Battersea Arts Centre wins Green Venue of the Year at the London Theatre Consortium Green Awards 2013
In a previous blog post, we were very proud to announce that we had achieved 3 Stars in Industry Green certification. We were one of only seven organisations across the country to do so, and two of them are part of the London Theatre Consortium (ourselves and the Lyric Hammersmith).
The green champions from the thirteen producing theatres who make up the LTC get together regularly to share ideas, encourage each other, brainstorm and hear from creative leaders in sustainability, facilitated by Julie’s Bicycle. Once a year, we also take time to celebrate some of the fantastic achievements made in reducing our carbon footprint, and to award those who have made the most improvements across the board, the biggest reductions in emissions, and the greenest venue.
Across the LTC, savings on absolute energy reduction alone were 400 tonnes of CO2e and savings of £75,000. Individual theatres’ achievements include low energy lighting, including environmental policies into contracts, local supplier and stakeholder engagement, researching and monitoring the impacts of staging materials, capital development to buildings to improve efficiency through heating and insulation, moving to a 100% wind power energy tariff and reductions of up to 47% in relative energy emissions over a year.
There are some incredible successes and stories, and many of the theatres share these on their websites – we’d encourage you to read about them (you can find links to all of the organisations through the LTC website linked above). Ultimately, it’s about being the change we want to see, and taking the action we can. Jointly, we can make an effect in London, and share what we’ve learned within the arts sector, and the wider world.
In 2012, BAC was pleased to receive the Most Improved Venue award. In 2013, the three awards were:
- Greatest Emissions Reduction: Theatre Royal Stratford East
- Most Improved Venue: Young Vic Theatre
- Green Venue of the Year: Battersea Arts Centre
We’re not resting on our laurels, however. BAC started 2013 with a list of 100 actions we could take, and a large number of these have been done. We’ll report on these and their success in a dedicated December blog post, but there are plenty of activities still to carry out, and more creative thinking to apply.
Thanks must go to all the staff and volunteers at BAC for their efforts in making us the Green Venue of the Year, and for the huge support from Julie’s Bicycle and the London Theatre Consortium.
Continue the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #greenarts