Sustainability Matters at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland

Increasingly companies and their employees want to make an impact on their community and globally. At the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland (HCCC) sustainability matters. Meeting planners who want to do business and some good too will find an ideal partner in HCCC.

The LEED Gold-certified HCCC’s recent $51+ million expansion offers enhanced amenities like the additional 105,000 square-feet of event space from what was formerly the Global Center for Health Innovation, new meeting rooms that are up to 8,000 square-feet, 11,000 square-foot covered terrace perfect for receptions and gatherings, and more.

But for more than a decade it’s been home to #TheRealFarmvile, a 19,000 square foot farm outside the Grand Ballroom, where you’ll find a few chickens, goats, ducks, pigs, and bees, herbs, honey, tomatoes, eggs, pumpkins, varieties of mint among other things. Farm to table ensures freshest ingredients for dishes, cocktails, and mocktails.

“We had a strip of land and we wanted to do something impactful, different. The chef at the time suggested a farm,” says Jude Feyedelem, general manager of Levy. HCCC’s food and beverage partner.

In addition to the farm, the Grind2Energy systems takes leftover food scraps and converts it into energy, natural gas, electricity and soil nutrients. The system can convert enough gas and electricity to heat and power more than 20 homes a month.

HCCC partners with the Edward Keating Center and other local shelters to share any food product that would be otherwise be discarded, donating more than 3,000 pounds of food a year.

This year the convention center begun switching bottled water for canned water which is better for the environment than plastic bottles.

“Sustainability is a core value. We’re doing our part to help make the world a better place,” says Feyedelem.

To learn more about hosting your next meeting in Cleveland, visit us here.