Green Guardians 2022: Sunbelt, Tait, Power Logistics

The Green Guardians is spearheaded by IQ and an expert panel of sustainability experts to recognise suppliers who are improving the live music business when it comes to being more environmentally friendly.

Our international panel of judges this year includes representatives from A Greener Festival, Green Events & Innovations Conference, Greener Events, Green Operations Europe (Go-Group), Julie’s Bicycle, Le Réseau des Femmes en Environnement, Sustainable Event Alliance, Sustainable Event Solutions, Tour Production Group, and Vision:2025.

The 2022 list of Green Guardians includes 20 entries across a wide range of event suppliers and solutions providers, all of whom are working tirelessly to reduce the carbon footprint of the live entertainment business.

IQ will publish entries across all categories over the coming weeks. Catch up on the previous instalment profiling My Cause, Reverb and Smart Power here.

Sunbelt Rentals
Sunbelt – one of the UK’s largest rental equipment providers are big on all things that matter, from equipment and service to sustainability and trust.

Whatever the sector, project, or challenge, Sunbelt Rentals have the solution, offering the expertise, the equipment, and
the team to make it happen.

The company boasts a nationwide portfolio of plant products, specialising in site storage and welfare facilities, plus a comprehensive range of tools available for buy or hire.

Alongside day-to-day equipment supplies, they can also provide a full range of market-leading, environmentally friendly temporary infrastructure solutions to help bring events to life.

Whether clients need complete event management or have a very specific requirement, Sunbelt can help. From planning, plant, and power, to access, safety, and welfare.

As existing energy contracts expire, TAIT intends to replace them with new green contracts

Tait
At TAIT, staff are committed to championing a sustainable future for the entertainment industry.

In 2022, the company rolled out a global training programme for all TAIT employees in Europe and North America. The initiative includes seminars and practical workshops introducing the concepts of working toward the linear economy; waste and energy hierarchies; embedded carbon; lifecycle analysis; material choices; and whole systems thinking.

From 1 January 2022, all travel for employees based in North America and the UK was booked and managed through one travel company. This initiative gives TAIT clear visibility of its travel emissions from a project and internal perspective. It says that it is continuing to collate emissions data on Scope 1 & 2 and will include travel in its Scope 3 data collection in 2022. This data will be used to create the company’s carbon reduction policy.

TAIT’s new UK premises at Haverhill, due to open later this year, will incorporate solar panels above the office space and a rainwater harvesting system for the building. EV charging points have been installed with the infrastructure to increase capacity as more people make the switch to using electric cars.

As existing energy contracts expire, TAIT intends to replace them with new green contracts, switching its gas and electricity suppliers to those who specialise in renewable sources. By 2025, all of the company’s UK locations will run on green energy.

The Power Logistics team has been involved with Radio 1’s Big Weekend, BST Hyde Park, Extreme E and Boomtown

Power Logistics
Continually investigating new and alternative methods to make the events it supports and the day-to-day activities of the company as carbon efficient as possible, Power Logistics offers sustainable power and lighting solutions.

The team has been involved with numerous high-profile events in 2022, such as Radio 1’s Big Weekend, BST Hyde Park, Extreme E, Boomtown, and the Platinum Jubilee celebratory events in London. Delivering green-power solutions was paramount at all of them.

Power Logistics’ award-winning green credentials include the use of Green D+ HVO, utilising the smallest generators possible on a load-demand system, power monitoring, LED tower lights, and site lighting as standard practice at the events it serves.

Whilst implementing battery energy storage systems is commonplace at projects that benefit from the technology. The team is currently exploring innovative solutions, including hydrogen power, solar, and the incorporation of second-life batteries to optimise energy usage for event utilities reducing fuel and carbon emissions.

Devising and implementing an advanced energy management strategy, Power Logistics reduced fuel consumption at this year’s Radio 1 Big Weekend by 34% from 2019, even though its overall capacity was 25% bigger. It also reduced the number of generators onsite from 30 to 17 compared to 2019, contributing not only to fuel savings but also to a huge reduction in transport.

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Green Guardians 2022: My Cause, Reverb, Smart Power

IQ will publish entries across all categories over the coming weeks. Catch up on the previous instalment profiling Gem-Stage, Instagrid and Green Producers Club here.

My Cause UK
My Cause UK offers people the chance to volunteer at the UK’s biggest festivals whilst making an impact for a cause they care about. The concept is simple – volunteers give their time at a festival, and in return, My Cause makes a donation to a charity of their choice.

Volunteering, says the organisation, “is a gateway to making unforgettable friends while getting free entry to the UK’s leading festivals!”

Volunteering with My Cause UK allows participants to “become part of a community that is exciting, adventurous, and passionate about making a change in the world we live in.”

In its first six years of operation, My Cause UK has donated close to £180,000 (€208,000) to more than 700 charities in the UK, thanks to the efforts of a steadily growing army of festival volunteers.

Reverb has greened over 350 tours and 6,000 concert events

Reverb.org
Leading the green music movement since 2004, Reverb partners with artists, festivals, venues and more to reduce their environmental footprint while empowering millions of fans to take action on today’s most pressing environmental issues.

Working with artist partners like Billie Eilish, Maroon 5, Pink, Harry Styles, Dave Matthews Band, Jack Johnson, and many others, Reverb has greened over 350 tours and 6,000 concert events. With a focus on creating measurable impact, Reverb has eliminated 280,000+ tons of CO2e, prevented the use of over 4 million single-use plastic bottles at concerts, supported 4,800+ environmental non-profits, and more.

Reverb launched the Music Climate Revolution campaign in June of 2021 to unite the music industry in the fight against the climate crisis by cutting industry emissions, funding carbon-fighting projects, and demanding climate action from world leaders. Since its launch, the campaign and its partners have raised more than $3million (€2.9m) to support dozens of diverse global projects that draw down, sequester, or eliminate greenhouse gases, resulting in a reduction of 50,000 tonnes of CO2e. Music Climate Revolution partners have also engaged millions of fans at shows and online in climate action and advocacy.

Smart Power’s client roster includes Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour

Smart Power
Smart Power specialises in delivering carbon and low-power solutions for the international live, touring, broadcast, and screen
sectors. The company provides full-service technical hires, including power advancing; onsite technical support; fuel management; comprehensive distribution planning and installation; site lighting; energy monitoring; and reporting.

As specialists in battery and DC solutions, Smart Power is leading the charge for a transition away from generator power towards grid-connected battery solutions. Its approach to energy management is simple – deliver the most renewable energy mix available for the job in hand. To this end, it integrates a range of strategies, including biofuel generators, kinetic (people-powered) solutions, solar, and mobile battery solutions.

The company’s suite of energy and power monitoring tools ensures that clients have the data they require for their scope 1 and 2 emissions reporting, whilst also enabling Smart Power to optimise power management systems to ensure ongoing reductions in fuel consumption, GHG, and tailpipe emissions.

2022 has been an exceptional year for Smart Power with its client roster including Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour, the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations, the BBC Earthshot Awards, the Great Escape Festival, and the Great North Run.

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Green Guardians 2022: Gem-Stage, Instagrid, GPC

IQ will publish entries across all categories over the coming weeks. Catch up on the previous instalment profiling Native Events here.

Gem-Stage
Gem-Stage was launched in Europe in 2019 in collaboration with EU/Interreg NWE, just three months prior to the pandemic. The mission: demonstrate sustainable energy usage at event sites.

Since 2020, GEM has visited several European festivals where it has provided wind, solar, light, and hydrogen/hydrozine. And with an added professional stage (6 x 8 meters), GEM has become a fully operating, colourful and eye-catching entity that is an attractive addition to any event.

The stage includes a 90kWh battery storage and can provide energy for a live show of up to eight hours. Among the events that have hosted GEM-Stage are Pohoda (Slovakia), Rock for People (Czech Republic), Boomtown (Belgium), Eurosonic Noorderslag (The Netherlands), and Vestrock (The Netherlands).

In 2023, GEM-Stage is planning to spread its wings and visit more places and meet more people, in order to spread its message and demonstrate the benefits of sustainable energy.

Instagrid has developed an advanced portable power battery as a power supply for professional applications

Instagrid
Instagrid specialise in high-power portable battery systems that enable reliable and efficient access to clean and affordable electricity for anyone, anywhere, and anytime. Specifically, Instagrid has developed an advanced portable power battery as a power supply for professional applications, to replace highly polluting fossil generators.

The reduction of size and weight is achieved by proprietary power converter technology with a modular design. This gives users the ability to achieve unprecedented power levels, making instagrid products among the most advanced portable battery systems in the world.

Instagrid’s innovative technology helps professionals in areas such as construction, events, film/TV, and public sectors to work with more comfort, achieving greater productivity and efficiency. For the events sector, the compact and lightweight battery brings convenience by providing flexibility and independence from site generators. The power system is easy to move around a festival or venue, wherever electricity might be needed.

In the UK, the ONE Max product powered everything from site cabins to pressure washers, welders and mobile PA systems during the build, show, and break at festivals including Shambala and Secret Garden Party.

Green Producers Club provides a research-based climate tool that both measures emissions and facilitates reduction

Green Producers Club
Green Producers Club provides a research-based climate tool, Green Producers Tool, tailored to multiple industries within the creative and culture sectors, that both measures emissions and facilitates reduction.

All producers and purchasers of events, concerts, festivals, film & television, and soon theatres, can now measure emissions from transport, energy consumption, food & beverage, recycling & waste, accommodation, machinery & construction, art department, venue management, equipment for both stage and film, as well as miscellaneous purchases.

The tool is developed by producers for producers, and is thus intuitive and relevant. It calculates emissions from activities immediately, which is helpful when planning future activities. The emission factors in the tool are calculated by the acclaimed Cicero and based on international databases and cutting-edge research into lifecycle emissions as well as direct emissions.

Green Producers Club will continuously develop the tool according to new technology and research. The Club facilitates seminars and workshops, and gives decision makers reliable analysis on where to implement measures that have an effect.

See the full list of 2022 Green Guardians in IQ 114 here. The next edition of the Green Events & Innovations Conference will take place on Tuesday 28 February, more information here.

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Green Guardians 2022: Native Events

IQ will publish entries across all categories over the coming weeks. Catch up on the previous instalment profiling d&b audiotechnik, Ecolibrium, Every Can Counts and Focusrite here.

Native Events
Over the past five years, consultancy group Native Events has been working really hard to help the events and cultural sectors in Ireland transition towards a more sustainable and circular future.

Native Events was born of a frustration with the needless waste and impact that gigs and events were having in Ireland and the lack of progress being made within the creative industries there.

They started with solar arrays and batteries to power stages and activations and a suite of upcycled furniture and decor, using salvaged materials from exhibitions.

The team has been pushing the conversation in Ireland towards environmental and social responsibility and has partnered with Julie’s Bicycle to establish Julie’s Bicycle Europe. Together they have launched an innovative carbon calculator – specifically designed for the arts – in Ireland, so that creatives can measure, account for, and reduce their environmental impacts. Using this tool with their clients throughout 2022, they have been moving towards reporting and bench-marking for the sector.

Native Events was born of a frustration with the needless waste and impact that gigs and events were having in Ireland

Coming back to live events following the pandemic has been challenging, but the team at Native Events has stayed committed to their vision. Their work with Body&Soul Festival this year saw the introduction of a biodigester, which broke down food waste and compostables onsite; a switch from diesel to 100% HVO-powered generators; and the use of natural, waterless toilets site-wide, saving on chemical use and transport.

Also in 2022, they have been working on a hugely ambitious carbon neutrality project with Dublin PRIDE LGBTQ+ Festival. Further exciting projects this year include energy monitoring for the Heineken Greener Bar at Electric Picnic, aimed at reducing energy consumption, and the creation of a festival campsite based on circular economy principles; a partnership with the Waste Management Regional Offices – an industry-wide consultation on the elimination of single-use plastics at Irish events; and the co-creation and publication of guidelines for sustainable festivals with Failte, Ireland’s Tourism Board.

Native Event’s aim for 2023 is to continue their work with Ireland’s live events industry, whilst expanding their consultancy work to help organisations understand their environmental impact and develop a strategy for how they can get where they need to be. Creating sustainable events and cultural activities is no longer a choice – it is action – and Native Events are proud to be at the forefront of action in Ireland’s creative sector.

See the full list of 2022 Green Guardians in IQ 114 here. The next edition of the Green Events & Innovations Conference will take place on Tuesday 28 February, more information here.

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Green Guardians 2022: d&b, Ecolibrium, ECC, Focusrite

IQ will publish entries across all categories over the coming weeks. Catch up on the previous installment profiling KB Event here.

d&b audiotechnik
The sustainability strategy of d&b audiotechnik is informed by two major forces: climate neutrality legislation and the 17 sustainable development goals set by the UN. The company recognises the negative repercussions the entertainment world can have on the environment and places a greater focus on topics such as reduced power consumption in new products (such as its XSL Series); noise management through its NoizCalc and ArrayCalc software; and monitoring sustainable production methodologies. Through these initiatives, d&b has achieved EMAS certification, as well as participation in the WIN-Charta programme to ensure the sustainable practices maintain momentum.

In 2020, d&b launched its Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) programme to help reduce the environmental impact of touring and fixed installations. In order to prevent equipment ending up in a landfill, they decided to enter the circular economy. This remanufacturing programme allows customers to reap the benefits of a rider-friendly sound reinforcement system whilst contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and consumption of raw materials.

In April 2022, ecolibrium published the Sustainable Travel Guide for Artists and the Music Industry

Ecolibrium
Since 2015, the charity ecolibrium has been leading the live event industry’s approach to tackling carbon emissions from travel. Founded by event organisers and guided by a board of trustees who lead on sustainability strategy across the touring, music, and live events industry and beyond, ecolibrium provides tools, advice, and resources to support their community of events, artists, suppliers, and companies to take action on travel emissions.

Since embarking on their mission, they have helped their members and event audiences to invest over £225k (€260k) in climate solutions projects: carbon balancing the equivalent of over 19.3m car miles. They have two climate programmes: Trees+, which supports planting and ecosystem restoration and preservation projects benefiting communities and protecting biodiversity in areas already experiencing the effects of climate change; and Energy Revolution, which invests in community-owned energy cooperatives, giving the power of clean electricity generation back to local people to build healthier, financially stable communities.

In April 2022, ecolibrium published the Sustainable Travel Guide for Artists and the Music Industry providing up-to-date information, best-practice tips, and inspiration to empower the live music industry to understand and take action on travel impacts.

Every Can Counts had a presence at 16 major events around the UK

Every Can Counts
Every Can Counts is a not-for-profit communications programme working to inspire, encourage, and empower people to recycle their empty drink cans. The initiative’s vision is for a 100% recycling rate for drink cans, and it works towards this by raising awareness about the benefits of recycling cans, and by making it easier for people to recycle when they’re out and about. Festivals and events are a big part of the programme’s focus, and this summer, Every Can Counts had a presence at 16 major events around the UK.

Every Can Counts delivers engaging activations in the event space that make recycling fun while also educating people and encouraging long-term behaviour change. The initiative also runs a recycling rewards exchange at a number of festivals, where attendees bring their empty cans to the Every Can Counts Recycling Hub and exchange them for rewards ranging from temporary tattoos to festival t-shirts and even festival keyrings made from recycled cans.

The programme has also become well-known for its impressive array of interactive installations, from voting bins to can cages. This year, highlights included collecting cans in the iconic Boomtown can-cage letters and creating a six-metre wall of art from recycled cans at Download Festival.

This year Focusrite is using verified carbon offsets to achieve carbon neutrality against Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions

Focusrite
Music and audio products manufacturer, Focusrite Group, has an ambition to become industry leaders in environmental sustainability and reveals a three-pronged approach to this goal:

Addressing its internal operation footprint
Getting its own house in order is essential as Focusrite has the most control over this. The Group says it is making good progress by purchasing renewable energy everywhere it’s available, and this year it is using verified carbon offsets to achieve carbon neutrality against Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions.

Focus on products
Hardware products are Focusrite’s biggest environmental footprint, so it is conducting detailed lifecycle assessments across its portfolio to understand the environmental hotspots across a range of metrics beyond just CO2. By embedding sustainability within product development, it is making changes to reduce impact. The first step was to use recycled aluminium on its Scarlett range, while more recently it started using recycled ABS plastic in the new Vocaster range.

Lead the industry
Focusrite’s footprint only extends so far, but if it can influence the whole industry it could achieve much more. The group is being transparent about progress and methodology, and it has become a founding member of Greeningmusic.tech – a new working group on environmental sustainability that it is encouraging other music tech companies to join.

See the full list of 2022 Green Guardians in IQ 114 here. The next edition of the Green Events & Innovations Conference will take place on Tuesday 28 February, more information here.

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Green Guardians 2022: KB Event

IQ will publish entries across all categories over the coming weeks. The series launched with Big Green Coach, Bluewater and Christie Lites, and continues with KB Event.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of KB Event‘s inception. The company was initially established to provide the event industry with transport and logistics solutions unlike any other on the market, and it is now recognised as one of the leaders in its field, boasting an impressive and loyal client base, and an extensive list of blue-chip and high-profile events.

In direct response to the challenges presented by Brexit, KB Event now operates an EU operation from Ireland. Environmental sustainability is at the heart of how KB Event thinks, how it operates, and how it delivers. The company is continuously striving to identify and deliver the changes required to achieve a brighter future for our planet, and every day its operational team works with the events industry to deliver practical solutions that boost efficiency and reduce impact on the environment.

KB Event is delivering more and more events with HVO as the primary fuel

Working collaboratively with clients, KB Event brings expertise from different specialisms to combat the challenges they face together. The introduction of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) into the fleet and working with the expertise at Peak Oils to supply 100% renewable diesel that is palm oil free, is a clear example of the company’s collaborative working ethos. In fact, the HVO that KB Event uses eliminates up to 90% of net CO2 and significantly reduces nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions.

Many of the company’s clients are so conscious of the impact of fossil fuels on the environment that KB Event is delivering more and more events with HVO as the primary fuel. Examples include: Google Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, World Economic Forum Davos, COP 26 Glasgow, Cannes Lions, and tours for Bring Me the Horizon and Enter Shikari.

See the full list of 2022 Green Guardians in IQ 114 here. The next edition of the Green Events & Innovations Conference will take place on Tuesday 28 February, more information here.

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Green Guardians 2022: Big Green Coach, Bluewater, Christie Lites

IQ will publish entries across all categories over the coming weeks, starting with Big Green Coach, Bluewater and Christie Lites.

Big Green Coach
Big Green Coach is the UK’s largest events travel company, operating coach services to music festivals, gigs, and sporting events. With audience travel accounting for almost 80% of carbon emissions of live events, it’s never been more important to think about travel choices. Coach travel is already the greenest option for eventgoers, taking cars off the road and using less land for parking.

Going further in their green efforts, Big Green Coach’s work with Cool Earth means they have now sponsored close to 2 million square foot of Amazon rainforest for ten years. In 2022, all of their coach services were carbon neutral. Emissions for every return trip were worked out and then offset by investing in sustainability projects with Ecolibrium.

Bluewater purifiers make water safer to drink without the chemical, plastic, and other contaminants found in tap water

Bluewater
Bluewater is a Swedish beverage company dedicated to bringing fresh, healthy water to people who believe that the best water is purified water produced at the point of consumption, either at home or publicly vended at an event or venue – not bottled in plastic and transported from faraway places.

Back in 2013, founder and CEO Bengt Rittri, a Swedish environment entrepreneur sickened by plastic waste ending up in landfill and the oceans, decided to put a little human ingenuity to work – combining patented SuperiorOsmosisTM technology and the will to change the way the world views water.

Today, Bluewater purifiers make water safer to drink – without the chemical, plastic, and other toxic contaminants found in tap water or floating around in single-use plastic water bottles. Bluewater purifiers, unique hydration stations, and sustainable bottles allow people to enjoy fresh, healthy water – at home, work, and on the go across Europe, the Middle East, China, Southeast Asia, the United States, and South Africa.

Bluewater also hydrates tens of thousands of fans at world-leading sporting, music, and other events, including the British Open, the Women’s Open, Cape Town Marathon, and many more. Bluewater has been honoured with a Fast Company World Changing Ideas award.

Christie Lites is committed to using green energy throughout its global locations

Christie Lites
Sustainability is woven into the fabric of the Christie Lites business. The company is committed to using green energy throughout its global locations, which includes premises across the United States and Canada, as well as the United Kingdom and Germany.

Safeguarding Christie Lites’ mission to develop every part of its business through the lens of sustainability, its new Nashville premises has been constructed with Carbon Cure Concrete – a material that captures approximately 23 pounds of carbon dioxide per cubic yard of concrete. This is achieved by converting CO2 in calcium carbonate, a mineral that is an effective carbon dioxide vault that will not release the gas at any point in the future.

This move augments Christie Lites existing sustainability strategies that it has been putting in place across its international operations, to ensure the company’s impact on the environment is actively reduced wherever possible.

See the full list of 2022 Green Guardians in IQ 114 here. The next edition of the Green Events & Innovations Conference will take place on Tuesday 28 February, more information here.

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IQ 114 out now: Di and Gi, Green Guardians, Stadiums

IQ 114, the latest issue of the international live music industry’s favourite magazine, is available to read online now.

The October edition sees writer Derek Robertson take the temperature of the global stadium circuit post-Covid for Pitch Perfect: Stadium Report 2022.

This issue also reveals the New Bosses 2022, as well as the Green Guardians Guide – a review of the latest and greatest innovations helping to green the industry.

IQ readers can also enjoy a double whammy of Italy-related content, with writer Adam Woods examining the state of the country’s live music industry for a market report on p56, and IQ news editor James Hanley ringing in Di & Gi’s 35th anniversary on p28.

Elsewhere, IQ reviews the eighth edition of the International Festival Forum (IFF), which saw a record 800 delegates from 40 countries flock to London last month.

For this edition’s columns and comments, Ticketmaster’s Sarah Slater talks about the record-breaking summer of events and outgoing AIF CEO Paul Reed on the past, present, and future of the festival sector.

As always, the majority of the magazine’s content will appear online in some form in the next four weeks.

However, if you can’t wait for your fix of essential live music industry features, opinion and analysis, click here to subscribe to IQ from just £6.25 a month – or check out what you’re missing out on with the limited preview below:

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Green Guardians 2022: Sunbelt, Tait, Power Logistics

Green Guardians 2022: My Cause, Reverb, Smart Power

Green Guardians 2022: Gem-Stage, Instagrid, GPC

Green Guardians 2022: Native Events

Green Guardians 2022: d&b, Ecolibrium, ECC, Focusrite

Green Guardians 2022: KB Event

Green Guardians 2022: Big Green Coach, Bluewater, Christie Lites

IQ 114 out now: Di and Gi, Green Guardians, Stadiums