A Greener Conference

The American Wind Energy Association recognizes that organizing events, especially the size of the WINDPOWER Conference, can ultimately result in a lot of negative impacts on the environment.  That's why we work each year to implement new environmentally-friendly practices for the show.  While there's always more than can be done, we wanted to share at least a summary of some of the activities we undertook for WINDPOWER 2008.

- Utilized electronic correspondence as much as possible with limited hard copy mailings.

- Encouraged people to reserve a booth and register for the event online versus in hard copy.  Over 93% of WINDPOWER 2008 attendees and exhibitors registered for the event either on-line or through our electronic on-site kiosks this year!

- Used an online abstract submittal and review process for the conference program.

- Offered registrants an easy way to participate in our green travel program in partnership with Community Energy, Inc.  During the online registration process, attendees could purchase Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to reduce the environmental impact of their car and flight travel to the conference. 

- Provided information to attendees about public transportation options from the 2 main Houston airports to the downtown area.

- Partnered with Community Energy, Inc. to green the energy use of the conference at the George R. Brown Convention Center with Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) sourced from wind projects in Texas.  The environmental benefit of the RECs offset 234,465 lbs of CO2 (which is equivalent to not driving 236,095 miles this year OR planting 95.8 acres of trees).

- Offered the exhibitor manual online as well as in CD-ROM format versus sending out all hard copy kits.

- Provided electronic session handouts before, during and after the conference through our website instead of making hundreds of hard copies for over 50 sessions which results in wasted paper. 

- Purchased environmentally-friendly products for the conference including:

          - Conference bags made from 90% post-consumer recycled PET (beverage &
            food containers)
          - Badge lanyards made from 100% post-consumer waste (soda & water bottles)
          - Pens made from 75% biodegradable materials
          - Notepads made from 100% post-consumer recycled content
          - Welcome bags made from 100% recycled paper consisting of not less than
            95% recycled post consumer paper and up to 5% post industrial content

- Provided water coolers instead of individual bottled water to prevent over 50,000 plastic bottles from entering the waste stream.  The cups used at the water station were 100% compostable and made from a material derived from corn.

- Worked with the conference hotels to ensure they are properly implementing their own environmental intiatives including linen and towel re-use programs and recycling programs. 

- Ensured there are plenty of recycling containers throughout the convention center for plastic, aluminum cans, and paper.

- Coordinated with the convention center catering company to provide environmentally-friendly disposable service ware for the larger food functions including plates, cups and utensils made from sugarcane and a bio-plastic derived from renewable sources such as corn which is 100% biodegradable and compostable. 

- Worked with the George R. Brown Convention Center to set up recycling during exhibitor move-in and move-out days for items such as cardboard, unused promotional brochures, and other booth materials.

- Collected unwanted badges and conference bags at the conclusion of the event to be reused, recycled, or donated to a local Houston charity as appropriate.

- Incorporated an environmental survey into the site selection process for future WINDPOWER cities as part of a founding member of the Convene Green Alliance. 

- Outside of the WINDPOWER Conference itself, AWEA has an internal "Green Team" of interested staff who are investigating and implementing environmentally-friendly practices across the whole association.