Second eco-label for Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Center

The Austrian Ecolabel for “Tourism, Catering & Cultural Enterprises” recognises companies for their commitment to environmentally friendly management and social responsibility. Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Center has been certified with this Ecolabel 200 in the “Conference & Event Locations” category since 2024. In addition to the Ecolabel 62 for Green Meetings & Events, this is already the second certification in the area of sustainability.

A business wishing to be awarded the Austrian Ecolabel must comply with all the specified MANDATORY criteria and achieve a certain minimum number of points from the TARGET criteria. The criteria areas range from management and communication, energy management, buildings, water management, waste management, sustainable purchasing to cleaning, chemicals and hygiene. As part of the criteria, certain standards are defined that must be adhered to by the certified company – the promise to customers. In addition, the company is obliged to establish a sustainability management system and to document in detail the goals for further development in the area of sustainability as part of an action programme.

The Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Center has set itself the following goals by 2028:

• Sustainability management will be increasingly implemented in operational processes
• Focus on Green Meeting certification of events
• Complete switch to LED lighting across the entire site
• Preparation of an Event Sustainability Report for every event at Messe Wien
• Increased communication of drinking water quality to international event participants
• Ongoing reduction of waste volumes and optimisation of the recycling rate
• Use of sustainable products in the area of procurement
• Complete switch to reusable drinks

The following CO2 emission targets have also been defined:

• Short-term CO2 emissions target for operations by 2028:

The short-term target is to save 300 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, which is to be achieved by switching to 100% Ecolabel electricity and replacing old light sources with LEDs

• Long-term CO2 emissions target for operations:

Halving CO2 emissions by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2045.

This certification proves that even existing companies that have not yet been built according to current sustainability standards can make a productive contribution to reducing CO2 emissions by adapting and introducing sustainable processes.

We are delighted to now be part of the Ecolabel family in the conference and event location sector!