Essential RFP Questions for Venues in Sustainable Event Planning

Selecting the right venue for your event involves the location, proximity to hotels, the number of rooms, the capacity of each and so much more. But what about environmental sustainability, how does one go about evaluating their venue choice? Start in the RFP. Ask your venue the right questions to determine the best fit when it comes to eco-friendly values. Below we’ve broken down some questions to ask in your next venue RFP!

Location and Travel

As established previously when evaluating a venue’s sustainability, travel is the largest factor when it comes to an event’s carbon footprint. Here are some questions to include in your RFP related to location and travel:

1. Where in the city or town are they located, is it central?
2. How can attendees get to the venue from the airport? (i.e. can they get there via public and active transportation)
3. Is the venue easily accessible to their hotels? (i.e. can the walk or do they need to take public transportation or taxi?)
4. Are there any group shuttle services available?

Included Amenities

To further reduce travel of suppliers and event items, always ask your venue to see what is included with your booking. Some questions ask:

1. What amenities and furniture are available with the venue booking?
2. Is there any built-in A/V?
3. Are there any decor pieces, plants or florals available on-site to use for our event?
4. What about serving ware and table ware, are these reusable, on-site and provided as part of catering?

Food and Beverage

The second largest factor when it comes to planning a sustainable event is your food and beverage. If your venue has preferred or on-site catering, here are some questions to include in your RFP:

1. Is the caterer on-site?
2. Does the caterer have a comprehensive vegetarian or vegan menu?
3. Where is the food sourced from? Is it local (within 100km)? Are ingredients organic? Is it in-season?
4. Is food served or can it be served in smaller individual plates rather than your typical buffet?
5. What happens to leftover food? Is it given to staff? Donated?
6. Do the banquet staff wait to replenish buffets until serving trays are empty?
7. Do the banquet staff avoid pre-pouring beverages?
8. Where are wines, beers and spirits sourced from? Local?

Water and Energy Consumption

Other areas to consider are the physical building and energy efficiencies. Here are some sample questions to include in your RFP:

1. Does the building have any sort of certifications such as LEED, Green Key Global, Green Seal and ISO 14001?
2. Are there any energy efficiencies such as LED light bulbs or energy star appliances?
3. Does the venue have low flow toilets or faucets?
4. What about the event space’s HVAC system, is it centrally controlled for efficiency or managed through in-room sensors, or conserved manually by staff who adjust to efficient settings?

Waste Management

Finally to support with procurement of resources for your sustainable event planning, you must also determine where these items will be disposed of at the end. Here are some questions to ask about your venue’s on-site waste management:

1. Is there recycling in front of house and back of house areas?
2. What is accepted into recycling, can they provide a guide from their waste management supplier?
3. Is there composting or organic bins available front and back of house?
4. Are compostable items like packaging or food containers accepted? Or only food waste?

Once a venue shares their proposal to bid for your RFP, it’s time to analyze and compare the answers from each. Do you know what you’re looking for? Do you need help evaluating the best choice? Book a one-time consulting call (Eco Brainstorm Session) with us here and we can support you in making the best selection.