The Los Angeles Convention Center will join millions of individuals and organizations to raise awareness about climate change by turning off their lights for one hour on March 24 in support of World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour. From 8:30-9:30 p.m., the LACC will turn off its non-essential lights, primarily focusing on West and South Hall towers, as a symbolic call to action to protect our planet. As part of a global Earth Hour campaign organized by the City of Los Angeles and AEG 1EARTH, AEG’s industry-leading corporate sustainability program, the LACC joins city buildings in six districts and more than 20 AEG Facilities-affiliated venues in four continents across the globe.
This year the LACC is encouraging its employees and followers on social media to participate in Earth Hour to extend the reach of the event and further educate the community. Throughout the week leading up to Earth Hour, the LACC has shared tips on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn demonstrating how anyone can take part in the event. The LACC established a competition amongst its employees and social media followers to foster creativity and a unified commitment to the environment. Everyone is welcome to share how they are going dark during Earth Hour and anyone who tags #LACCLightsOut in their posts is entered to win a gift card.
“We are excited to join the Earth Hour movement for the fifth year in a row,” says Brad Gessner, senior vice president of AEG Facilities and general manager of the LACC. “We continually unite with the City of Los Angeles and AEG venues to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to environmental issues.”
Education and communication are key focuses of the LACC’s sustainability program and its annual Earth Hour participation exemplifies its dedication. The program also emphasizes waste and recycling, energy and climate, water and responsible purchasing. The LACC currently reports a 72 percent waste diversion rate and has diverted more than 7.3 million pounds of construction and demolition waste from the landfill. The LACC is proud to be the first convention center of its size to achieve LEED EB: O+M Gold recertification.
Earth Hour is an annual event designed to engage millions of people worldwide on a broad range of environmental issues. Each year, more than 7,000 cities show their support for environmental issues by participating in Earth Hour.
“We’re proud to be a part of Earth Hour 2018,” says John Marler, AEG’s senior director of Energy and Environment. “It is central to our AEG values to use our platforms to raise awareness of the critical environmental challenges facing our world.” In 2010, AEG established a set of 2020 environmental performance goals across five areas, including energy and climate, water, waste, responsible purchasing, and education. In 2017, the company released its sixth AEG 1EARTH Environmental Sustainability Report, which provides an update on progress towards AEG’s 2020 goals and shares stories of AEG’s involvement in Earth Hour and other environmental events worldwide.
The Los Angeles Convention Center is renowned internationally as a prime site for conventions, trade shows, and exhibitions. Owned by the City of Los Angeles and professionally managed by AEG Facilities, the LACC attracts over 2.5 million visitors annually. The facility is an integral economic component to the Southern California area, generating economic benefits through attendee direct and indirect spending and sustaining over 12,500 local jobs. The LACC also remains an enduring symbol of environmental sustainability and social responsibility, and is proud to be a LEED Gold certified facility; the venue was recertified on the Gold level in 2015 making the LACC the largest convention center in the U.S. to receive LEED EB:O+M Gold recertification. For more info, visit lacclink.com.
AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, is the leading sports and live entertainment company in the world. AEG Facilities, a stand-alone division of AEG, and its affiliates own, operate or consult with more than 120 of the industry’s preeminent venues worldwide, across five continents, providing complete venue management, as well as specialized programs in operations, guest services, ticketing, booking, sales and marketing. AEG Facilities also provides resources and access to other AEG-affiliated entities, including AEG Live, one of the largest live music companies in the world, AEG Global Partnerships and AEG Real Estate, as well as such industry leading programs as AEG 1Earth and AEG Encore to support the success of its venues across the globe. The Los Angeles-based organization owns, operates or provides services to the world’s most elite venues, including STAPLES Center and Microsoft Theater (Los Angeles, CA), StubHub Center (Carson, CA), Sprint Center (Kansas City, MO.), Valley View Casino Center (San Diego, CA), KFC Yum! Center (Louisville, KY.), American Airlines Arena (Miami, Fla.), Prudential Center (Newark, N.J.), Barclays Arena (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Target Center (Minneapolis, MN), Oracle Arena and O.co Coliseum (Oakland, CA), CONSOL Energy Center (Pittsburgh, PA), Mercedes-Benz Arena (Shanghai, China), MasterCard Center (Beijing, China), The O2 Arena (London, England), Mercedes-Benz Arena (Berlin, Germany), Barclaycard Arena (Hamburg, Germany), AccorHotels Arena (Paris, France), SSE Hydro (Glasgow, UK), Qudos Bank Arena (Sydney, Australia), Perth Arena (Perth, Australia), Ericsson Globe Arena (Stockholm, Sweden), Los Angeles Convention Center (Los Angeles, Calif.), Hawaii Convention Center (Honolulu, HI), Puerto Rico Convention Center (PRCC), Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (Brisbane, Australia), International Convention Centre (Sydney, Australia) and the Oman Convention and Exhibition Center (Muscat, Oman). For more info, visit aegworldwide.com.
