Congratulations Cedric Turnbore, Crain's Detroit 2022 Notable Leader in Sustainability
Huntington Place's own Cedric Turnbore, Director of Operations, is included the first Detroit Notable Leaders in Sustainability 2022. Presented by Crain's Detroit Business, Cedric won the accolade for making a significant contribution within the event industry to make a measurable environmental impact through his role, and for continuing to have the power to effect change.
The leadership at Huntington Place nominated Cedric for the award as thanks for more than a decade of leadership as Chairman of the Green Committee. Nominees for the award received emails with links to complete a candidate form. Judges reviewed both the nomination and candidate forms and choose the best candidates. Crain's does not have a set number of winners for any of our Notable awards, instead selected the most notable of those people nominated.
In his capacity as Chairman, Cedric has worked with all departments and vendors to put sustainability practices and protocols into place, connecting and aligning the venue to the larger Detroit sustainability efforts, and educating the community on how to operate a large venue sustainably and the importance of doing so. Because of Cedric's leadership and dedication, the center has been recognized many times over the years for its outstanding contributions to a more sustainable community. Below is a picture of the Green Committee 2019.
“Cedric is one who always leads by example. We are so fortunate to have his passion and collaborative skills leading our Green Committee as we prepare for an even more sustainable future,” said Karen Totaro, general manager Huntington Place/ASM Global.
In 2011, Detroit's convention center received its first certification in sustainability from the state: the Green Venues Michigan certification.
In 2015, the venue achieved its first certification from the Events Industry Council, the APEX/ASTM Certification which was renewed for subsequent years. The APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Event Standards are a collection of industry standards that specify precisely what it means to plan a green event. It is also commonly understood that the standards were championed by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC).
In 2019 the venue became LEED Gold certified, making it the largest LEED certified facility in the state.
In 2020, Huntington Place (then TCF Center) won the USGBC's Leadership Award for Building Performance, making it the only convention center in the world in the history of the award to receive it.
In 2021, the venue won the U.S. Green Buildings Council (USGBC) Community Safe Haven Award for programs like its FEMA field hospital, Pope Francis homeless services, Detroit vaccination center and U. S. Food Rescue food distribution to the community during COVID-19.
Cedric put into place all recycling efforts in the center, moving from 5% waste diversion in 2012 to 51% in 2019. With his leadership and continual support, the Post-Event Material Donation Program distributes tons of materials left over from events to local Detroit area nonprofit agencies for reuse and up-cycling.
All waste diversions efforts managed by Cedric have resulted in 280 tons of waste being diverted from the waste stream annually. Before he began his employment with Huntington Place, no waste was diverted. With his continued leadership and commitment, the center's Green Committee will realize the ongoing improvements to energy saving and zero waste goals of the event industry and Detroit community.
Cedric manages community education programs (tours of the facility's green operations) and health and wellness events (yoga, Zumba, Thai chi,) extending the venues sustainability efforts into the Detroit community at no cost. He is the embodiment of the venue's green slogan, "Sustainability Lives Here."
All of these efforts were orchestrated by Cedric's continual leadership and instruction to staff and the Green Committee. View the Crain's article HERE
The sustainability webpage on the Huntington Place website can give the full picture of how the program has been developed over the last decade to become a leader in the event industry. Cedric Turnbore led these efforts in spectacular and tireless fashion. He is unstoppable. https://www.huntingtonplacedetroit.com/green
