While the Anaheim Convention Center (ACC) is the largest convention center on the West Coast, it also looms large in the world of sustainable meeting and convention venues.
The facility earned a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) designation in 2016—one of the largest convention centers in North America to achieve such a designation—and has not looked back since.
“Sustainability is always top of mind for us,” said Ronnie Collins, chief sales officer for Visit Anaheim. "Being a Southern California destination, the state focuses heavily on sustainability, but just to throw out a few [accolades], the Anaheim Convention Center was LEED certified in 2016 and on top of that—literally on top of that—we have a green roof; a 2,000-square-foot space atop the arena box office that’s also a garden for adaptive plants and herbs.
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“There's 300,000 square feet of solar panels spanning the roofs of the exhibit halls,” he added. “I’m not an engineer in this area, but it does produce 2.4 megawatts of clean, renewable, sustainable electricity. We've got a very strict HVAC policy of when we will run the units before and after an event to make sure that we're adhering to the guidelines that go with that.”
Sustainability as a Planning Priority
Sustainability has also retained its mindshare with both planners and attendees of meetings and conventions.
According to the 2023 “The State of In-Person B2B Conferences” report from Bizzabo, 59% of event organizers believe sustainability is crucial for attracting sponsors and exhibitors.
Attendees are also on board, with Bizzabo finding that 58% of meeting attendee respondents indicated sustainability is an important factor when deciding whether to attend an in-person event.
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Further, the 2024 Eventgroove “The State of Event Sustainability” study revealed that 67% of event planners consider sustainability in their planning process, with venue emissions (68%), waste management (55%) and local food sourcing (45%) being the driving factors.
Anaheim and its convention center are right on track to serve the market’s sustainable meetings needs.
Sustainability superlatives of the Anaheim Convention Center, which serves more than 1.2 million visitors annually, include the following:
- Green roof: The 2,000-square-foot space atop the Arena box office is a garden for adaptive plants and herbs.
- Solar power: The 300,000-square-foot solar array spanning the roofs of Exhibit Halls A, B and C produces 2.4 megawatts of clean, renewable and sustainable electricity, supplying approximately 17% of the convention center’s energy needs.
- HVAC policy: The Exhibit Hall HVAC is operational only from one hour before an event to its completion. It is not used while the roll-up doors are open in order to conserve energy.
- Sustainable purchasing: Green purchasing is encouraged and (when feasible) required for ongoing consumables such as paper, printer toner cartridges and batteries.
- Onsite recycling: The ACC operates a Green Zone where it manages wet waste through composting, bale aluminum, cardboard and plastics prior to disposal. The ACC composts approximately 65,000 pounds of wet waste annually from pre-consumed kitchen scraps consisting of fruits, vegetables and coffee grounds it gathers from food preparation. The waste is processed through two onsite dehydrators, resulting in 250 pounds of compost on average annually. Compost is donated locally to the Orange Home Grown Foundation, which has been fostering environmental health and education since its inception in 2009. ACC’s Diversion by Donation program gives back to local businesses and the community as well as help divert food, supplies, furniture, clothing and other material donations from landfills.
- Water management system: Rainwater run-off is fed into a filtration system that fortifies the groundwater and reduces runoff into the ocean.
- Forest-friendly: At least 50% of ACC products are Forest Stewardship Council-certified.
- Biodegradable serviceware: ACC encourages the use of biodegradable utensils, cups and serving plates in its F&B service.
- Fighting hunger: ACC works with “Chefs to End Hunger,” which provides meals to the hungry by repurposing and redistributing excess prepared food that would normally go to waste at the convention center and participating hotels. According to the ACC, more than 40,000 pounds of food products, on average, are donated on an annual basis.
- Sustainable food service: The ACC’s catering team, led by chef Bernard Foster alongside Aramark Catering Services, prides itself on developing sustainable menus and making environmentally and socially responsible choices, such as a farm-to-fork initiative that sources from within a 120-mile radius of the facility.
- Results: 55% of all mixed trash waste is diverted from the landfill each year, according to the ACC.
Sustainable City
Twice named the top “Eco-City” in Orange County by the U.S. Green Building Council, Anaheim is moving into a bright future it calls the “Golden Decade” via a variety of mega-projects, such as OCVIBE, Anaheim OC Riverwalk and DisneylandForward, that are being planned with sustainability at their foundation.
Anaheim’s iconic attraction, Disneyland Resort, is also a champion of reducing food waste, with The Walt Disney Company having been awarded the EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge and planning to achieve zero food waste in its wholly owned and operated parks, resorts and cruise lines by 2030.
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The convention center also helps its clients track their environmental impact by supplying data from their events so exhibitors can publicly share sustainability reports, with a recent example being one of the facility’s top annual events, Natural Products Expo West.
“We take [sustainability] pretty seriously here,” Collins said, “and we'll continue to focus on that and find new ways to ensure that we're living that sustainable lifestyle with our convention business.”
Connection
This article was created in collaboration with Visit Anaheim.
