imex america · imex is committed to ensuring sustainability practices are integrated into the...

IMEX America

Sustainable Event Report

by MeetGreen®

Executive Summary p.2About IMEX America p.5Event Details p.6Sustainability Strategy p.7Objectives p.9–22Attachments p.23–25

MEETGREEN®: IMEX AMERICA, SUSTAINABLE EVENT REPORT 2

Executive Summary

IMEX is committed to ensuring sustainability practices are integrated into

the planning and implementation at IMEX America. In the first year of the

show IMEX’s priority has been to enroll and build partnerships with sponsors,

exhibitors, attendees and vendors to enhance the event’s success through

sustainable practices. The main goals of the sustainability plan for 2011 were to

research supplier’s existing and potential practices and collect baseline data in

order to set future sustainability targets.

Sustainability program innovations IMEX America is proud to have accomplished the following in 2011:

Enrolled the headquarter hotel in the Clean the World

soap recycling program.

In total 5 hotels participated in this program. Resulting in:

5,626 Bars of soap distributed

4,197 Amenity bottles collected (1,399 bottles recycled, 2,798 distributed)

This will supply 563 children with enough soap and 280 children with

enough bottled amenities for a MONTH.

Initiated a service-ware composting program at the Sands EXPO

The venue switched from using disposable service-ware and having a pig farm

pickup their food waste to using compostable service-ware, which along with

food waste was taken to a compost facility. Not only did this reduce landfill

waste, but the following old service-ware was donated to Teacher Exchange:

a local organization that collects donated supplies for resource-deprived

teachers.

27,000 - 12oz and 16oz foam cups

3,000 - 8 inch round foam plates

1,400 hinged lid foam containers

4,000 plastic coffee cup lids


Supported two local organizations through a legacy

program that also encouraged name badge recycling.

With the Badge Back program attendees were encouraged to recycle their

badges by placing them in a box designated for one of the two organizations.

For every badge collected a donation was made to support projects selected by

attendees. IMEX America also offered tours of each facility. Supported projects

included:

Opportunity Village, a local non-profit organization employing

people with intellectual disabilities in Las Vegas.

The Shade Tree, who provides safe shelter to homeless and abused women

and children in crisis.

In addition to these new and innovative programs, IMEX America

practiced sustainability in a number of different ways:

Used show badges and hosted buyer luggage tags that were made of

recycled paper

Provided show badge lanyards made from plant silk

Purchased sustainable badge holders

Distributed reusable and recyclable polypropylene show bags

Succeeded in sourcing signage within 100 miles of facility and storing 99% of

signs for reuse at next year’s show

Enforced a 3-minute anti-idling policy for IMEX America buses

Used an audio visual company that sourced the most energy efficient lighting

and projectors for the event and participated in a lamp recycling program.

More than 76% of the equipment used at the show was EnergyStar compliant

and more than 51% of equipment used at the show was RoHS (Restriction of

Hazardous Substances Directive) compliant

Re-used or recycled all exhibitor waste baskets

Sustainability Best Practices


The estimated water use for the event:

Conference Space: 635,640 gallons

Hotel Rooms Venetian/Palazzo (total rooms used by IMEX attendees):

622,817 gallons

The estimated electricity usage for the event:

Conference Space: 453,922 kWh


267,447 kWh

The estimated natural gas usage for the event:


2,154 Therms

Estimated carbon footprint for the Conference Center,

Headquarter hotel and attendee travel:

4033 Metric tons of Co2E

Recycled material from the Venetian/Palazzo/Sands:

66.44 tons

Food donated to Mission Food from the concessions at the Sands EXPO:

156.5 lbs

The estimated carbon footprint avoided by recycling:

1.52 Metric tons of Co2E

Estimated savings realized by eliminating bottled water:

Water Saved: 28,881 Liters

Oil use avoided: 328 Kilograms

Energy use avoided: 47,248 Megajoules

Co2 Emissions Reduced: 1,794 Kilograms

Assume 5,285 attendees, drinking 2 bottles a water a day for 3 days. Resource calculations only include those required to produce the bottle, and does not include cost of bottling the water, printing labels or transport to distributors or retail outlets. Therefore, these numbers are underestimates of actual

savings.

IMEX America’s decision to use 95% post consumer recycled paper for a portion

of their collateral material resulted in the following savings:

Trees saved: 39

Energy saved: 15 million BTU’s

Water saved: 16,882 gallons

Waste avoided: 1,071 pounds

Greenhouse gases saved: 3,743 pounds of Co2 equivalent

Environmental impact estimates were made using the Environmental Paper Network Paper Calculator. For more information visit www.papercalculator.org.

Event Footprint Baseline

Other Benefits

5MEETGREEN®: IMEX AMERICA, SUSTAINABLE EVENT REPORT

About IMEX America

America’s new trade show, from the organizers of the award-winning IMEX in

Frankfurt, offered unprecedented business opportunities. In partnership with

the industry’s key associations, the unique model is complemented by extensive

free education and networking. This pioneering show took place in Las Vegas at

the Venetian/Palazzo and the Sands EXPO.

IMEX hosted buyers are hand-picked, recommended and qualified by IMEX

intermediaries as key decision-makers for major meetings, conventions and

events. Reflecting their importance, hosted buyers travel and stay compliments

of IMEX. The hosted buyer program makes it easy for top buyers to attend the

show and maximize the sales potential for exhibitors.

In this first year, IMEX America hosted buyer program delivered over 2,000

of the world’s top-spending meeting, incentive and association buyers – the

largest-ever hosted buyer gathering at a US trade show. 77% were from the USA,

23% come from around the world, with a special interest in buying in the US.

Event Purpose


Event Details

Event name

Date

Venue

Scope

IMEX America

October 11-13, 2011

Sands Expo Center, Las Vegas

5,285 Attendees (including 2,000 hosted buyers)

2,000 Exhibitors

14,615 captured room nights

In addition to the hosted buyer tradeshow, IMEX America

offered a variety of social and educational forums:

Smart Monday - co-created educational event between IMEX America and

their strategic partner, Meeting Professionals International (MPI)

Educational events from their industry partners

The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) powered a sustainability stand

offering power sessions about sustainability

Event Program

The IMEX Sustainability Program was overseen by MeetGreen®’s

Rebecca Mebane and Amy Spatrisano, CMP who worked directly

with IMEX Staff and vendors including:

Dale Hudson, Events and Project Director

Nalan Yilmaz, Organizing Direction

Mark Mulligan, Senior Organizing Manager

Craig Hoffman, Trade Show Specialist

Jenny Yu, Director, Corporate Sustainability

Katarina Tesarova, Director, Sustainable Operations

Lisa Witherell, LEED AP I Convention Services

Ryan Green, Sustainable Development Coordinator

Terry Abbott, Sr. Director of Graphics Production, GES

Barry Tester, Senior Manager, Catering and Conference Management,

The Venetian/The Palazzo Hotel

Norberto Madrigal, Treasurer, Lunas Recycling

Fred Crossley, Major Account Executive, Republic Services

James ‘Hank’ Combs, Managing Partner, Combs Brothers LLC Recycling Services

Bethanne Doud, Director Meeting Planner Recycle Program, Clean the World

Event Team

From the IMEX team

Las Vegas Sands Corp

Sands EXPO and Convention Center

Vendors


Sustainability Strategy

IMEX America was committed to ensuring sustainability practices were

addressed in the planning and implementation of this first time show. In

collaboration with their sustainability consultant company, MeetGreen®, the

IMEX America team developed a sustainability plan using the British Standard

8901 for Sustainable Events.

The elements of the planning process include writing a mission statement,

choosing key principles, identifying issues, setting objectives and reporting

intended outcomes. It was critical to develop an engagement strategy that

included all stakeholders, especially staff and vendors. A training plan was

developed for staff that included sharing documented plans and live webinars.

This was also archived for future reference.

Success of the plan also hinged on vendor participation, including the

hotels, exhibit facility, food and beverage provider, general service contactor,

transportation and audio visual companies. Each vendor was uniquely informed

and educated about the requests and expectations of performance for the

show. The engagement process began with surveying all of the vendors

to assess their current sustainable practices and their willingness to adopt

requested practices.

This report illustrates key components of the plan, outcomes, learning and

future recommendations.

Background

The Plan

Stakeholders

Principles

Sustainability Mission IMEX is committed to educating the meeting, incentive and travel industry about

sustainability issues that relate to the IMEX America show and address these in

a proactive, measured way. The intention is to develop a long-term relationship

with the exhibitors, venues and vendors to build a successful show and to

increase sustainability efforts for the future. The first year goal is to collect

baseline sustainability performance from the key venues and vendors and use

that information to build a solid sustainability strategy for future years.

The principles established for the production of the exhibition

at IMEX America included the intention to strive to be:

transparent

inclusive

continuously improving

compliant


IMEX would like to leverage sustainable practices from Frankfurt

to Las Vegas, however the capacity of each city to host a sustainable

event is very different.

Venue regulations constrain exhibitors from bringing in their own food

Hotels are in some cases reluctant or unwilling to comply with sustainable

practices they are not currently doing

Las Vegas is not perceived as a sustainable destination which may make

stakeholders critical of sustainability efforts, posing communication risks

IMEX must balance the desire to have exhibitors engaging in sustainable

practices with alienating them if they don’t with the desire to build and

establish a new show

Local waste management infrastructure is limited

Vendors have different capacities to support sustainability and there is a need

to supply them with resources and education to support the IMEX America’s

sustainability plan

Issues identified

Sand Expo Center


Objectives

1 Measure the event footprint in terms of water, energy, emissions, waste and overall

event sustainability. The target for 2011 will be to establish a baseline.

Key Performance Indicator:

Liters of water used at venue.The Sands EXPO was able to provide the water, carbon emissions and energy

use through their newly developed Eco360 Meeting Impact Statement. As part

of its dedication to the environment The Sands participates in its ‘Sands Eco

360° Global Sustainable Development' program which encompasses four key

areas of sustainability: construction; ongoing operations and environmental

policies; purchasing policies; and education about its best practices and

innovations to help others become more eco-friendly (employees, guests as

well as other governments and corporations). The facility has earned the LEED®-

Gold EB (Existing Building) certification.

See the attached report for the detailed assumptions used in the calculations.

The estimated water use for the event:

Conference Space – 635,640 gallons

Hotel Rooms Venetian/Palazzo (total rooms used by IMEX attendees)–

622,817 gallons

Results:

Venetian signage. Photo by Rebecca Mebane



kWh of energy used at venue.


Tons of CO2 produced by exhibition

venue and attendee travel.

The estimated electricity usage for the event:

Conference Space 453,922 kWh

Hotel Rooms Venetian/Palazzo (total rooms used by IMEX attendees)

267,447 kWh

The estimated natural gas usage for the event:

Hotel Rooms Venetian/Palazzo (total rooms used by IMEX attendees)

2,154 Therms

The results for the Venetian/Sands were:

Estimated carbon footprint for the Conference Center

313.01 Metric tons of Co2E

Estimated carbon footprint for the Venetian/Palazzo hotels (based on nights

used by IMEX Attendees) 195.19 Metric tons of Co2E

Estimated carbon footprint for attendee travel* 3,525 Metric tons

TerraPass Air Travel and Car Travel Carbon FootPrint calculator - Assume 1005 plane trips under 2

hours, 967 plane trips of 2-4 hours 3,036 plane trips over 4 hours and 277 individuals traveling by

car an average of 50 miles.

Results:

Results:

*

IMEX America acknowledges reducing air travel for the participants is not

practical for this show. However, IMEX America has a comprehensive, pre-

qualifier for hosted buyers to ensure they are the appropriate person to be

attending the show. An analysis should be done to determine if the IMEX

America show reduces the travel for a portion of the hosted buyers because

they are now attending an American,

more regional show, than a European

one. One way IMEX America could

reduce emissions is to limit the

shuttle bus service for attendees to

peak times during the show.

Encourage exhibitors to ship

freight using the US Environmental

Protection Agency’s SmartWay

program which offers smart shipping

practices.

Work with the show venue to set

a goal for water, energy and carbon

emission reductions.

Recommendations for next year:

IMEX signage. Photo by Rebecca Mebane



Tons of waste to landfill, recycling, compost & donations from venue. Prompted by the questions posed from MeetGreen® about the recycling

practices and diversion rate, the Sands EXPO began a thorough analysis of their

waste stream. Both the Sands and Venetian took steps by working together

along with their sustainability and operation teams to analyze their waste

impacts and develop strategies to maximize their diversion efforts.

Recycled material from the Venetian/Palazzo/Sands EXPO

Comingled Recycled (Republic) 4.83 tons

Miscellaneous Recycled (Lunas) 7.92 tons

Glass 6.93 tons

Food (Composting) 12.42 tons

Cardboard 14.28 tons

Metal .74 tons

Plastic 6.78 tons

Paper 5.02 tons

Wood 7.52 tons

Total waste – 125.84 tons

Percentage recycled Sands EXPO – 68.16%

Percentage recycled hotel rooms and meeting space – 33.81%

Total percentage recycled – 52.79%

* Imperial tons

Because the Sands switched to compostable service-ware, the following

old service-ware was donated to Teacher Exchange

27,000 – 12oz and 16oz foam cups

3,000 – 8 inch round foam plates

1,400 hinged lid foam containers

4,000 plastic coffee cup lids

156.5 lbs of food from the concessions at the Sands EXPO

was donated to Mission Foods, a local food bank.

The Sands donated the following items from IMEX to the Teacher Exchange

500 IMEX show bags

100 foam core signs

Results:


Recommendations for next year: Work with IMEX America team to reduce materials produced, therefore

reducing waste where possible. For example, reduce printed materials. Set a

goal for a diversion rate of 65% for the IMEX America show.

Work with the facilities to improve their recycling rate (currently the facility

averages 64%) and donations and set a higher overall diversion rate target.

Work with the hotel to train housekeeping staff on the sheet and towel

program (not changing sheet and towels unless the guest requests it).

IMEX Badge Back Legacy collection bin. Photo by Rebecca Mebane



MeetGreen® Calculator score. MeetGreen® prepared an event calculation for IMEX America using the

MeetGreen® Calculator. Those events that score highly are run by planners who

not only request sustainable practices, but also ensure that these requests are

implemented through systemic processes, that procedures are tracked and that

a high level of performance is achieved. Practices and measurements tracked

by the MeetGreen® Calculator meet or exceed United States Environmental

Protection Agency purchasing policies and Convention Industry Council Green

Meeting Guidelines. The calculator tracks practices in the following areas:

Destination Selection, Meeting Venue Selection, Accommodation Selection,

Transportation, Food and Beverage, Exhibit Production, Communications &

Marketing, On-site Office, Audio/Visual and Offsets.

For a first year show, IMEX America

scored well with a 49.82% overall

score. This score compares well

with other shows who had a trade

show component and were held

in Las Vegas and had scores in the

range of 52.7% to 58.1%.

In some cases, the scores may look

low. The Calculator is set up to

award maximum points to planners

who communicate their intention

to hold a sustainable show through

language in their request for

proposal and contract which was

not implemented by IMEX this year.

Conferences with scores exceeding

60% are often ones where the

organizers continually improve

their sustainable practices year

after year.

Results:

Event Summary

Event Comparison

Event Comparison: Other conferences held in the United States with a trade show and attendance over 5,000 people.

49.82%


2 Measure sustainable procurement. The target for 2011 will be to establish

a baseline.


Number/percentage of hotels reporting compliance of the minimum sustainability criteria.

In addition to the headquarter hotel, IMEX America contracted with 14 additional

hotels. Most of these were smaller room blocks with only three of these hotels

having blocks of over 100 rooms. Each property was sent the MeetGreen®

sustainability assessment survey which asked about participation in a basic set

of sustainable practices. All the hotels did return the surveys and some of them

were already implementing sustainable practices. As the goal this year was to

benchmark, the only request made of the hotels was to ask for participation in

the Clean the World meeting planner program. 36% of the hotels participated in

this program: Caesars Palace, Paris, Planet Hollywood, Wynn and Encore. The

other hotels declined to participate in the program.

Event specific data from the hotels was not made available so we were unable to

benchmark the majority of the hotels’ footprint.

IMEX America should require hotels with more than 100 rooms on peak

nights to sign an environmental contract clause.

Require all hotels to provide information to the extent to which they

complied with requested practices.

Results:


Reclaimed IMEX exhibitor waste bins. Photo by Rebecca Mebane



Percentage of menu items sourced that are local and certified organic.

The Venetian catering team, the caterers for the exhibitors and conference

related catering, was requested to provide local and organic food ten months

prior to the event. The last minute nature of catering planning by exhibitors

made it difficult to source sustainable food. It may be easier to source

sustainable options next year as the caterer has event orders from the prior year

to assist with planning. In the end, a 20 % sustainable menu was not achieved by

the Venetian. The Venetian did use china and bulk condiments.

While the amount of catering ordered from the exhibitors was minimal there is a

willingness on the part of the caterers to explore options for next year.

Additionally, the Sands caterer, who provided the trade show floor concession

catering did switch from using disposables to using compostables on the show

floor. This enabled previously landfilled disposables to be composted by A-1

Organics. The caterer also provided some menu options that were sustainable.

By eliminating individual bottled water and providing water coolers instead

it is estimated the following savings were realized:

Water Saved: 28,881.468 Liters

Oil use avoided: 328,1985 Kilograms

Energy use avoided: 47,247.9 Megajoules

Co2 Emissions Reduced: 1,794.15188 Kilograms

Assume 5,285 attendees, drinking 2 bottles a water a day for 3 days. Resource calculations only include those required to produce the bottle, and does not include cost of bottling the water, printing labels or transport to distributors or retail outlets. Therefore, these numbers are underestimates of actual savings.

Continue to work with the Venetian caterer to offer local and organic menu

items such as fair trade coffee and organic wine.

Work with both caterers on food donations to local shelters. Possibly tie into

any Badge Back Legacy Program partners where attendees have a choice in

which program to support based on what bin they place their badge in to be

recycled

Work with the Sands caterer on local and organic concession food options

Ask that the caterer avoid plastic stir sticks

Find a solution to providing refreshment that would reduce individually

purchased bottled water. Work with IMEX to offer a sponsorship of water

coolers and water bottles for attendees

Results:


Venetian educational signage. Photo by Rebecca Mebane




Percentage of post-consumer recycled content in print collateral produced by IMEX.

IMEX America's decision to use 95% post consumer recycled paper for a portion

of their collateral material resulted in the following savings:

Trees saved: 39

Energy saved: 15 million BTU's

Water saved: 16,882 gallons

Waste avoided: 1,071 pounds

Greenhouse gases saved: 3,743 pounds of Co2 equivalent

Environmental impact estimates were made using the Environmental Paper Network Paper Calculator.

For more information visit www.papercalculator.org.

Update mailing lists to avoid duplicate records and avoid paper waste

Reduce the size of the printed program book

Reduce the size of the on-site daily newspapers

Use post-consumer recycled content paper of at least 50% in all printed

collateral material

Set a target for reducing printing

Results:

IMEX Signage. Photo by Rebecca Mebane McCarron signage. Photo by Rebecca Mebane




Percentage of recycled content in signage substrates and carpeting.

GES worked with MeetGreen® to maximize their ability to supply

sustainable choices for the show. As a result:

520 lbs of carpet and padding was recycled

99% of the 42,027 sq ft of signage can be reused at next year’s show

All signage was produced within 100 miles of facility

All exhibitor signage produced by GES was reclaimed and recycled

Though there were GES champions of sustainable practices, an assigned

donation area for exhibitors to participate in and no wastebaskets for each

exhibitor as requested was not achieved

100 % of shipments controlled by GES were SmartWay certified.

Continue to work with GES to make sure the most sustainable options are

being offered to exhibitors at cost neutral prices

Make sure signage is reused from previous years

Results:

IMEX signage reclaimed for recycling. Photos by Rebecca Mebane


3 Quantify benefits of sustainable decisions/programs/communications.


Costs saved through sustainable practices.


Number of positive press articles.

As the caterer already purchased in bulk there were no cost savings reported.

GES was asked to provide cost savings but no dollar amount was provided.

Ensure vendors are required to provide cost saving information.

There were over a dozen press articles mentioning

IMEX’s sustainability initiatives.

Results:


Results:


Measure the number of trees, water and energy saved and emissions and solid waste avoided from purchasing decisions.

The only quantifiable purchasing decision data was the collateral material

noted under Objective 2.

Results:

Venetian ‘Clean the World’ collection bins. Photo by Rebecca Mebane


4 Improve exhibitor adoption of green practices.


Measure percentage of exhibitors that adopt green practices.

IMEX relies on exhibitor revenue to build a successful event which can make

it challenging to impose sustainability guidelines. The MeetGreen® survey for

exhibitors was included in the Decorator kit but none of the exhibitors filled

them out and returned them. Exhibitors were offered the option of recycled

content carpeting.

46 exhibitors, representing 19,352 sq ft, requested the recycled

content carpet option

The venue reused or recycled the exhibitor waste baskets provided by GES

The facility collected leftover exhibitor materials and donated them

(see ‘Exhibits’ section)

Work with GES to provide an exhibitor donation area. Remove wastebaskets

from the exhibitor package or make them available only on request.

Consider an incentive for exhibitors who comply with sustainable practices.

Results:


Lunas Recycling Facility. Photo by Rebecca MebaneIMEX paper and magazine recycling bin. Photo by Rebecca Mebane


5 Educate our visitors, exhibitors and hosted buyers on issues and solutions related to

sustainability practices within the industry.


Number of educational opportunities/workshops offered during the show.

IMEX America provided a forum in partnership with GMIC to provide daily

sessions about sustainability at the Sustainability Center stand. Located in the

exposition hall, the forum gave exhibitors and buyers a gathering place to

increase their knowledge of environmental and social responsibility. The center

offered green power sessions, expert advice, tool kits and case studies.

Here are examples of some of those sessions:

“IMEX America Sustainability Case Study”

“GRI”

“Tips, Tricks and Best Practices”

MeetGreen® also presented “How to Make Sustainability Happen” at the

Future Leaders Forum for the students.

Provide a back-of-house tour for the Las Vegas Chapter

of GMIC® during the show.

Offer a pig farm tour and a tour of Lunas Recycling.

Offer ‘Clean the World’ as a legacy option. Provide people with the

opportunity to visit and volunteer at the Clean the World facility in Las Vegas.

Continue to partner with GMIC to provide sustainable

educational opportunities.

Results:



Additional information collected beyond those set in the objectives.

Las Vegas is not perceived as a sustainable destination which may make

stakeholders critical of sustainability efforts, posing communication risks.

The ability to maximize the available infrastructure and support a waste

management program is limited.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority presented a seminar at the

Sustainability Center entitled “A Sustainable Las Vegas” which demonstrated their

increased commitment to sustainability.

Continue to highlight any new sustainable actions Las Vegas is adopting. For

example Las Vegas reported in August 2011 that Enel Green Power SpA had won

approval from U.S. authorities to build a hybrid power plant in Nevada.

Destination



Audio/Visual The MeetGreen® audio visual production survey used in the request for proposal

phase helped determine the audio visual production provider. PSAV, the

chosen A/V company for IMEX America, had an environmentally sustainable

policy for the company. Their purchasing policy includes sourcing the most

environmentally friendly equipment including purchasing Energy Star compliant

equipment whenever possible. For equipment not certified by Energy Star, they

use RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) compliant equipment. The

company also has a recycling program in conjunction with Waste Management

Corporation.

Company provided the most energy efficient lighting and

projectors for the event

The company participated in a lamp recycling program

More than 76% of the equipment used at the show was

Energy Star compliant

More than 51% of equipment used at the show was RoHS compliant

Continue to request that the A/V provider participate

in sustainability initiatives.


Transport AWG Ambassador was chosen as the official ground transport handler for IMEX

America. Transportation was provided between hotels and the Sands for hosted

buyers. Transportation was also provided for the Badge Back Legacy tours.

An Anti idling policy was established and adhered to for the buses where the bus

was not sitting and idling for more than 3 minutes before departure.

Require the transportation company to provide requested information regarding

their sustainability practices and complete the requested benchmarking

information including ridership and fuel use, carbon production, age of fleet and

technology used.


Interested in More?Ask questions and share your ideas.We welcome your feedback and questions at any time.

Please contact:

MeetGreen®

6220 NE Glisan Street Portland OR 97213

T: +1 503-252-5458

F: +1 503-261-0964

E: [email protected]

W: www.meetgreen.com

Prepared by Rebecca Mebane, Project Manager and Amy Spatrisano, CMP, Principal


Attachments

Sands Eco360 Meetings Impact Statement

Sands Eco360 Meetings Impact Statement Las Vegas

The Venetian | The Palazzo | Sands Expo Center

Client:

Event:

Conference Dates:

Total Conference Meeting Space Used

Total Hotel Rooms Nights

Estimated Electricity Usage:

Conference Center Space: 453,922

Hotel Rooms: 267,447

Estimated Total Electricity Used for the Event: 721,369

Estimated Natural Gas Usage:

Hotel: 2,154

Estimated Total Natural Gas Used for Hotel Rooms: 2,154

Conference Center Space: 635,640

Hotel Rooms: 622,817

Estimated Total Water Used for the Event: 1,258,457

Sands Expo: 68.16%

Hotel Rooms & Meeting Space: 33.81%

Estimated Total Event Recycled Weight: 66.43

Estimated Total Event Recycling Rate: 52.79%

Estimated Carbon Footprint for the Conference Center: 313.01

Estimated Carbon Footprint for the Hotel: 195.19

Estimated Carbon Footprint avoided by recycling: 1.52

Estimated Carbon Footprint for the Event: 506.68

Metric Tons of CO 2 e


Tons

Estimated Carbon Footprint for the EventMetric Tons of CO 2 e


Estimated Energy Use for the Event

kWh

kWh

kWh

Therms

Therms

Estimated Water Use for the EventGallons

Gallons

Gallons

Estimated Waste Diverted for the Event

12,896 room nights

Conference OverviewIMEX

IMEX Annual Conference

10/7/2011 ‐ 10/15/2011

4,406,412 sq. ft.

Sands Eco360 Meetings Impact Statement Las Vegas

The Venetian | The Palazzo | Sands Expo Center

Conference Center

12345

Hotel12

3

Electricity:1

2

Natural Gas:123

Recycling:1

Sorting and recycling for the Sands Exp Center takes place off‐site and the recycling rate is provided by recycling/composting vendors.

Assumptions for Calculations

Total sq ft used for calculation includes meeting rooms and conference space only and does not include corridor spaces.Objective of the calculation is to obtain incremental energy, natural gas and water use occurring during the event.Prefunction area utility usage is not included in the calculation. Total water usege also includes cooling tower water consumption from air conditioning operation.

Emission Factor of 0.005 metric tons CO2/therm is obtained from EPA. Note that this is the CO2 equivalency for natural gas burned as a fuel, not natural gas released to the atmosphere. Direct methane emissions released to the atmosphere (without burning) are about 21 time powerful than CO2 in terms of global warming effect on the atmosphere.

Emission factors from EPA's WAste Reduction Model (WARM) are used: 2.87 metric tons CO2E/ton of waste recycled instead of landfilled

Per room energy and water use is based on a standard Palazzo suite.Hotel and Venetian/Palazzo meeting space waste is pre‐sorted at the recycling dock and further sorting takes place at an off‐site facility.

Recycling rate is obtained from the recycling vendor and is prorated based on the conference guest occupancy.

Factors Used for CO2 Equivalent Emissions Calculation

Emission Factor of 0.00068956 metric tons CO2/kWh is based on the Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) U.S. annual non‐baseload CO2 emission rate. Note that baseload emissions (emissions from power plants that run all the time) are not considered.

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