Ahead of the Curve
Case Study: How Greenbuild Redefined Exhibitor Engagement
When it comes to sustainable innovations, one thing that sets apart Greenbuild International Conference and Expo is its sophisticated exhibitor engagement programs. Interlacing strategies for operations and communications have allowed Greenbuild to convince exhibitors of their stake in a sustainable event, and to garner acclaim, awards, and a stellar reputation. Along with their signature exhibitor requirement, the Greenbuild Mandatory Exhibitor Greening Guidelines (or GMEGG), Greenbuild and show partner U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) launched a new education module in 2023 to advance exhibitor engagement further.
The expo floor at Greenbuild is an exciting place where innovation, networking, and sustainability meet.
Photo credit: Silver Art Photography
GMEGG
The Greenbuild Mandatory Exhibitor Greening Guidelines (GMEGG) was established in 2012 specifically for Greenbuild as a uniform, measurable and comprehensive way to address exhibitor impacts. Now in its tenth year, GMEGG is a mandatory, 22-question online survey for exhibitors regarding best practices and requirements that include booth materials, electrical use, transportation and shipping, and giveaways. GMEGG was the first of its kind for the tradeshow industry and was certainly the first mandatory guidelines for exhibitors at a tradeshow, though it has since been emulated and copied across the industry.
GMEGG participation carries promotional incentive for exhibitors. The Greenbuild Green Exhibitor Awards recognize outstanding environmental performance determined by manual and numerical assessment of GMEGG submissions and scores. Katie Gillham, Event Director, thinks the incentives go beyond acknowledgement.
“When the exhibitor feels a sense of belonging and commitment to a piece of the show, they understand they’re making a mark on our show through this program.”
She says that for the business side of things, GMEGG results in better retention for exhibitors. For the success of the conference as a networking and innovation hub, it increases the sense of community for exhibitors and those they interface with on site, including show management.
In its early years, the uniqueness of GMEGG and its stringent requirements was a hindrance for some exhibitors. But Gillham has noticed the industry catching up. “Now there is increased willingness and desire to participate [in GMEGG] because exhibitors are feeling pressures from outside Greenbuild.” Now the motivation to comply comes from beyond the accolades of the Greenbuild Green Exhibitor Awards, but from stakeholder pressures and corporate sustainability requirements. Once ahead of its time, GMEGG is now setting the pace for exhibitor responsibility in trade show sustainability.
GMEGG winners receive publicity in return for their high level of compliance, which they can use to increase their brand value and visibility at all conferences they visit with the same booth design.
Photo Credit: Silver Art Photography
Moving the Needle
GMEGG participation is near 100% every year, partly because exhibitors receive access to select booth space only after completing the survey. Gillham says the next hurdle is “to move the needle for higher [GMEGG] scores across the board.” The key to more sustainable exhibitor builds and operations would come not from stricter requirements, but from better educating exhibitors to take advantage of sustainable tools at their disposal.
Don Hatch, Senior Manager, Education & Events at USGBC, was inspired by Greenbuild’s authentic connection to its exhibitors to level up. His philosophy is that “your show is only as good as your exhibitors,” and despite excellent waste management and other operational guidelines, Greenbuild could do even better. He noticed that GMEGG was often completed by just one representative of each exhibitor team. While GMEGG holds the exhibit manager accountable for sustainable planning, Don wanted to democratize the knowledge and increase buy-in for a sustainable exhibit throughout the team. Furthermore, he wanted to bridge the gap between the GMEGG deadline and when exhibitors showed up on the expo floor to encourage follow-through on the planning commitments detailed in each company’s submission.
Introducing the Greenbuild Education Module
Leadership at Greenbuild understands that the technical lingo behind GMEGG can be daunting. So, Hatch and the events and education team at USGBC dreamt up a new education module to provide exhibitors with the knowledge to explain why GMEGG is important and beneficial. The primary goal of the education module is to engage exhibitors not just in accountability but to give them stakes in the sustainable outcomes of the event.
The module is accessed online with a free USGBC.org account. It’s organized by category, echoing the familiar format of GMEGG, and includes tips and best practices for each area of sustainability. For example, one tip for show floor giveaways is: “swag items that are focused on a social good or experience can be more meaningful to attendee audiences and is a waste free option.” While it is not a requirement to offer experience-based giveaways, this tip offers an alternative, more sustainable, and potentially more impactful way to connect to booth visitors.
In addition, the training calls out changes to GMEGG from prior years that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. In 2023, Greenbuild changed the requirement for post-consumer recycled content in booth flooring from 25% to 30%. For repeat exhibitors, this adjustment could have been lost in the checklist of GMEGG requirements. As part of the educational component, however, the change is accompanied by guidance on how to request and source flooring that complies.
At the end of the module, participants take a short quiz to test their knowledge and shore up comprehension, and each individual receives a certificate of completion, which enables USGBC to track who completes the training. As the program develops, event managers can access reports to follow up about levels of compliance with exhibit owners as they work with them to improve their GMEGG scores.
The new Greenbuild education module developed by USGBC is an easy-to-follow tool for exhibitors to increase their understanding of strict exhibitor sustainability requirements for the expo.
Images of module courtesy of USGBC.
Engagement Strategies
GMEGG and the new training are important components of a comprehensive sustainability strategy that Greenbuild has been developing for years. On site, Greenbuild provides sustainability tours of the host venue in which practices like waste sorting, kitchen and catering programs, and water reuse systems are highlighted. The show floor features the Sustainability Hub, the home for learning about Greenbuild Sustainability initiatives and engaging with the host destination through give-back programs like The Legacy Project, an annual local investment program that demonstrates the benefits of green building and sustainability to community health and equity.
The Sustainability Hub on the Expo floor is home to Greenbuild volunteers and community programs (Left) and annual sustainability tours that bring attendees and exhibitors back of house to witness Greenbuild’s programs, including waste sorting.
Image Credits: Honeycomb Strategies, Don Hatch USGBC.
Volunteers make up a valuable piece of Greenbuild’s engagement puzzle, and the education module is a great tool to strengthen the volunteer program. Volunteers are generally undergraduate and graduate students or emerging professionals under the age of 30 and receive complimentary conference registration in exchange for supporting Greenbuild’s sustainability goals. As stewards of the event sustainability strategy, Greenbuild volunteers staff waste bins, eating areas, community programming activations, and the Sustainability Hub. The program prides itself on providing the next generation of green building professionals opportunities to network laterally and with Greenbuild attendees.
The education module was mandatory for volunteer training in 2023. Hatch says about the vital role of volunteers:
“Do they realize they’re the tip of the spear? They’re ensuring that the job of the people back of house is easy. They’re the one saying to the attendee ‘this is where this has to go.’ They’re mitigating waste contamination rates. [That’s why] contamination rates of Greenbuild are near zero.”
This person-to-person communication at the floor is a powerful way to put a sustainability strategy into place.
Expanding the reach of the education module beyond the volunteers opens up more channels of communication from management to exhibitor and offers more chances for impact mitigation, so volunteers become the last line of defense rather than the primary educators for exhibitor behavior.
The USGBC booth at Greenbuild 2023, which has been designed in compliance with GMEGG to be a reusable structure for many years.
Photo Credit: USGBC
Next Steps
Both Gillham and Hatch want to integrate the training more seamlessly next year.
“We want to be their partner in creating more sustainable exhibit booths,” says Gillham.
Through a combination of communication, education and innovation, such partnership is possible. Greenbuild is proud to be a leader in trade show sustainability, but not greedy in reaping the benefits. Gillham sees the GMEGG as a resource “to provide [exhibitors] with education to understand how to make a more sustainable exhibit [even] at shows that don’t have these requirements.”
2023 was a test run for the software. It launched in the summer prior to the October conference and wasn’t mandatory for exhibitors. Next year the training will have an earlier roll out to pair with the availability of GMEGG. As an incentive for more participation, each person who completes the training will receive a GBCI continuing education credit. Whether or not the training becomes mandatory is still being considered, but the availability of knowledge will undoubtedly assist with the goals to increase exhibitor engagement and their pursuant GMEGG scores.
As Greenbuild aspires to be a zero waste event in the near future, and will continue to recertify for EIC, WELL, and TRUE certifications, steps to engage exhibitors become essential. The room for sustainable growth narrows significantly once big impact inefficiencies have been remedied. Preventing and managing impacts from exhibitor and attendee behavior are difficult areas for consistent results, but Greenbuild is taking the challenge head on. As the imperative for more sustainable solutions increases, once again the industry’s preeminent green building expo is ahead of its time to innovate solutions to close the gaps in their sustainability strategy.
Honeycomb Strategies specializes in impactful solutions for sustainable events and venues. hcsustainability.com hello@hcsustainability.com
About Greenbuild
Greenbuild International Conference and Expo is owned and operated by Informa Connect, a division of Informa, and presented by the U.S. Green Building Council. Greenbuild is the world's largest event dedicated to green building. Each year, the conference brings together attendees and exhibitors from across the green building sector, spanning commercial and residential professionals, architects, building owners and operators, students, advocates, and educators. Greenbuild website
About the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. USGBC works toward its mission of market transformation through its LEED green building program, robust educational offerings, an international network of local community leaders, the annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, the Center for Green Schools, and advocacy in support of public policy that encourages and enables green buildings and communities. For more information, visit usgbc.org and connect on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.