Green award for opera house

LAWRENCE GULLERY | 10th March 2010

Recycling, reducing waste and being power savvy has earned the Hawke's Bay Opera House accolades as being the first venue in New Zealand to be granted a Qualmark Environmental Award.

It comes just three months after the well-known conference and events centre achieved a five-star Qualmark rating.

This week the business was granted an Enviro-Silver award, by meeting Qualmark environmental criteria, covering all aspects of sustainable business practice, from community involvement, to water, energy and waste efficiency.

The initiative, referred to as Qualmark Green, was unveiled in 2008.

Hawke's Bay Opera House general manager Roger Coleman said the business had to show how it was working towards reducing its environmental impact.

"It was a focus on our whole operation, we had to show how we recycled material, our power efficiency and how we managed each event here," he said.

"Yes, they are all simple things but we've looked at them in a strategic manner, to say this is what we are focusing on, this is how we are going to achieve it through our entire operation." Mr Coleman said he and staff at the opera house had worked hard to achieve the Qualmark Green and five-star Qualmark ratings.

"That really was our goal for this year, we set it and we've achieved it," he said.

Mr Coleman said there was a Gold Qualmark Green rating which the opera house would work towards over the next year. More than 400 Enviro Awards now recognise tourism businesses for the work they are doing to reduce environmental impacts.

Qualmark chief executive, Geoff Penrose, said the Hawke's Bay Opera House had shown leadership in its sector.

"Hawke's Bay Opera House has put effective initiatives in place and is monitoring to ensure they are working towards a successful outcome, both for the business and the environment," he said.

Since August 2008, the environmental performance of all tourism businesses with a Qualmark had been assessed.

Businesses performing well in reducing environmental impact in the five key areas of energy efficiency, waste management, water conservation, community activities and conservation initiatives, were eligible to apply for an Enviro-Gold, Enviro-Silver or Enviro-Bronze Award.