(image copyright @beMatrix)
submitted by Kent Agramonte, beMatrix
Norcross, Georgia — Reinforcing its mission to provide sustainable exhibit and event building, beMatrix® is proud to announce that it has received two Green GOOD DESIGN™ awards for its ECO frames and Carbon Footprint Calculator. The awards come at the same time that beMatrix® has achieved the highly sought-after ClimatePartner Certified designation from ClimatePartner, an organization that helps companies calculate and reduce their carbon emissions.
“We aim to offer the most sustainable solution on the events market. These Green GOOD DESIGN™ awards combined with our ClimatePartner certification authenticate our efforts to offer our industry complete support as we all strive to live and work in ways that are friendlier to the planet,” said Tara Ericson, CEO of beMatrix® USA.
beMatrix® won its 2024 Green GOOD DESIGN awards for its ECO Frames and for its online Carbon Footprint Calculator. ECO Frames are modular aluminum exhibit frames that can be assembled in hundreds of ways to create custom exhibit spaces. beMatrix changed the finishing process from anodization, the process of chemically treating metal surfaces, to using a specialized brushing process. By making this switch, beMatrix has eliminated the use of harmful chemicals during its production process.
The Carbon Footprint Calculator is an online tool available to any beMatrix® customer to assist with calculating the environmental impact of an exhibition system. Eco-minded professionals can input the amount and types of materials and infills they plan to use, plus the emission impacts of the transportation needed to ship their exhibit system to its destination. The Carbon Footprint Calculator estimates the resulting carbon emissions and suggests ways exhibitors can reduce or offset these pollutants.
Green GOOD DESIGN™ awards honor the intent and results of ECO Frames and Carbon Footprint Calculator
Green GOOD DESIGN™ aims to influence consumer habits, reshape manufacturing practices, transform the design of cities and public spaces, and elevate awareness about our finite global resources and the decline of clean air, soil, and water. The original creators of GOOD DESIGN™ in the 1950s brought modern design to the forefront with enthusiasm, innovation, and a spirit of revolution.
“It’s important to us to secure the future of the events and exhibition industry so that future generations of entrepreneurs, business owners, and sales and marketing professionals can enjoy the same exciting activities that we do now,” Ericson said. “Revamping our production process as well as thoughtfully using more than 78% recycled aluminum in our frames means we’re doing our part to ensure our industry can thrive for generations to come.”
The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design administer the Green GOOD DESIGN™ awards. The GOOD DESIGN™ awards program began in 1950 to recognize outstanding examples of architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning projects, product, packaging, and graphic designs. The Green GOOD DESIGN™ awards began in 2009 to honor the world’s manufacturers, design firms, and leading FORTUNE 500 corporations that emphasize sustainable design and environment. Projects that earn Green GOOD DESIGN™ awards meet the industry’s highest standard for design excellence and sustainability.
For the 2024 Green GOOD DESIGN™, the European Centre and the Chicago Athenaeum received hundreds of submissions from across the globe. Members of The European Centre’s International Advisory Committee—leaders in the global design industry—acted as the jury, selecting over 170 new products, programs, individuals, environmental plans, and architectural projects as exemplary instances of Green Design.
All Green GOOD DESIGN™ award winners can be viewed online at gooddesign.org.
ECO Frames receive ClimatePartner Certified
Additionally, ECO Frames now boast the premier ClimatePartner Certified label as well as the Cradle to Customer + End of Life certificate, indicating that these products are created to help event and exhibition professionals operate in a more sustainable manner.
In pursuit of ClimatePartner certification, beMatrix® spent the past few years examining its production processes to reduce the carbon emissions created during the production, installation and use, and disposal processes of 90% of its ECO Frames. The company’s production team changed the way their original aluminum frame system with the big holes was created by welding more corners instead of using mechanical fasteners. The team also removed pollution-causing surface treatments from the production process in favor of a brushed ECO+ finish. By making these adjustments, beMatrix® frames to be recycled due to their 100% aluminum construction. The end result is the increased use of recycled materials and the complete recycling of beMatrix® frames at the end of their lifecycle.
The beMatrix® team worked in cooperation with ClimatePartner, an independent German-based organization dedicated to helping organizations around the world create meaningful climate action by reducing their carbon footprint. beMatrix® revamped the materials used in the production of ECO Frames and the production process for 90% of its ECO Frames products.
The resulting streamlined production and use cycle means event professionals who use beMatrix ECO Frames for their exhibit structure will reduce their exhibit carbon footprint by at least 72%. For any emissions that cannot be avoided, beMatrix® finances climate projects to counteract those emissions. The complete tracking of the emissions from creating, using, and recycling of frames is what earned beMatrix® the Cradle to Customer + End of Life certificate.
ClimatePartner certification transparently discloses a company’s climate action strategy including their current production-related emissions, emissions reduction targets, existing carbon reductions, and financial contributions toward climate relief projects. Climate Partner works with companies intent on taking climate action to create more sustainable products from production to product end-of-life through five steps: measuring carbon footprints, setting carbon reduction targets, implementing reductions, financing climate projects, and communicating transparently. View beMatrix’s five-step ClimatePartner certification online.
For more information about beMatrix’s ECO Frames, Carbon Footprint Calculator, or its sustainability efforts, visit bematrix.com/us.
