A fully eco friendly

conference venue?

Sarah Evans speaks to

Russell Downing to find out how....

 

Green is the new black of the 21st  century with battery powered cars, organic produce and recycled goods making their way firmly into the commercial market. As reported by Adam Baggs in our last issue, venues

are no exception to the rule with everyone pulling together in an  attempt to reduce their carbon footprint.

Avid soap viewers may remember the amusing Corrie episode with Roy Cropper attempting to do as much with ‘Roy’s Rolls’, causing much distress to his staff.

 Any issue that is deemed to merit inclusion within the script of a prime-time TV soap is indication of just how important the issue of sustainability has become to us all.

 To discover how venues are tacklingthe issue I contacted Russell Downing, the new centre manager of Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre, surely a man who knows more than most about how the concept of sustainability is translated to a commercial venues environment

.

 What exactly merits a venue being worthy of the description ‘Eco’, Russell?: ‘At Sheepdrove, carbon emissions have been reduced through energy efficiency and responsible use of materials. The impact of the building’s structure on the environment has been minimised by using recycled, renewable and local materials -as well as minimum water consumption.’

I am already impressed, and this is just the beginning! Russell goes on to explain that the building has been designed to make the most of natural ventilation, light and passive solar heating, and is partly cut into the ground to increase its thermal mass and reduce heat loss. The centre only needs two small gas-fired boilers to heat the whole of the building due to its high levels of insulation. All waste water is treated ecologically on site and they even have the technology to be able to shut down any areas of the building which aren’t in use.

Nothing is thrown away; everything is recycled. Even the materials from the demolition of the redundant buildings on the centre site were reused in the new build. They haven’t even used a scrap of PVC in the centre’s construction, and I think it’s fab that the toilet cubicle partitions are made from recycled toothpaste tubes, with the washbasins made from recycled CDs!

OK, so there are a few organic centres throughout the UK; so what justifies Sheepdrove’s claim to be so different from the rest? ‘Well, we are not just a series of beautiful rooms with state-of-the-art technology’, Russell comments, ‘We are set at the heart of a working organic farm along a rich belt of outstanding natural beauty, and we offer a haven for healthy thinking and creativity in a relaxed environment.’

Just to cap it all off the menus are all based on what is in season in both the garden and on the farm, and all the meat is used -for example you will quite often find mutton on the menu. Bread is freshly made from wheat grown on the farm - milled daily! If delegates can get up on time they are even welcomed to watch the process!

With a field dedicated to outdoor team building activities as well as reed-bed rambles and the famous farm tours, there is certainly plenty going on here to keep your delegates occupied in an environmentally friendly manor.

But despite all this impressive catalogue of achievements, Russell and his team still have more ambitions:

‘We are now well underway with our next phase which includes our plans to install a ground source heat

pump’ Russell tells me with pride. Between the team of Russell, Allison Cook the front of house manager

and Melissa Eggleton the centre cook, they run a splendid forward looking eco centre which cleverly

combines education, farm, and a sound business model for sustainability.

To experience sustainable conferencing

for yourself contact Russell Downing,

Centre Manager

Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre,

Lambourn, Berkshire RG17 7UU

T: 01488 674 748

www.sheepdrove.com