The Convention Industry Council's (CIC) Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) Panel on Green Meeting and Event Practices, in partnership with ASTM International, is defining what constitutes "green" in the meetings and events industry. A virtual discussion site has been launched at http://wp.apexsolution.org to make the process accessible.
Past APEX accepted practices have been developed using the ASTM voluntary consensus model of gathering information and data to ensure accuracy and completeness. A series of City Discussion Groups is meeting to review topics from the draft APEX/ASTM Green Meeting and Event Standard. The virtual site is an extension of the live groups and the latest draft of the standard can be reviewed by anyone at any time, as new topics are released.
There will be nine topic areas that will make up the final Green Meeting and Event Standard: destinations; meeting venue; transportation; accommodations; audio/visual; communication; exhibits; food and beverage; and on-site offices.
The process in developing green standards was initiated by the US Environmental Protection Agency in discussions with the Green Meeting Industry Council. They agreed that there was a tremendous need in the meeting and event industry for a uniform measurement of environmental performance. By submitting the standards to the ASTM for approval, the standard developed will be an accredited.