Balance. Always useful. In yoga, for example, when trying to perfect a flawless downward dog. Or cooking, when trying to get that level of spice just right. In life even when trying to, well, eat healthily, exercise, get enough sleep, keep on top of the cleaning, look after the kids, cook meals from scratch, drink enough water, be a good friend, make time for mindfulness. Oh, and hold down a full-time job. Let’s just wrap that one up as, “do life”.
So, while we might be failing at finding our zen and being superhuman, and, yes, we might also be overdoing it on the garlic, when it comes to carbon emissions we are, if we do say so ourselves, the Queen of balance (and we do say it. Frequently. In fact, we’re really trying to shout about it.)
To say it just one more time (today) for all our loyal subjects in the back…Church House, Westminster is officially a net zero venue. Which basically means we absorb as much carbon as we admit, so we don’t add any additional greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. We are, you could say, perfectly balanced.
We’re also ahead of schedule. Six years ahead. Having smashed our original target to become carbon neutral by 2030, we’re determined to keep our foot very firmly off the gas and continue powering our sustainability journey with new and innovative approaches.
“New and innovative?”, we hear you say, “but you’re an historic venue?” True. But, if you think that holds us back, far from it – it makes us even better. Being an historic venue just means we have the fun of getting creative and coming up with out-of-the-box ideas that both move us forward while also cherishing our unique heritage.
Take our recent carbon-negative refurbishment as an example. With the amount of emissions we captured from the atmosphere, you could’ve flown from London to New York and back 1,067 times. Not bad for an historic venue, aye? (Though, we will admit, repeatedly saving you from visiting the bright lights of New York City might not, at first glance, appear like the favour it was intended to be.)
So, how did we give you this gift that you’ll eventually (we’re almost certainly sure. Like 99%. Okay, 67%) come round to thanking us for? Well, we started with paint. A special kind. The kind of carbon-absorbing paint that is specifically designed to capture and neutralise emissions. The kind that, as it turns out, no other Grade II listed venue yet uses. By redecorating all our rooms with this paint, we absorbed 460kg of CO2, the equivalent of driving more than 48,000km in a diesel car (as in, more than the circumference of the Earth. We’ll just let that one sit there for a minute – let it absorb, if you will).
We also layed spray cork insulation over an area more than half the size of Trafalgar Square. While, we’re sure, we’re all aware of cork’s use as a bottle stopper (yes, we’re all thinking it – cheers), did you know it can also be used in insulation too? 100% natural, renewable and recyclable, and with low thermal conductivity, our 6,000m² of cork means Church House is kept warm in the colder months and cooler in spring/summer. 6% improvement in temperature control? Check. Significant reduction in energy consumption? Double check.
Speaking of low energy consumption, as a venue that only works with sustainable suppliers, we jumped at the chance to be a pilot member of the Westminster and Victoria District Energy Heat Network. Anticipated to save 75,000t of CO2 annually (think, the equivalent of removing 40,000 cars from the roads), this initiative will, by 2027, use heat from the tube and River Thames to heat buildings – a groundbreaking enterprise and one we couldn’t be prouder to be part of.
Giving a little TLC to Mother Nature herself, we teamed up with charity, Bees & Refugees, to create a bespoke bug hotel on our roof which is managed by refugees. A peaceful sanctuary to support local flora and fauna in the heart of a bustling city, bee-lieve us when we say, you will bee bee-witched by our buzzing bee-sties (too much?)
On the subject of buzz-iness (okay, we’ll stop now), let’s talk about yours. We’ve joined forces with sustainable events consultancy, Event Decision, to offer clients the ability to track the carbon footprint of their events and receive recommendations for improvements. And that’s not the only decision we’ve made to show clients and delegates our carbon-reducing credentials – we send no waste to landfill (with 75% recycled or sent for anaerobic digestion, and 25% used for energy recovery to power homes and businesses); we replaced all our traditional urinals with waterless ones (reducing water usage by 92% and saving 7.5million litres of water every year – enough to fill about three Olympic-sized swimming pools); and we fitted carbon-saving LED lights throughout the building (decreasing our electricity use by almost 80%), to name just a few.
Oh, and did we mention the feature wall in our reception area is made entirely of recycled plastic? Look closely and you might just see a former washing machine!
So, choose Church House for your next unforgettable event – the net zero venue where you’ll find the perfect balance of sustainability, creativity, expertise and heart.