Why would we develop a new version of our calculator?

Because we know now what we didn’t know then…

We now know the landscape of sustainable events is constantly shifting, improving, and growing. Our experience has taught us some green meeting practices are simply better at addressing negative impacts or creating benefit than others.

For instance:

  • It saves more water to serve a vegetarian meal than it does to eliminate bottled water
  • It immediately saves more carbon to offer a remote attendance option than it does to offset your carbon footprint
  • New practices have come online and while others fade away, such as paper registration systems and exhibitor kits in huge binders

Venues have increasingly adopted sustainable initiatives which makes sense both from a good corporate citizen and from an economic perspective. The energy and water savings now afforded by using LED lighting and low flow water fixtures make their facilities much more efficient and save money.

Because the only thing constant is change, the MeetGreen® Calculator needed to change as well. Asked and answered. The MeetGreen® Calculator 2.0 is new, improved, user friendly and state-of-the-art.

Here are just a few of the upgrades:

We Meet You Where You Are

We believe everyone should be able to measure the green practices of an event and you shouldn’t have to be an expert to see how good your intentions look on paper. The most important lesson learned is that sustainability must be simplified to be successful. We considered every aspect and worked to make it easier to understand, initiate and record achievements.

MeetGreen Calculator 2.0 has two options, Standard and Advanced. The Standard version provides a way for organizers to assess their event and benchmark their practices before taking additional steps. The Advanced version is a more in-depth look into the practices taken to track an event’s sustainability data.

Scores in the Calculator are percentage based. This means they show what portion of eligible points for your event have been earned. In essence, there is a maximum number of points available in Standard and Advanced versions of the Calculator. This maximum point value will be adjusted down if certain sections or questions in the Calculator do not apply to your event and you opt to turn them off. You earn points for things you ask for and are able to successfully implement, up to the maximum available (100%).

Return On Practice (ROP)

While the MeetGreen Calculator has always rewarded action, we realize that asking is also important, even if you don’t always get what you want. This is because the consistent effort to ask for better practices can lead to permanent change. The Calculator 2.0 now rewards some points for asking for best practices, even if you can’t always achieve them. You earn even more points if you are actually able to implement what you ask for.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

All of the three R’s are important but some R’s are more important than others. Maximum points are available for those who are able to eliminate and reduce material use and impacts entirely. Those who may not be able to reduce are positively rewarded for reuse and recycling efforts just not as highly as would be the case for reduction steps.

Material Impacts

Certain logistical areas can cause greater impacts. For example, the footprint of food and beverage can be dramatically larger than that of registration. For this reason, actions that address most significant impacts may be weighed more heavily.

Help Along The Way

Often, finding and understand the sustainability descriptions, definitions and information resources involved can slow the process considerably. The 2.0 version of the Calculator now includes helpful information right alongside the questions without ever leaving the page or search for a help option.

Every Event Is Unique

As you complete questions in the Calculator you are able to tell it what sections and what specific questions may or may not apply to the event. Whenever you select not applicable, or opt out of a survey section, the total possible score for that section and your event is adjusted. This ensures you are not penalized for practices that are not eligible to be implemented at your event.

About The MeetGreen® Calculator 2.0

Now that we have talked about the enhancements to the MeetGreen Calculator, perhaps we should take a step back and talk about the solid tool it has always been.

The MeetGreen Calculator is a comprehensive tool available for benchmarking the sustainable elements of your events. The Calculator allows you to capture valuable information throughout the event planning process to make it easy to see your accomplishments and where improvements can be made. The tool assesses event management practices and measurable outcomes in up to fourteen key categories to audit the environmental impact of conference activities. The Calculator integrates aspects of the ISO 20121 and APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meeting Standards.

The MeetGreen Calculator 2.0 measures specific practices related to air quality, waste management, water conservation, energy efficiency and environmental purchases. Reports allow you to benchmark against previous years’ data, as well as compare against other events in the system.

After entering data about your event, the reports at the end of the survey will allow you to measure the extent of environmental and social practices your organization has in place. The charts allow you to quickly assess areas for improvement you can focus on. MeetGreen Calculator 2.0 results will be compiled into the following reports:

  • Your event’s total score
  • Graphic measurement of your results in each category
  • Comparison of your total score and individual category scores against other similar events
  • Benchmarks for multiple events (multiple years of one event, or a variety of events in the same or different years). With this report you can compare and contrast the results and see what areas your organization is excelling in and where you can make improvements.
  • Summary of measurable outcomes

All of the reports can be customized by selecting which conference you wish to look at and which year(s) you would like the data pulled from. You can even do historical comparisons of past events and your current conferences. In addition, color can be customized to integrate with your organization’s brand.

Without further ado, we bring you the MeetGreen Calculator 2.0! Our entire development team is proud of this new, user-friendly version and its features. In fact, we are so excited, we are offering a FREE trial right now between Earth Hour and Earth Day (April 22) so you can see for yourself. We hope you take us up on this offer and test drive this invaluable resource designed to benchmark your event.

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