Research suggests live music produces 405,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK every year whilst theatre performances and live events can have a negative impact on the environment due to their often temporary nature. It’s the responsibility of all artists, venues and audiences to make and attend live shows in ways that also protect our planet.
Our sustainability policy and goals cover three key areas. Find out what those mean and what we’re doing to improve things at the Roundhouse.
1. Improve
Green our buildings, artistic performances, and corporate events
2. Educate
Incorporate environmental education and empowerment into our work
3. Influence
Exercise our influence as a top venue pushing the boundaries of sustainability
What does this look like in reality?
- Become a zero waste company
- All productions follow a green production model
- Measure all our environmental impacts
- Become a climate literate company
- As a youth charity, ensure young people are involved in the activation of our sustainability agenda
- Embed sustainability in our company governance
- Procure from net zero suppliers
- Meet and go beyond necessary environmental compliance (ISO 20120)
- Centre climate justice in all of our sustainability work
- Ensure sustainability is an area of focus in all our local and sector partnerships
Find out about some of our projects, initiatives and successes below.
Roundhouse Works
In 2023 we opened Roundhouse Works which achieved the highly sought-after BREEAM Excellent sustainability accreditation. The new creative centre for 18-30 year-olds has sustainability at its very heart, delivering creative solutions and concepts across the site, including solar panels, electric vehicle charging points, LED lighting, automatic lighting controls, and other energy efficiency elements. Roundhouse Works went on to win the Energy Project of the Year – Retail, Commercial, Industrial at the 2023 Energy Awards.
Environmentally friendly events
We want to make our own events as sustainable as possible and we’ve started by making some simple changes. An example of a small change we made at a recent Roundhouse event was to donate flowers to Floral Angels, who repurpose flowers into smaller posies to take to hospices, care homes and women’s shelters, reducing waste and brightening other spaces. If you’re running an event at the Roundhouse and want to find out how to make it more sustainable, speak with your event manager or get in touch with the team hire@roundhouse.org.uk.