ASTM Committee Developing Green Meetings Standards
Since 2004, when the green meeting task force of the Convention Industry Council (CIC) produced a white paper of best practices for suppliers and planners, interest in the concept of green meetings has steadily been growing.
CIC’s Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) program teamed up with ASTM, and ASTM Subcommittee E60.02 on Hospitality is currently addressing a wide variety of green meeting concerns in a series of proposed standards. The subcommittee is under the jurisdiction of ASTM International Committee E60 on Sustainability.
Task groups in the subcommittee are focused on specific meeting industry segments, including accommodations, audiovisual production, food and beverage, destinations, meeting venue, exhibits, transportation, communication and on-site offices.
“Once finalized, the standards will give both meeting planners and suppliers such as hotels or transportation companies concrete guidelines and performance measurements that the meetings industry and others have vetted and agree are best practices for creating green meetings,” says Karen Kotowski, CIC chief operating officer and a member of E60.02. “There is so much conflicting information out there, and the industry wants and needs guidance.”
Interested parties are invited to contribute to the standards developing work of E60.02. Visit www.astm.org for more information. The committee's next meeting will be April 19-22 in St. Louis, Mo.