Theatres Trust launch the Green Book for Sustainable Theatres

9 November 2021

With the launch of the “Green Book” guidance theatres small and large have a useful guide to how to start reducing their impact, from running their buildings to how they produce shows.

The Theatre Trust’s conference was focussed on sustainability this year. With the launch of the “Green Book” guidance theatres small and large have a useful guide to how to start reducing their impact, from running their buildings to how they produce shows. We are heartened to see that theatres are recognising that they play a role in the climate emergency and their position in the community means they can help disseminate the message further.

For major capital projects, both new build and refurbishment, the embodied carbon of the project needs to be just as carefully considered. We have been working with Bennetts Associates to analyse the embodied carbon at our Hertford Theatre project. This process highlights the specific challenges in making theatre structures less carbon intensive. The long spans required for flytowers and the complex structure needed for the technical functions that make theatres work are the least carbon efficient areas. We look forward to using this information on future projects to challenge and perhaps rethink how we build theatres.

You can read more in the Bennetts Associates report here.