The award-winning Theatre Green Book initiative has launched a new tool to help theatre operators prioritise sustainability improvements to their buildings. It has been developed to accompany the Sustainable Buildings volume of the Theatre Green Book, the project spearheaded by Theatres Trust, ABTT and Buro Happold, and coordinated by Paddy Dillon of Renew Culture, which pulls together existing guidance and creates a shared standard for environmentally responsible theatre.
The Home Survey Tool is a simple building questionnaire that takes into account a building’s age and usage to produce a detailed list of prioritised recommendations, dividing them into ‘easy wins’, maintenance projects and larger works that need longer-term planning. The tool was developed with donated time from Buro Happold engineers and programmers, and has been piloted by a range of theatre operators across the UK and Ireland.
Paddy Dillon of Renew Culture says, The aim of the Theatre Green Book project has always been to demystify environmental sustainability. With the rollout of the Home Survey Tool, we hope to refocus the efforts of building managers on the projects with the biggest impacts. We look forward to feedback from theatres to keep developing this work.
Theatres Trust Director Jon Morgan says, The Home Survey Tool is the next stage in the vital Theatre Green Book project. The recommendations produced across the sector can help to make the case for further funding and to support the decision-making of theatre organisations.
Andrew Wylie, Partner at Buro Happold says, Buro Happold was pleased to develop the Home Survey Tool to help venues, large and small, understand how their building is performing. Working through the Tool will generate an initial plan to improve your buildings environmental performance without the need to engage specialist advice.
Colin Johnston, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Blackpool Grand says, Trying to reduce the carbon footprint of a Victorian theatre – especially one that is Grade II* listed – is a monumental task. However, using the Home Survey Tool was simple and very effective at both finding the ‘quick wins’ that we could effect at low or no cost, and the ‘don’t even bother considering’ at the other end of the spectrum. The tool is refreshingly honest, free from jargon, and easy to follow.
Katie Town, Executive Director, Theatre Royal Wakefield says, The team at Theatre Royal Wakefield found the Theatre Green Book Home Survey Tool really helpful and simple to use. We found the questions thought-provoking and the output interesting and useful. We’ve already started to implement some of the recommendations to improve our environmental sustainability and other actions will inform our longer-term plans for our Grade II* listed Frank Matcham building.
