Wellington Convention Centre Goes Green
Inside the Michael Fowler Centre
Last year was a busy one for the Wellington Convention Centre. This major Wellington conference venue took some big steps in the area of sustainability.
In October, the Convention Centre became the first conference and events venue in New Zealand to achieve the ISO 14001 series of environmental standards. ISO 14001 is the world’s most widely adopted environmental management system, says Wellington Convention Centre Manager Neville Brown.
“Wellington Convention Centre is taking a leading position among convention and performing arts venues in New Zealand by incorporating this series of environmental standards and the supporting audit programme that comes with it. The audit will help us to go about things the right way,” he says.
Pursuing ISO 14001 has resulted in the Wellington Convention Centre significantly expanding its existing environmental practices, and energy maximisation is an example of this. The centre also hopes to address areas such as waste minimisation through using biodegradable products, increasing energy efficiency and transport (by providing more parking for motorcycles and bicycles).
The environmental initiative was mostly in response to interest shown on the issue by clients. Specifically, clients “were increasingly asking what we were doing to improve our environmental performance. We took the issue seriously, and it seemed that an external environmental accreditation was the way to go,” says Neville.
The Wellington Convention Centre consists of three unique buildings - the Wellington Town Hall, Michael Fowler Centre and the TSB Bank Arena. It boasts 22 venues and can cater for 50 to 4500 people.
