Cobo Center’s green efforts are landing it new business. The Sustainable Brands conference will relocate to Detroit in 2017, after five years in San Diego.
Cobo achieved the Green Meetings Industry Council’s APEX/ ASTM rigorous standard certification in 2015. (It was just the ninth convention center to do so.) Its green initiatives have been numerous, and the center has earned several awards for its efforts, including the 2015 Detroit Free Press Michigan Green Leader Award. It recently added food composting to its sustainability program.
Sustainable Brands is an industry leader in reducing the environmental impact of its conferences. It was the first event organizer to meet the ISO 20121 Standard requiring such organizers to identify the effects their activities have on the environment.
Cobo Center’s five-year renovation included technology upgrades intended to reduce events’ environmental impact, such as its exterior digital signs and room message boards. Greg Sandy, Cobo’s director of sales and event services, says the center considers its sustainability measures part of its technology offering.
The Sustainable Brands conference is part of Cobo’s overall business growth. The first half of fiscal year 2016 saw a 15 percent growth in revenue over the same period in 2015.
