Sustainability efforts at Cobo Center attract events like Sustainable Brands 2017; at right Cobo Center Living Green Roof
Cobo Center, site of this year’s Sustainable Brands (SB’17) conference, has achieved recertification to the ASTM Venue Standard, the premier global sustainability standard for the meetings and event industry. Cobo Center, Detroit’s main convention and exhibition venue and center piece of the downtown civic center was recently chosen to be the host site for SB’17, billed as the largest global convening of brand leaders and sustainability practitioners. 1,500 people from across the globe are expected to attend the May 22-25 event.
David Fiss, executive producer live events for Sustainable Brands, said, “Sustainable Brands is excited to partner with suppliers and venues like Cobo who demonstrate a commitment to sustainable practices. Doing so helps our event meet our sustainability goals, educate our attendees, and encourage other suppliers to the meeting and events industry to do the same. A sustainable event is more thoughtful and creates a better participant experience.” Mr. Fiss is also a member of the Convention Industry Council’s Sustainability Leadership Council.
A number of leading companies and organizations will be supporting the Sustainable Brands event, including Ford, Dow, General Motors, The Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan, the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, BASF, Kellogg’s, Fiat/Chrysler Automobiles, thinkstep, Guardian Sustainable Business, NatureBank, and the Detroit Experience Factory.
Claude Molinari, general manager of Cobo Center, added, “We continue to make strides in improving the sustainability of our offerings, including a new kitchen and food court composting program. Getting recertified to the ASTM Green Meeting Standard and hosting SB’17 signals that our efforts are truly world class.”
Cobo Center was initially certified in 2015 to the ASTM Standard pertaining to the Evaluation and Selection of Venues for Environmentally Sustainable Meetings, Events, Trade Shows, and Conferences, and was the 9th US facility to do so. The Venues standard is one of the nine standards developed by the meetings, conventions, exhibitions and events industry to provide event planners and suppliers with specifications for producing events in a more sustainable manner.
The ASTM certification is the fifth for Cobo Center related to sustainability efforts. In 2012, Cobo became the largest Green Venues Michigan facility. In 2014, Cobo was designated an EcoWorks Sustainable Communities Champion, and in 2015 the Detroit Free Press named Cobo Center a Detroit Green Leader. In 2016, Keep Michigan Beautiful awarded Cobo Center their highest honor, the KMB President’s Plaque.
With 723,000 square feet of exhibit space, Cobo Center boasts one of the largest contiguous exhibit floor spaces in North America and is the 19th largest convention center in the country. Visit online at www.cobocenter.com.
