http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=156437

International Convention Centre Durban, venue for the COP17 climate-change conference later this year, rewarded for its environmental management practices

The International Convention Centre (ICC) Durban, where United Nations climate-change talks will be held later this year, has received ISO 14001 certification for meeting business and environmental management standards, Julie-May Ellingson, chief executive of the ICC, said on Wednesday.

The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held from November 28 to December 9, will be attended by more than 40000 delegates from across the world.

According to the host-country agreement with the UN, Durban will be responsible for calculating and minimising the carbon footprint of the event and, where necessary, offsetting it through appropriate means.

"We are delighted to receive the ISO 14001 certification, in addition to the ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 certifications, confirming ICC Durban's dedication to high-quality management practices," Ms Ellingson said. "It is a huge stamp of quality for our organisation and one that our team worked very hard to achieve."

ICC Durban completed its International Standards Organisation audit last month. Being certified verifies that the convention centre is minimising its harmful effects on the environment and working to improve its environmental performance.

The design of the ICC building incorporates "green" elements such as large glass facades for natural light and energy-efficient light fittings and air-conditioning systems.

The garden is populated with plant species local to KwaZulu-Natal, which reduces the need for irrigation. The exceptions are three baobab trees planted to represent the three main cultural groups in KwaZulu-Natal.

The ICC grows its own herbs for use in its kitchen, which serves most of the centre's catering needs. This initiative will be expanded soon to include a wider variety of herbs as well as vegetables, the centre said in a statement.

The building also has a stringent waste-separation policy, and in the first half of the year, it recycled more than half of the waste it generated. It has undergone an energy-efficiency retrofit and is anticipated to reduce its energy needs by 215kW - about 7% of the current total demand.