Engineers have a lot to answer for and a lot to give. So when the first World Engineers Summit gets underway in Singapore with the promising theme “Innovative and Sustainable Solutions to Climate Change” you would think that they would get off on the right foot and agree to subject the event itself to a very innovative and sustainable event management plan. Save energy, save water, manage waste, paper and all resources. Measure its carbon footprint. The lot. Yes, the organisers agreed in principle to it and the Singapore Tourism Board (SB) encouraged them to, but no-one has been able to find the money to fund a practical benchmark plan or sustainable assessment – desirably using the international gold standard ISO 20121 for event sustainability as the guiding principle.

Along with other events happening in Singapore this September – including the massively energy inefficient Formula 1 motor racing festival – will go ahead without a sustainable thought or plan in mind. Even the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), with its International Green Building Conference, cannot rustle up any funds to do a benchmark sustainable assessment of the event. And this is the same organisation which has set such excellent sustainable standards with its Green Mark for the property sector.

All is not lost. SASA will do an Omnibus sustainability study covering all Singapore’s September events – with or without funding – and make sure everyone sees the results. Opportunities lost. Lessons learnt. Recommendations made. But this is perhaps the sustainability story we have not told. Most countries, companies, cities agree that sustainability is a good idea. Most agree that it is something we should invest in to reap the rewards. But who pays?  Read More

Remember the adage “he who pays the piper calls the tune”? Well, if it’s a private sector or self-funded study, it will reveal all. Warts and all.  What’s being done right and what’s wrong with existing events. Sure it will propose recommendations and it will show where things can be done better. It will show conclusively – as much as is possible with available data – where energy can be saved. But it would be a much better report if there was co-operation – and funding – from the Government sector and private sector.

Governments in Singapore and elsewhere have come up with grants to fund energy efficiency improvements in the private sector, incentives are there for developers of green buildings, there are advantages if you switch to clean energy and rewards for those who buy low carbon, fuel efficient cars. But events – the very high profile conferences, exhibitions, occasions and festivals, which have such a big carbon footprint but also contribute so much to the economy – are not measured or managed with sustainability in mind.

Of course there are exceptions. Marina Bay Sands has moved towards sustainability, using Earthcheck benchmarking, introducing green meetings and ECO 360 plans, as well as embarking on an ISO 20121 plan for the facility. URA – the Urban Redevelopment Authority – has once again committed to a sustainability management plan for its i Light Marina Bay event, billed as “Asia’s only sustainable light art festival”, when it happens next March. SASA handled this is 2012 and will once again be involved working closely with Pico, the event manager.

If MBS gets its and URA gets it. Why cannot others see that sustainable matters?  Sustainability produces benefits and savings. Look at last year’s London Olympics – arguably the most sustainable “greenest” Olympics ever – which took sustainability seriously, adopting the new ISO 20121 standard and making it work.

Look at the FIA – the international motor sport organisation – they decided at their World Council meeting in London in June that all motor sport events around the world would work towards sustainability. Here’s the FIA decision on its ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY:

“Following the initial work undertaken by a dedicated Working Group mandated to develop a Sustainability Programme, the WMSC approved in principle the implementation of the FIA’s ‘Action for Environment’ programme. The FIA’s goal, within a decade, is that motor sport will be recognised as an exemplar of best practice in environmental sustainability and a world leader for environmental innovation creating a positive impact on both the track and road. Its strategy will focus on measuring and improving innovation and promotion.”

The message doesn’t seem to have got through the Singapore organisers who seem to be doing nothing more than paying lip service to the environment or sustainability. As we have said before, on energy use alone, the night-time event consumes massive amounts of energy and there is no measurement or management to speak of.

This is happening in a city which insists on industry getting to grips with energy efficiency in a big way; where Government incentives and grants funds for companies and  properties to “come clean and go green”.  Businesses, shops and households are encouraged to cut their energy and water use.

How can events be excluded? They contribute to the economy in a big way. They attract a lot of attention at home and abroad.

No one is suggesting we stop enjoying ourselves. Go ahead. Have a good time. Watch the cars and the entertainers. Enjoy and be inspired at conferences and exhibitions. Celebrate with champagne and fine food.

You can have all that and you can also save energy, save the environment and save the economy.

If just a very small fraction of what is spent on staging an event – like the F1, which is many millions – was put into an event sustainability management plan or even a benchmark or assessment study – it would demonstrate what can be saved next time. I’m prepared to bet that a minimum of 25% of the energy consumed at the F1 could be saved. Potentially much more.

We have reported before that we understand that the specially-installed street lights that power up the F1 in Singapore stay on for three days and nights. 24 hours a day! Hard to believe, isn’t it? But that information comes from a reliable source.

That’s incredibly wasteful. And this in a country where the Minister of the Environment and Water Resources says “energy efficiency is the only game in town”.  And in the same country where the chief economist of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol said at the launch of the World Energy Outlook last December that it is “an economic sin” and “an epic failure of international energy policy” that only a third of economically-viable energy efficiency measures are actually achieved.

Singapore is doing a good job, but it is missing out on making itself a truly “liveable and sustainable city”, by not addressing the events industry.

Source: www.sustain-ability-showcase.com