10 Sustainable Design Principles for Modern Trade Show Exhibits

If your trade show booth is going to end up in the dumpster after only one weekend, you should consider building it to last. Not only is trash such as MDF and vinyl bad for the planet, but it also represents money that could have funded five more shows. Below are ten ways you can build a longer lasting booth, which ultimately will save you money in the long run.

Build on modular aluminum frames instead of one-time carpentry

A custom wood-and-laminate exhibition booth will be built once, seen once or twice, and sit in a warehouse waiting for someone to decide whether it's cheaper to scrap or keep the booth. Modular aluminum extrusion systems address this issue at the structural level of exhibition design. Because it's made up of components, the frame can reconfigure to different footprints. So the same 10′ × 10′ booth used this quarter can be reconfigured as a 20′ × 20′ island booth next quarter with no additional work needed on the frame. Aluminum has a recyclability story that most other materials can only dream of. It takes around 95% less energy to recycle a ton of aluminum versus smelt it from ore, and according to the EPA and the Aluminum Association nearly three-quarters of the aluminum ever smelted still finds use in today's products. This means the frame brings scrap value into play at the end of its useful life, affecting the economics of all future booth decisions.

Specify tension fabric graphics over rigid panels

If you're trying to prove that an argument is sound and environmentally friendly, it's nice if you have something actual to show for it. Printed graphics made from recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) fabric offer great print quality - on par with virgin polyester - and a solid talking point. PET fabric is a woven material that comes from reclaimed plastic bottles. Fabric is also lighter than laminate, which saves money on shipping costs. Laminates made from rigid-filled PVC have a tendency to crack or become scuffed during shipping. They also can't be reshaped or repaired if they crack. Once SEG (silicone edged graphics) are installed, they stretch drum-tight across a frame without any visible hardware. They fold flat for shipping, and tolerate dozens of installations before creasing.

Ban PVC from graphics and flooring

From its affordability, durability, and ease of use, PVC vinyl has long been the go-to choice for trade shows when it comes to banners and booth flooring. However, PVC is a petroleum product that often ends up in landfills, where it breaks down and releases toxic chemicals. Incinerating PVC also releases toxic dioxins. For these reasons (and the costs associated with disposing of them), more and more trade show organizers and venues are limiting or adding fees for the use of PVC at their events.

Switching away from PVC vinyl (banners and flooring) eliminates all concerns surrounding disposal fees and environmentally-friendly conscientiousness. Many PVC-free options for trade show graphics and flooring are available and most are designed to be peeled off and reused for future events, eliminating cleanup duties after the show's end.

Engineer every connection for disassembly

Design for Disassembly (DfD) might sound like a dry engineering concept, but in reality it's simply a preference for bolted or otherwise mechanically-fastened connections (including cam locks and tool-free systems), rather than reliance on glue or adhesives to hold something together. Glue-based connections become problematic when it's time to dismantle a structure, because glue connects different types of materials together (fabric, laminate, wood), and recycling facilities are unable to separate glue-bound structures back into individual, pure materials for easy recycling or resale. If structures are made using DfD concepts, then workers can reclaim separate piles (aluminum, fabric, laminate, etc.) of 100% pure recyclables. In addition, DfD means the show floor crew can quickly (sometimes in just minutes!) replace a broken panel, rather than sending the whole structure back to be renovated.

Cut shipping weight aggressively

Freight costs are often an exhibit's worst-kept secret. (The drayage fees that convention centers charge are based on weight, not on how flashy the exhibitors' booths are.) More importantly, from a sustainability standpoint, exhibitors control very little besides the weight of their own booth. (Carbon accounting is complicated, and few companies have any control over their freight carriers' source of fuel.) And since everyone's freight gets shipped out and back in at the end of every show, a lighter booth will be cheaper (and greener) at every show on the calendar. Booths built with modular aluminum frames can weigh 30-50% less than comparable wood and steel constructions, resulting in cost and carbon savings from lighter shipping crates (and thus less fuel per shipment), smaller trucks, fewer forklift runs and reduced load-in times. So when you're ready to invest in a durable, reusable solution, you can rely on custom trade show exhibits from Classic Exhibits to deliver an aluminum-framed solution that can weather the convention calendar for years, not just weekends.

Replace disposable packing with reusable transit crates

Cardboard boxes and shrink-wrapped wooden crates are tossed away at the loading dock almost every single time. A dedicated, padded transit crate built for a specific exhibit system is a different proposition entirely. It protects the asset better, ships flat (or nested) when empty and lasts for hundreds of round trips.

Most reusable crate systems pay for themselves after 8-12 events, once the avoided cost of replacement packaging and graphics damaged in shipping is taken into account. After that point, they are pure savings, and there is no cardboard pile at the loading dock for the venue to haul away.

Choose circular flooring programs

Flooring is one of the most overlooked waste streams in the entire industry. Carpet is typically bought to carpet an entire show, carried out at the end when it's wound up, and either stored for the next event (when the exhibitor will buy more carpet) or tossed. However, there are initiatives like Interface's Net-Works program which rents carpet tiles made from recycled fish nets for use for just one event and then re-grinds the tiles for reuse after the event.

This kind of initiative shows a closed-loop system, whereas touting "recyclable" carpet is not really a closed loop unless the exhibitor recycles their carpet after an event. Where possible teams could also consider carpetless booths with branded rugs to reduce materials in the supply chain.

Move handouts and signage to digital

As companies attend trade shows, they normally bring across boxes upon boxes of printed literature for conference attendants to take home. Typically, only a third of the print run gets taken, and the rest winds up back home to be tossed into the recycle bin, or stored away in some conference materials closet, where it will become immediately obsolete as soon as pricing or product specifications are updated. By incorporating QR codes into tablets or onto LED screens, companies can eliminate the need for printed materials, as well as giving marketing teams the ability to track engagement with the material, something that a paper product could never achieve. Content on the tablets or LED screens can also be changed between shows at no cost to the company, so a messaging change no longer justifies a costly reprint.

Measure the exhibit's footprint instead of guessing

Exhibit teams can say their booths are greener than before but unless they actually track in order to make meaningful measurements these assertions will not hold up to scrutiny. Tracking doesn't have to be super sophisticated. Keeping track of things like the energy needed for lighting, the weight of shipping crates and the miles items are shipped can provide teams with a baseline to work from. Using ISO 20121, the international standard for sustainable event practices, to structure measurements can help teams better assess which vendors source sustainable materials, how much energy they consume and offset their emissions or whether they have partnerships in place to provide renewable energy at the expo venue.

Being able to track these things helps teams better assess the impact of initiatives they put in place, rather than simply earn sustainability certifications that may not amount to much. For example, LED lighting consumes a fraction of the electricity of traditional halogen or incandescent bulbs but also runs cooler, meaning they won't need to be replaced during a show and can help reduce strain on an expo floor's HVAC system that's already overworked trying to keep cool thousands of booths, and the tens of thousands of expo-goers who visit them.

Give the booth a second life instead of a dumpster

When a convention exhibit concludes its useful life, most teams simply toss everything into the convention center dumpster, overlooking better, more sustainable options. Instead, take a few minutes to check in with your exhibit fabricator before trash day to discover ways each component material can be responsibly handled and repurposed. Aluminum frames can be recycled for cash, since aluminum is one of the most valuable recyclable metals. Fabric graphics can go through a textile recycling program, keeping them out of the landfill. Laminate and other smaller exhibit components often make great donated components to community theater or school groups which can use them in other creative ways.

A cradle-to-cradle approach at the product level can ensure your exhibit and its components are recyclable from inception, but often simple conversation and foresight is all that's needed. Ask your exhibit builder about their recycling programs and processes to discover the many options beyond the dumpster.