☰ Site menu Search
Oregon Convention Center
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Flickr

Universal Links

  • Calendar
  • Parking
  • Accessibility
  • Eat now
  • 503-235-7575
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Attend
  • Plan
  • Exhibit
  • About
  • In the news
  • Covid-19

WE WELCOME EVERYONE

As hosts to the world, we deeply respect our guests and our community. We’re here to make sure everyone feels safe bringing their ideas, their passions and their hearts to the table. Because positive change can begin anytime, anyplace, with anyone. Like you. Right here. Right now.

  • Attend
  • Events
  • Know Before You Go
  • Parking & Directions
  • Guest Services & Amenities
  • Maps

GO

WE LIVE FOR MAGIC

We live for the lights, the music, the food, the learning, the inspiration, and the togetherness. We live for positive change and transformative experiences that blaze a path toward endless possibilities. The awesome potential of every event keeps us on our toes and, sometimes, knee-deep in caffeine. But the magic of pulling it all off? Totally worth it.

  • Plan
  • Book An Event
  • Floor Plans & Rates
  • Event Services
  • Catering Services
  • Client Services Guide

GO

WE GET IT DONE

Last minute request? Done. Idea about how to do something better? Done. Guest who wants something we’ve never heard of—now, if possible? Done. And done. YES is the answer. Determination, creativity and teamwork are how we deliver on it.

  • Exhibit
  • Order services
  • Load-In & Load-Out

GO

 

WE ARE FORWARD THINKING

Sustainability is in our DNA. It’s who we are and why we do what we do. We’re passionate about cultivating diversity, advancing equity and practicing inclusion in all of the work we do. People. Planet. Progress. It’s how we work toward a better tomorrow.

  • About
  • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • Sustainability
  • Staff Directory
  • Jobs
  • Public Art Collection
  • OCC Neighborhood

GO

 

In the news

  • Recent Stories
  • Sustainability News
  • Press
  • Our Community Stories

GO

  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Oregon Convention Center on course to be the most sustainable convention center in the world
  • Oregon Convention Center on course to...

Oregon Convention Center on course to be the most sustainable convention center in the world

Oct. 24, 2018, sustainability news

From Metro News

With hundreds of events and more than a half a million guests each year, the Oregon Convention Center’s sustainability is blazing the trail towards the most sustainable convention center in the world. Guests of the recent Rose City Comic Con might even say it’s the most sustainable in the galaxy.

“OCC seeks to create a ‘green-star standard’ in event waste management. By requiring a waste diversion deposit, event and meeting planners are financial invested in minimizing their environmental impact and the refund provides a ‘leave-no-trace’ incentive,” said Craig Stroud, executive director.

 

Sustainability at the OCC

 

OCC is the only U.S. convention center that attempts to educate its clients upfront about the many ways an event can impact the environment and benefit our community. The center’s Waste Diversion Policy calls out the roles and responsibilities each partner owns in making an event more sustainable including actions that can be taken before, during, and after an event.

Two years ago, OCC implemented the policy and today 94 percent of its events are in compliance. This encouraging response is largely a result of engaging each client at the beginning and then guiding them forward from wherever they stand on their path to sustainability.

OCC staff provide a roadmap for planning sustainable events, help vendors and guests practice green habits, and work with our community to support the environment. OCC has a long-term goal of reaching at least an 80 percent diversion rate, and this can only be achieved if staff ensure that the material brought into the building can be recycled, donated, or taken back by the company that produced it.

For contracted events taking 30,000 square feet or more of convention space, a deposit is required. One hundred percent of the deposit is credited to the master bill once the event organizer complies with the policy requirements.

To set clients up for success, they are provided a standard list of items that are not recyclable in the Pacific Northwest and therefore shouldn’t be brought into the building. Following an event, clients are asked to place all recyclable items into the sorting receptacles we offer. Because collecting, sorting, and processing everything requires a lot of coordination — and cooperation — the policy also specifies who is to complete each task.

“Sustainability is woven into the environmental ethos and social responsible operations of the center to such a level that clients who choose the Oregon Convention Center for their event can proclaim they are a green meeting,” said Ryan Harvey, sustainability coordinator.

Reaching the LEED Platinum designation, the highest level of certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, for an existing center is nearly unprecedented with only two convention centers receiving this designation. The Oregon Convention Center is also the first venue in the world to have earned the highest level of the APEX/ASTM green meeting standard by the Events Industry Council.

Energy efficiency in the center is accomplished with 6,500 rooftop solar panels generating 25 to 30 percent of the convention center's energy consumption, which is the approximate equivalent of 133 Portland homes on an annual basis. Through the Pacific Power’s Blue Sky program and NW Natural’s Smart Energy program, OCC offsets 100 percent of electrical and natural gas use in the facility. As a purchaser of many Renewable Energy Certificates, OCC was recently invited to participate in a new Pacific Power program called Blue Sky Select allowing the center to direct funds to support the incubation of a solar farm project in Utah. Because of the way the electrical grid works, energy from this solar farm isn't actually being used; yet the center is creating a more sustainable energy industry.

Re-use organizations like Habitat for Humanity have partnered with OCC on product donations, receiving more than 50,000 pounds of items that could be utilized in its projects. Additionally, Blanchet House received donations of nearly 34,000 meals to help address food scarcity last year.

Public transit is encouraged with discounted transit passes to reduce the carbon footprint and ease transportation to and from the airport and various destinations throughout the city with the MAX light rail, street car, bus line and electric scooters all in very close proximity to the center.

Since 2004 when OCC became the first convention center in the world to earn a LEED certification as an existing building, the team has been a catalyst for change. Their next paradigm shift will be through partnerships and collaboration to deepen the environmental impact by collaborating with the clients who rent the facility.

Learn more...

 

About the Oregon Convention Center
The Oregon Convention Center is owned by Metro and managed by the Metro Exposition and Recreation Commission. OCC is a LEED Platinum certified facility that hosts groups from around the world and brings millions of dollars into the Portland and Oregon economy.

Related 
sustainability waste diversion LEED Craig Stroud Ryan Harvey

Share This Story

Subscribe to OCC News

OCC News Feed

Get In Touch

Our knowledgeable staff is ready to help. Chat with one of our experts now to find out why OCC is the perfect venue for your next event.

  • Give us a call
    503-235-7575
  • Chat with
    an expert
  • Drop us a line
    ask@oregoncc.org

Current events

  • Mar 25—Mar 29Mass Timber Conference 2023
  • Mar 29—Apr 2SAA 2023 Annual (Society for American Archaeology)
  • Mar 31—Apr 1Jump 2023 Dance Convention
See Full Calendar

Latest news

  • May. 19, 2021Oregon Convention Center proudly supports All4Oregon’s 500,000 vaccination milestone
  • Apr. 28, 2021Oregon’s Largest Vaccination Site is a Logistical Masterpiece. We Take You Inside.
  • Feb. 11, 2021Oregon Convention Center to Serve as Regional Severe Weather Shelter
See All News

Partners

  • TP-Logo.jpg

    TP-Logo.jpg

  • levy.png

    levy.png

  • edlen.png

    edlen.png

Oregon Convention Center
777 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd
Portland, OR 97232

Footer Menu

  • 503-235-7575
  • Jobs
  • News
  • Contact
  • Privacy policy
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Flickr

Terms of Service Menu

    Hello, we're Metro.

     
    Metro logo
    • Arts and event centers
    • Oregon Zoo
    • Parks and nature
    • Garbage and recycling
    • Land and transportation

    Oregon Convention Center

    Close menu
    Home Close
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Flickr

    Main menu

    • Attend
      +− Submenu
      • Calendar
      • Know Before You Go
      • Parking & Directions
      • Guest Experience & Amenities
      • Maps
    • Plan
      +− Submenu
      • Book An Event
      • Floor Plans & Rates
      • Event Services
        +− Submenu
        • GO Production Services
        • Technology Services
        • Ticketing Services
        • Marketing & Branding
        • Spire Lighting Inquiry
        • Security Providers
        • More Services
      • Catering Services
        +− Submenu
        • Catering
        • Restaurants
      • Client Services Guide
    • Exhibit
      +− Submenu
      • Load-In & Load-Out
    • Covid-19
    • About
      +− Submenu
      • Staff directory
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Sustainability
      • Jobs
      • Public Art Collection
      • Our Neighborhood
    • News
    Top