Theatres Act on CO2
PLASA 07
9-12 September 2007
On 10 September 2007 The Theatres Trust ran a Special Interest Session at PLASA 07 on the action being taken by theatres to address climate change.
Report
The Government intends to introduce measures in three new bills – the Climate Change Bill, the Energy Bill and the Planning Bill – to help the UK reduce its carbon emissions and move to greener energy sources. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which reported in November, identified that unless drastic measures were taken, the world’s temperature will continue to rise.
All the signs are that legislation will drive the design, construction and management of theatre buildings to embrace targets, being set by the Government, for a 60 percent reduction in emissions by 2050, and there is the potential that this may be raised to 80 percent.
Theatres are taking a serious look at how they can reduce energy consumption and manage natural resources to keep bills down, reduce the impact they have on the environment, and address climate change. This is slowly delivering a change in the way theatres are managing their buildings and facilities. They are considering adaptations to buildings, the introduction of more energy efficient plant and equipment, and given that many are older and listed buildings, how to ensure that valuable historic features are not lost in the process.
The Mayor of London’s Climate Change Plan is driving efforts in London, and the European Union ‘Energy Performance of Buildings’ Directive is being implemented through UK building regulations, particularly Parts L 2a and L 2b.
In September the Trust brought together Stephen Ainger, CEO of Partnerships for Renewables, part of the Carbon Trust, Anne Hayes, the Head of Market Development Sustainability for BSI British Standards, Natalie Lewis, from Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), who is leading on the development of environmental and improvement strategies for the company, and Ben Todd, the Chief Executive of Arcola Theatre in London, to discuss how they are addressing the challenges.
Opening the ‘Theatres Act on CO2’ seminar, Natalie Lewis said, ‘ATG consumes 22,435,000 kWh of energy costing £1.3 million per year. We are committed to achieving the highest standards of environmental performance, preventing pollution and minimising the impact of our operations on the environment wherever possible.
We believe it is both good business practice, but also our duty to protect natural resources, and are therefore aiming to conserve all resources where possible.’ ‘Our approach is to introduce environmental systems and procedures, and develop strategies and policies for improvement; identify energy saving opportunities that can work across all sites simply by looking at good housekeeping; and identify energy saving opportunities that are specific to sites’.
The seminar focused on issues related to sustainable management of theatres, rather than construction. Though the two are clearly connected and the Trust will be providing a platform to look at building issues in more detail at its annual conference in 2008.
All the speakers agreed that an audit is required to identify levels of energy consumption (otherwise known as Carbon Mapping to establish the Carbon Footprint), across the whole organisation, including measures of base and peak loads. Then an action plan is required which sets targets for reduction. Practical considerations include retro-fitting, better environmental management and design innovation which assesses the costs and the payback period. Stephen Ainger highlighted the guidance on offer from the Carbon Trust and the help it could give to organisations undertaking audits and creating action plans.
Having made the commitment to reduce levels of CO2 theatres were then in a position to influence their supply chains, including component suppliers, manufacturers and equipment suppliers providing heating, air circulation and cooling, water, lighting, and other services and consumables, and also have an impact in raising awareness of the issues associated with climate change. As Ben Todd said, ‘Let’s use theatre, let’s use art, to wind people up, to inspire them, to drive it…’
Anne Hayes, working on a BSI standard for Sustainable Event Management, said, ‘All the major retailers are investing a huge amount of money going back down their supply chains and looking at the carbon footprint of each of their products. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is definitely leading the way on their procurement policy, how they buy things, and they live the dream. If you ever look through a DEFRA contract they have so many requirements from an environmental perspective.’ This prompted a comment from the floor, ‘I’m one of many project managers and production managers. This year we’ve seen a rise in demand for us to produce events that are carbon neutral. We’ve had enquiries from Government organisations, etc. It’s happening, but we’re lacking the tools to actually get the job done. If there are any manufacturers or suppliers out there, please help, because we’re struggling!’
Concerns were also raised around areas of theatre production including sourcing materials for sets and their disposal and recycling. Ben Todd talked of Arcola’s proposals to install a biomass burner to provide the theatre with thermal energy, and others commented on initiatives by local authorities, providing recycling points and plans for large biomass burners. The need for improvements to lighting fixture design and the role of lamp manufacturers was also raised. A plea came from the floor for a fitting or a lamp with good colour rendering that could be dimmed for 100 lumens per watt.
But as Ben Todd pointed out, ‘It isn’t theatre lights that are the dominant use’. The audits undertaken by Arcola and ATG had shown that inefficient lights in other areas of the building being left on when they were not required, poor management of peak loads, lack of prevention of heat loss, equipment not in use being left switched on, and dripping taps were the major contributors. The conclusion being that both theatre production and building operation needed to be included in any auditing and a mix of legislation, raising standards, and Government encouragement – and funding – for the energy-rating of theatre buildings and some real incentives were required.
In consideration of the work carried out on the BSI Standard Anne Hayes added, ‘We’re not saying you can’t have energy usage, we’re not saying you shouldn’t be doing anything – you shouldn’t turn on a light or you shouldn’t just be dealing with peaks and troughs. What we’re saying is you should be managing it and where possible you should be using alternative sources of energy.’
The seminar ended with agreement that theatres had a role to play in raising awareness of climate change and leading by example through implementing good practice. It made economic and environmental sense for theatres to address climate change, and there was clear commitment to sharing experiences and working together on the way forward.
This report was originally published in the Winter 07 issue of Theatres Magazine. The Theatre Trust would like to thank all at Plasa 07 for their support in the planning of the seminar.
For further information contact Suzanne McDougall at The Theatres Trust on 020 7836 8591.
