For the past few years, it seems “Going Green” has been a major focus for technology and event planners. At times it seems that it’s a whole lot of talk without much result. The truth is that small changes can have a big positive impact that is measurable. Some A/V pros have taken up the cause full time like Midori Connolly of AvGirl Productions who talks about “Smart AV.” The definition of Smart AV is to produce a high quality experience for the user while creating better business results and a positive impact on the environment. Midori suggests integrators work with IT to gather data about all the factors in an environment and then use it to create Smart AV and greener practices. This requires a commitment to monitoring energy usage and finding energy efficient alternatives. Here are a few small ways to more sustainable System Design:
- Take inventory of your equipment on a regular basis and look at the current energy-efficient equivalent. As manufacturers embrace new technologies, the energy savings can be ten-fold. Think about the difference between the old incandescent bulb to an LED that gives six time the lifespan with only a small percentage of the energy to run it.
- Vendor Choice. Look for manufacturers and vendors who align with sustainability efforts in their production.
- Look for Recycling Opportunities – Even among staff, batteries which are replaced routinely for events still have enough life for personal use. Collect them in a box at the event and allow staff to take home the replaced batteries.
- Control system programming is a big win for energy management without affecting performance. Newer solutions can be cloud based, and scale from multiple systems inside a single room to an entire building. Programming can play a major role in maintaining energy efficiency with high performance because of the real time monitoring. Cloud based solutions offer a huge savings from traditional systems. There are many choices including open source software that can be operated from an iPad like Linked2Software. (http://www.linked2software.com )
Implementing sustainable A/V systems is really a matter of understanding the impact and then doing those small things which collectively create big wins for you and your event.