Monday, June 23, 2008
posted by Sarah Krasley @ 8:08 PM
Closed systems kinda do it for me. I was pretty stoked to see that across the pond, sustainability within closed systems is hitting the dance floor---literally.
Club4Climate, a party promotion company based in London is pioneering a new way for parties to generate their own energy--through dance.
The Huffington Post posted this diagram that shows how a new dance floor is powering the party and provided added
incentive to get out on the floor and shake your money maker. Here's how it works:
According to the
Huffington Post, the dancing is capable of powering up to 60 percent of the energy needed to have a
rager. Rad. Club4Climate also works with clubbers to encourage sustainable behaviors through asking for sustainability pledges and offering discounts to those who demonstrate that they took public transport to get to the party.
Rumor has it that sustainability improvements like this one will hit US
clubs soon. See you on the floor.
Labels: Clubs4Climate, sarah, venues
Sunday, January 13, 2008
posted by Jason @ 9:16 PM
Last month I read an article in the Globe and Mail [
link to original article (subscribers only),
link to repost] about a
former church that's being converted into Canada's first LEED-Gold music venue. Sounds like it's going to be a great place to catch a live show!
Green highlights--beyond reusing a building, which is a great place to start--include buying used doors and windows from a salvage company, but the article doesn't go into much detail about other green features and I couldn't find out much more from a good bit of google searching. Still, it sounds like the developer, a 70-year old man who must be great fun at cocktail parties, gets the green thing. He's also proposing a green condo building and has greened his other event locations in various ways.
It's great to see venue owners starting to come around. Frankly, I'm surprised we haven't seen more of this, but I've heard through the grapevine that Live Nation has jumped on the green train and Radio City recently made some green overtures, so hopefully soon we'll see a whole slew of green venues coming our way.
If you live in Toronto, swing by the church and leave some more info (or a link to pictures!) in the comments.
Labels: jason, LEED, venues
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
posted by Jason @ 9:34 PM
This is old news by now, but New York's Rockefeller Center, home of Radio City Music Hall (where moe. will be playing new year's eve, unfortunately without me in the audience), has gone all green for Christmas, according to just about everybody, including the ever-reliable
Daily News.
So what does it mean for Rock Center to "go green?"
Well, efficient LED lights on the tree, for one thing. And NYC's largest solar private solar installation on the roof, which is good. And a
thermal storage system that will make ice during off-peak nighttime hours, then use that ice to reduce the load on the building's air conditioners during the peak daytime hours. All good things, to be sure. But I have to ask...is cutting down a tree with a handsaw really that much greener than cutting down a tree with a chainsaw?
Labels: jason, solar, venues
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
posted by Sarah Krasley @ 10:57 PM
Who would have thought that while I was at the Fillmore last night seeing
the always fantastic Boggs and
Hot Chip, this story was being printed on the front page of the
San Francisco Chronicle's Business Section:
Bay Area concerts getting greener
Live Nation moves to cut back shows' greenhouse gases
Pia Sarkar, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Even live music is going green.
The Bay Area office for Live Nation, an entertainment venue management company formerly known as Bill Graham Presents that promotes live concerts worldwide, has initiated a program that is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and waste generated by six of its local venues, which draw more than 1 million concert goers each year.
The program will be implemented at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View; Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord; and the Fillmore, the Warfield, Punch Line Comedy Club and Cobb's Comedy Club, all in San Francisco.
Live Nation SF is looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by providing upgraded parking for hybrid cars and cars with four or more passengers at Shoreline and Sleep Train. It will also purchase carbon offset credits to compensate for emissions generated by fans, employees and artists who attend events.
To reduce power consumption by 10 percent, Live Nation SF will install energy-saving lighting and has already replaced 1,700 bulbs. It will also reduce water use by up to 5 million gallons per year by putting in a new lawn care system and upgrading kitchen equipment.
Lee Smith, chairman of Live Nation SF, said that the company started planning the program last summer and that about 95 percent of the initiatives are in place.
"My biggest concern was to not be fashionable but do what needs to be done," Smith said.
Although some of the initiatives, like replacing the lighting, will cost Live Nation SF money up front, other initiatives are allowing it to save. For instance, composting and recycling at the Warfield could result in an annual savings of $17,000 in waste removal. Live Nation SF has not calculated the full cost of implementing the program.
Of the estimated 800 tons of waste that all six venues now produce, about 223 tons are being recycled. Live Nation SF will try to bring that up to 280 tons, Smith said.
If successful, the program may be replicated in some of the company's 160 other venues globally. Last year, Live Nation organized 26,000 events in 18 countries, drawing nearly 60 million fans.
Maybe the next crop of apples will be locally grown organic? Hey, anything can happen.
Labels: efficiency, green renovations, greenhouse gas, San Francisco, venues
According to the Huffington Post, the dancing is capable of powering up to 60 percent of the energy needed to have a rager. Rad. Club4Climate also works with clubbers to encourage sustainable behaviors through asking for sustainability pledges and offering discounts to those who demonstrate that they took public transport to get to the party.
