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta is currently the biggest event space to be environmentally certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. The center has spent the past 10 years investing heavily in sustainability — and now acts as a blueprint for other convention centers.
Large events are notorious for the amount of waste they produce, not to mention the carbon emissions involved in transportation to and from the meeting space. With so many materials involved, it can seem impossible to make an event environmentally-friendly, unless it is very small and local.
The Georgia World Congress Center Authority is doing its best to change that, however. The center, which also includes Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Centennial Olympic Park, is positioning itself as a model of what a huge, climate-conscious venue can achieve. In fact, it is the largest venue in the world to have a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, meaning it meets the many environmental standards of the U.S. Green Building Council. The certification, which is well-known and comprehensive, is one of the few ways event spaces can benchmark their progress.
Keeping this certification year after year has not been easy. It has meant investing thousands of dollars in redesign
