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Greening up your Act In these times of economic austerity, slashed arts funding and rising fuel and utility prices, when better to re-examine the day-to-day running costs of your operation and improve your environmental, economic and social sustainability? Thankfully, today there are numerous industry trailblazers and organisations that can help you on your way, as Sarah Rushton-Read reports . . .
If there’s one thing the entertainment industry does really well, it is embrace new ideas quickly. When the issues surrounding climate change hit the headlines, many in the entertainment industry were quick to react. In fact, since 2008 when we first started to talk about these issues in any meaningful way, organisations, venues, businesses and individuals have travelled a long and interesting road. The launch of the Lord Mayor’s Green Theatre Plan and the Theatres Trust’s Building Sustainable Theatres conference, along with Arcola Energy’s initiatives, kicked the industry into positive action. Since then many have proved that environmental sustainability needn’t cost the earth, compromise core business or create unwanted work. In fact, most have proved just the opposite: that it’s a satisfying activity that has unexpected and often far-reaching beneficial outcomes. Thanks to the activities of such trailblazers, there’s now plenty of industry-specific advice available to everyone. PLASA, for instance, has a Sustainability Centre on the members part of its website which provides members with tips on achieving sustainability in their businesses and an action list to guide the process. As PLASA’s tips make clear, we can’t do everything at once, but we can do some things now. The first step is often the hardest,
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especially if it involves convincing others to change long-established behaviour or working practice. Venues looking to develop an action plan that will make a real impact to your bottom line, take a look at the Green Theatre Plan (weblink below). It offers a wealth of insights into the CO2 emissions of London’s theatres, including which activities are responsible for what percentage of those emissions, and a useful guide to reducing your organisation’s emissions. So comprehensive is it, that even if you do nothing else but respond to the advice in this document, you’ll soon be making significant savings on your energy bills and creating the leverage you need, in the form of
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benchmarking and reports, to move on to the next stage of your green strategy. Theatres around the UK have quite literally saved thousands of pounds by following similar guidelines and action plans. Many of the changes necessary cost very little financially - perhaps a bit more in terms of time and human resources, but this is more than compensated for by the financial and environmental savings that can be made. There are useful case studies and plenty of ideas that can be embraced by any theatre, supplier, service provider or manufacturer. > www.greeningtheatres.com/greentheatre-plan-quick-links Early Pioneers - Theatre Royal Plymouth: Start with the ‘easy wins’ The Theatre Royal Plymouth (TRP) was the first performance venue to receive the Carbon Trust’s Energy Efficiency Award. Between 2002 and 2007 it saved a whopping £50,000 on utility bills by making cost-driven changes to its building management and maintenance system. By looking away from the stage and getting down and dirty with building operations, the venue cut electricity consumption by 19%, gas by 46% and water usage by 33% during that period. This equated to a cut in carbon emissions of 270 tonnes a year. Water saving devices were fitted to toilet cisterns, urinals fitted with sensors that ensured they flushed only when required, and percussion taps were installed. High wattage light fixtures were replaced with fluorescents and LED. With over 6000 lamps (of which 30% were changed annually), the savings really added up. Upfront cost is greater, but long-term the changes make commercial and ethical sense. TRP also replaced its inefficient boiler, optimised its Building Management System (BMS) and divided the building into zones, allowing heating to be separately controlled in each area. The BMS also controls air conditioning and this alone has bought huge savings on the running costs of the building.
When TRP started working on the efficiency of its building they were pretty much alone in their quest and driven primarily by cost. Today there are plenty of businesses and organisations that offer helpful and insightful industry-specific advice and support borne from trial, error, benchmarking and experience. More detailed information can be found at: > http://tinyurl.com/32euj7r Julies Bicycle: Julie’s Bicycle (JB) is a coalition of music, theatre and scientific experts committed to making the entertainment industry green. Since 2007, JB has researched the industry’s carbon emissions baseline which has informed the development of its not-forprofit certification programme, Industry Green (IG). IG is a framework that supports improvement in environmental sustainability for the creative industries and is supported by a series of industry campaigns, project partnerships and practical resources, including case studies and free online carbon calculators - the IG tools. JB’s focus has now extended to theatre and it is currently working with industry representatives to inform and guide its UK-wide theatre programme, supporting the theatre industry in improving sustainability. Nevertheless, whatever sector you operate in, Julie’s Bicycle can set the foundations of the new, environmentally and economically sustainable you. The website includes expert, easy-to-access, industry-sensitive information, advice and guidance to green-up your organisations, including a world-first carbon calculator for touring. JB also works in-depth with individual organisations, networks and consortia and links up strategically with other schemes and programmes across the UK. If you require more tailored support or still don’t know where to start, this is a really good resource. > www.juliesbicycle.com
Today, Arcola is a global leader in driving environmental change locally, nationally and internationally via a number of initiatives. Arcola has a long-standing tradition of innovation, inspiration and integration with the local community. Working to the same principles, Arcola Energy encourages arts and science professionals and the community to pioneer practices that will fundamentally change the way arts organisations work. Partners in this venture include distinguished advisers to government, industry and the arts, as well as awardwinning new energy companies. > www.arcolaenergy.com Supplier Case Study: White Light Bryan Raven, managing director of White Light, has been involved with the Greening London’s Theatres Committee, the Arcola Theatre, Julie’s Bicycle and a number of other initiatives. He’s put his money where his mouth is and has committed to an investment programme that brings the best in low energy professional lighting equipment to anyone who wants it. He’s also encouraged operational change across all aspects of WL’s business and participated in conferences and seminars, bringing the green message out of the boardroom and onto the stage. Today, White Light has an enviable stock of LED lighting equipment and is exclusive UK distributor for a number of ground-breaking manufacturers. Raven says: “We try to ensure that the clients we supply use the most efficient equipment available for the task.” Raven points out: “The greatest environmental impact for most products comes during manufacture. As a rental company, our aim is to re-use equipment as much as possible and minimise the need to replace it. Our equipment is regularly serviced and kept in peak condition, ensuring it’s used for many
White Light continues to explore and invest in new technology, has made huge inroads into reducing its operational emissions and - for those who want to reduce emissions from stage lighting has produced a handy downloadable publication on how to reduce energy consumption in professional lighting (see web address at the end of this article).
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years - the oldest lantern in our rental stock is 35 years old, and still very much in demand!”
There’s no one solution that fits all, but armed with some knowledge of how to mitigate energy consumption and waste, plus understanding of your own business, it’s possible to tailor an environmental approach to any event or show, no matter how out-of-the-box it may be. > www.whitelightltd.co.uk Event Case Study: C-Venues at the Edinburgh Festival This year, head of Edinburgh-based Northern Light Events, Nick Read, worked with one of the biggest venue producers on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - C-Venues - to green-up the stage lighting in one of its many venues. Read explains: “Many of Edinburgh Festival Fringe venues are ‘found’ spaces (offices, hotel rooms, rooms above bars etc). They host up to 10 shows a day, seven days a week for a month. This means that, unlike conventional theatres, stage lighting is on all the time and one of the biggest consumers of energy in the building - often being used for more than 15 hours per day. They can generate a lot of heat and waste a lot of energy.” In a bid to make small venues more comfortable and less power hungry, Read, along with C-Venues production manager Richard Williamson, artistic director (and international lighting designer) Hartley T. A. Kemp and I, designed a no-compromise, super energy-efficient, low heat emitting lighting rig that embraced the latest in theatre lighting technology. The rig included Robert Juliat Aledin LED profiles, Prism Projection RevEAL CW LED washlights, ETC Selador of LED washlights along with low-wattage ETC Source Four Juniors, and products from the Philips Selecon range of low-wattage fresnels and PCs. Read says: “Edinburgh Festival Fringe presents a number of unique challenges not found in purpose-built theatres. Turnaround between shows is tight - often less than 15 minutes. Kit has to be robust, quick to rig, de-rig, programme
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Arcola Energy: Fuel for thought Arcola Energy is a multi-disciplinary agent for sustainable innovation. It operates in two modes: firstly commercially developing and retailing cutting-edge low carbon products, particularly fuel cells, and secondly as an award-winning notfor-profit project of Arcola Theatre, driving sustainability in the arts. Arcola Theatre aims to be the world’s first carbon neutral theatre. To this end, Arcola established Arcola Energy in 2007 - promoting innovation in sustainability, through the Arts. 2009 saw the launch of Future Arcola - a new theatre for Dalston.
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Useful Websites: Theatres Trust: www.theatrestrust.org.uk/resources/ ecovenue White Light: www.whitelight.ltd.uk/ resource/?p=environment Julie’s Bicycle: www.juliesbicycle.com Defra: ww2.defra.gov.uk Arcola: www.arcolaenergy.com Green Theatre Initiative: www.greentheaters.org
and simple to maintain. We chose equipment we believed meets this criteria and so far feedback has been positive.” Throughout the festival, NL measured power usage, collected artist and technician feedback and published the data on Northern Light’s Edinburgh Festival social networking site. The company also plans to evaluate the wider environmental impact of C-Venues using British Standard BS8901 - Sustainability Management System for Events. This will set benchmarks and targets for future work. > www.northernlight.co.uk
Ecotheatre UK: //ecotheatre.co.uk Ecotheater US: //ecotheater.wordpress.com
PLASA: www.plasa.org Philips: www.asimpleswitch.com Ashden Directory: www.ashdendirectory.org.uk/intro.asp The Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts: www.sustainablepractice.org RSA: Arts + Ecology: www.artsandecology.org.uk greenmuseum.org: greenmuseum.org TippingPoint: www.tippingpoint.org.uk Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World: www.ccanw.co.uk ArtsCatalyst: www.artscatalyst.org Cape Farewell: www.capefarewell.com Common Ground: www.commonground.org.uk enter change, online exhibition: www.greenmuseum.org/c/enterchange Community Arts Network: www.communityarts.net Earth Matters on Stage: www.uoregon.edu/~ecodrama/welcome 50 things you can do to be more environmentally sustainable: www.thegreentheater.org/50Things.html Greening Theatres: www.greeningtheatres.com White Light’s Green Guide to Entertainment Lighting: www.whitelight.ltd.uk/greenguide Bike to Work Scheme: www.bike2workscheme.co.uk/faqs.php
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Glyndebourne Wind Turbine: www.glyndebourne.com/about/wind_turbine Further reading: British Standards: BS8901 - Sustainability Management Systems for Events ISO 14001 Environmental management systems - General guidelines on principles, systems and support techniques ISO 9001 - Quality Management
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Company Case Study: Royal Court outside the box The Royal Court’s ‘Theatre Local’ aimed to extend the scope of its work in different environments. Sited in an empty shop in the Elephant & Castle shopping centre in south London, Theatre Local hosted productions that had already completed fully resourced runs at the Royal Court in Sloane Square, but then were stripped back to their basics. Only essential changes were made to the empty shop: a partition wall was left to create dressing room and office space and the walls remained unpainted. Seating, borrowed from the Royal Court, was fixed down using sheets of fully recyclable plywood. All staff travelled to and from Sloane Square by tube, and public transport was actively advertised in promotion and ticketing. The public was directed to local cafés and restaurants for interval drinks and refreshments, reducing the need for transport and supplies. The first production used just four lights! Theatres Trust: EcoVenue Once you embark on your environmental adventure it’s important to share your experiences - good or bad - so that others with similar issues don’t have to reinvent the wheel or start from scratch: this is not a competition! An organisation that makes sure all its work is readily accessible to anyone that needs it is the Theatres Trust. In 2008 it hosted a conference titled Building Sustainable Theatres (the report can be downloaded from the website listed below). Since then, the Trust has embarked on EcoVenue - a three-year project to provide specialist environmental advice and undertake free Display Energy Certificate assessments for 48 small-scale theatres in London. Funded by £450,000 from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), EcoVenue targets theatres not significantly funded through the public purse or part of a commercially-run theatre group. Participating venues receive a free environmental audit, a free Display Energy Certificate (DEC) plus advice and practical help to develop their own Environmental Policy, reduce waste and the associated costs.
The Theatres Trust also aims to encourage participating venues to jointly procure energy saving equipment and fittings at a reduced cost that would not be possible individually. To help quantify results and promote achievements, venues will receive a second Display Energy Certificate a year later and all the information gathered will be shared publicly. The first 12 venues are currently beginning their journey and the second 12 are about to: we will report on these later in the year. Once all the easy wins have been implemented, you’ve saved money and shared your achievements with the world, you can move on to those initiatives that require capital investment. Maybe by this time you have attracted some sponsorship or funding . . . (A feature area promoting the Ecovenue initiative will be launched at this year’s PLASA Show, which runs from the 12-15 September at Earls Court in London). Venue Case Study: The National Theatre (NT) While The NT has received the kind of sponsorship most arts organisations can only dream of, under senior project manager Mike Atkinson (right) the theatre has made some radical changes to its operations. In 2009, sponsored by Philips, the teletext on the front of the building was changed from the Seefact system (1248 lightbulbs costing £6 each and imported from Mexico), to the Philips VidiWall - an 8m x 3m LED screen delivering a 60% energy saving (30 tonnes of CO2 per year). External wash lights were switched from discharge lamps to LEDs, reducing external lighting energy consumption by 70%. Carbon monoxide extractors in the NT’s car park used to be on 20 hours per day. Now they are activated by carbon monoxide sensors when necessary (which is, apparently, hardly ever), reportedly saving a whopping £30,000 per year! Inside the venue, motion detectors for lighting have been installed in the toilets along with Dyson Airblade hand dryers. Operationally, theatre programmes are printed on 75%-90% recycled paper. The NT uses nearly 60 tonnes of paper per annum for programmes and repertory brochures - approximately 750 trees a year. Once it reaches its target of 100% recycled paper it will divert more than 75 tonnes from landfill sites and save nearly 80 tonnes of CO2 per annum. Backstage, staff members are encouraged to cycle to work with a ride2work scheme and there are better showers for cyclists.
Above, from left to right: Dr. Ben Todd of the Arcola Theatre; Sian Alexander, associate director, Theatre for Julie’s Bicycle; Mhora Samuel and Tim Atkinson of the Theatres Trust. Right: Gus Christie, chief executive of Glyndebourne.
The NT provides excellent proof that simple changes in building infrastructure and staff behaviour, plus a generous dose of well-placed sponsorship, can make a big impact and encourage continuous change. Although some of the venue’s actions have been expensive, most have or will return their costs relatively quickly. The next stage is to develop and improve the building’s environmental performance. To achieve this, the NT is considering everything from installing Combined Heat and Power (CHP) to insulating parts of its roof with grass and plants and replacing all its windows. Another avenue is to explore the renewable energy route. This is not for the faint-hearted and can often result in planning issues and discussions with the local community, as Glyndebourne discovered when it applied to erect a wind turbine on the Sussex downs . . . Venue Case Study: Glyndebourne Glyndebourne Opera’s aim is to be carbon neutral. The company started cutting its emissions and waste with many of the ‘easy wins’ listed earlier in this article. The company has installed a paper baler, 70% of garden waste is currently used for compost and, as for many years, a bus service is available to staff and audience between the venue and the nearby railway station at Lewes. Following a study by North Energy Associates into the most effective and economic renewable solutions for Glyndebourne, it was concluded that a single wind turbine would be best. On 11 July 2008 the Secretary of State granted permission for the construction of an 850kW generating capacity wind turbine. It’s hoped that the output will, when measured over a year, provide for all Glyndebourne’s annual electricity needs and reduce current direct carbon
emissions by approximately 70% or 850 tonnes per-year. Venue Case Study: The Mill at Sonning Theatre The Mill at Sonning Dinner Theatre launched the first Hydro Electric Scheme to be powered by the natural resources of the River Thames in 2005. The scheme currently generates enough electricity for the entire building and any excess is passed on for sale to the National Grid. The 18.5kW turbine generates approximately 162,000 units of electricity per-year, equating to 75 tons of CO2. Venue Case Study: The Colour House Children’s Theatre In early 2008, Trevor Baylis, inventor of the clockwork radio, launched London’s first ground-based wind turbine at Merton Abbey Mills. The turbine is used to supply 100% green electricity to The Colour House Children’s Theatre, making it the world’s first theatre to be powered exclusively by wind energy. The turbine is also used as an educational tool for visitors, particularly for children who attend the theatre for workshops, raising awareness and understanding of the importance of embracing new technology in the renewable energy sector. Any excess electricity created by the turbine is used to power local shops and cafés, as well as powering Surrey Strings, an organisation that runs Replay, the largest musical instrument recycling charity in the world. The turbine was one of the first of a new generation of wind turbines designed specifically for urban living by renewable energy source specialists, Quiet Revolution. This is by no means an exhaustive review of what’s happening in our industry today, but it does give an insight into the initiatives and resources available to everyone if you want to green-up your act and save some valuable cash . . .
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In the staff canteen there are plenty of recycling bins and there’s a discount scheme on tea and coffee if you bring your own mug.
Photo: Mike Hoban
Fingers in green pies . . .
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