Green Guardians 2023: Powersoft, SBM, SES, Vestas
Welcome to the fourth and final part of IQ Magazine’s 2023 Green Guardians – our annual recognition of those eco-warriors and innovators at the forefront of the battle to make the live entertainment industry more sustainable.
The Green Guardians is spearheaded by IQ and an international panel of sustainability experts to highlight and congratulate companies and organisations who are improving the live music business when it comes to being more environmentally friendly.
This year’s list includes 20 entries across a wide range of event suppliers, campaigners, 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 days. Catch up on the previous instalment profiling Octopus, Overdrive Energy Solutions, REVERB, Satis & Fy and Support + Feed here.
Powersoft has ingrained energy conservation into its core values since its inception.
The company’s mission revolves around crafting energy-efficient products and lessening environmental impact while offering substantial economic benefits to users.
At the forefront is Powersoft’s ground-breaking (Pulse Width Modulation) technology introduced in 1995. This innovation, now an industry standard, excels at converting mains energy to usable power and recycling reactive energy from speakers. Powersoft products showcase this through ultra-high efficiency (0.95-0.99%), reducing energy needs for the same power output.
The benefits produced by the adoption of this technology include:
- Energy savings and lower carbon footprint (equivalent CO2 emissions) with a reduction of approximately 40% compared to amplifiers without power factor correction for the same output power.
- Reduced heating generation due to lower RMS currents from the mains.
- Reduced logistic costs due to the decreased weight and volumes.
- More flexibility in mounting options, thanks to the lower thermal dissipation values that also help to keep cooling costs down.
This unwavering pursuit of efficiency finds its pinnacle in the present with Unica, the next-generation amplifier platform. As the embodiment of the company’s “green audio power” ethos, Unica exemplifies how innovation and efficiency can harmoniously coalesce to shape a greener, more resonant future.
Sustainable Better Merch has merged the rhythms of the music industry with the values of sustainability, and the result is a journey that’s as purposeful as it is innovative.
Straight out of the heart of Stockholm, Sustainable Better Merch crafts solutions that sync clients’ artistic visions with ethical choices. Its offerings go beyond just products; they’re an expression of artistic identity. Whether you’re looking for a handful of items or a full-blown merchandise extravaganza, sustainability remains at the core of everything the company does.
Its organic range, meticulously woven from 100% organic cotton, carries certifications like the Global Organic Textile Standard and the Soil Association (UK). The company insists on responsible production and has managed to reduce the carbon footprint of its organic shirts by a staggering 89% through renewable energy and smart farming practices. And that’s not all. Its recycled products blend 80% combed organic cotton with 20% recycled post-consumer polyester.
All its recycled and organic products are made in factories that are audited by the Fair Wear Foundation, an independent, non-profit organisation whose main focus is improving the textile industry’s working conditions.
Ready to take a risk-free leap? Launch a pre-order campaign and watch the magic happen. Sustainable Better Merch will set up a web shop where fans can order your merchandise within a set peri- od. After the campaign closes, the company will print and send out exactly what’s ordered.
It’s a win-win – less waste, more sustainability.
Curated by international artist relations expert Stefan Lohmann, Sustainable Event Solutions (SES) provides anyone working in the live events sector with a readymade online checklist to improve their green credentials.
In addition to the SES Checklist, Lohmann has compiled a database of hundreds of suppliers, contractors, venues, and even accommodation providers who are working toward improving the environment.
The SES website also champions a 16 Step Initiative to help the event industry to become more climate-neutral and sustainable and achieve a minimum standard for climate-neutral, sustainable events by 2025.
The SES platform also includes a Sustainability Rider, which is designed to help event organisers consider the “three pillars of sustainability” – environmental protection, social justice, and economic efficiency.
“It is crucial to ask the right questions and make the right demands of suppliers, partners, and service providers,” states Lohmann. “For this purpose, I have developed the Sustainability Rider and Checklist in cooperation with experts, which also includes publicly available information and existing environmental laws. Ideally, the Checklist becomes a logical part of contracts, requirements, and offers for suppliers and trades.”
With a vision to become the global leader in sustainable energy solutions, everything Vestas does revolves around the development and deployment of sustainable energy solutions.
Every day, its 29,000 employees help to create a better world by designing, manufacturing, installing, developing, and servicing wind energy and hybrid projects all over the world. With +169 GW of wind turbines installed in 88 countries, its sustainable energy solutions have already prevented 1.5bn tonnes3 of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere and contributed to a more sustainable energy system.
The Denmark-headquartered Vestas has more than 40 years of experience in wind energy and was the first company to reach the 100 GW landmarks for both the installation and service of wind turbines. As such, it believes it has already played a crucial role in laying the foundations for the sustainable era and that it is uniquely positioned to show the pathway to a sustainable planet.
Wind energy is Vestas’ heritage and core competence. It believes wind will form the backbone of the sustainable energy systems of the future, and it remains focused on developing solutions that accelerate the energy transition and strengthen the company’s continued leadership in wind.
You. Smart. Thing. is a leading travel-demand management platform for destinations, venues, and events. It is used to enhance visitor experience and engagement whilst reducing the disproportionate carbon footprint created by visitor travel.
The platform comprises an easily embedded web-based travel as- sistant interface for visitors, an intuitive travel assistant configuration dashboard, and a comprehensive data analytics and insights suite. The travel assistant interface utilises state-of-the-art web-based technology making it easy to implement. There’s nothing for visitors to download or install; it’s intuitive, mobile-optimised, and integrated with client systems such as websites, mobile apps, ticket booking systems, and marketing communications.
The service was used by Anjunabeats to generate personalised low-carbon travel plans for Above & Beyond fans attending this year’s On The Beach festival in Brighton, UK, reducing the event’s carbon footprint by an estimated 36% compared to industry averages for similar-sized festivals.
You. Smart. Thing. reduces travel emissions, which typically make up most of an event’s carbon footprint, by integrating venue, local authority, national highways, and transport operator datasets to generate recommended low-carbon routes. Curated ‘last-mile’ routes are also configured to improve venue accessibility and wayfinding, whilst auto- mated travel-plan updates mitigate the risk of delays or disruptions and can even recommend discounted travel and accommodation.
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