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“ Promoters no longer have to truck in large amounts of equipment in order to present a performance .”

MAY | OPINION

A greener arena

Lucy Noble , chair of the National Arenas Association and Royal Albert Hall artistic director , gives an insight into how the venue ’ s team is working to make the 150-year-old building as sustainable as possible within the confines of its grade 1 listed status
Lucy Noble

Sustainability will be at the top of the agenda for the Royal Albert Hall in the coming years and it ’ s of course always a challenge when you ’ re working within the constraints of a 150-year-old , grade I listed building . That hasn ’ t , however , stopped us taking positive strides in this area .

First and foremost , all staff members at the Hall are invested and engaged in making us a greener building . We have an employee-led sustainability committee which meets regularly and represents all areas across the workforce .
The team has pushed forward a lot of new initiatives at the Hall to include a Green Rider for visiting companies and promoters , and the banning of plastic straws , cutlery and takeaway containers . We are shortly moving towards an ecofriendly plastic looking cup – I know it doesn ’ t sound possible but this one is biodegradable . All staff have special Royal Albert Hall coffee keep cups and you can ’ t get a takeaway coffee in the café without one . They also have water bottles . Nothing is printed unless it ’ s absolutely crucial . All contracts have now become digital . All these measures make a huge difference .
For the actual physical building , we are currently pulling together our carbon management plan which will see a move towards becoming carbon neutral . With a grade I listed building we are unable to change some of the key features ; for example , we will never be able to put modern insulation into the walls or add double glazing . However , we have undertaken a lot of positive work on the building to include a new filter system which is far more efficient . Alongside this , we have nearly completed rolling out LED lights throughout the building and we have already seen electrical consumption reduce as a result .
Through various efficiency
measures , we have managed to keep emissions at 2019 levels , month-on-month , despite undertaking major projects such as new chillers to cool the auditorium . Our new ventilation system uses EC rather than beltdriven fans because they are more environmentally friendly . The variable air volume units automatically slow down when
“ Promoters no longer have to truck in large amounts of equipment in order to present a performance .”
someone is not in a room by responding to the levels of
CO2 in the air .
For the performances , key to bringing the carbon footprint down for shows has been the installation of our awardwinning d & b audio system . A large reason for doing this was to improve the democracy and quality of the sound , but an added bonus is that promoters no longer have to truck in large amounts of equipment in order to present a performance .
This goes for lighting , too , – we have a fantastic array of lighting available within the
Hall – half of which is now LED – which means again that numbers of trucks on the roads are reduced , and artists can perform knowing the physical lights are sustainability too . We are now making it obligatory for all promoters to use our audio system .
There ’ s still much to be done and our fellow arenas are also doing a huge amount in this area .
As one example , the Brighton Centre has moved to ‘ Meat-Free Mondays ’ as well as removing beef from the menus and going 50 % vegan for all customers . Sustainability is a standing point on the agendas of the National Arenas Association and we ’ re looking forward to reporting back as we develop new initiatives .
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