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Some convenient truths about energy-efficient theatres
When it comes to the modern issues of energy conservation and environmental stewardship, theatres can sometimes be in the dark. But there are many things an organization can do to make itself more green. Here are a few examples of theatres that are implementing energy-efficient and eco-conscious programs.
Old House, New Energy
Stagecrafters, in Philadelphia, is beginning to take steps to reduce its energy consumption and green its organization. Like a lot of people, Joe Herman, a member of Stagecrafters' board of directors, saw the movie An Inconvenient Truth and decided to start changing his lifestyle to be more energy efficient; he extended this to the theatre as well.
"The first thing we did was replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs," Herman says. "It's affected our electricity bill on the order of 15 percent, so it's been a pretty quick payoff. The other thing we did was create a green subscription option - a $2 extra charge, $1 of which goes to buying clean energy, and $1 of which will go toward additional energy-saving efforts." Herman says that about two-thirds of people who purchased online subscriptions chose the green option. He also points out that only about 10 percent of people choose to donate when offered a general donation option, so a targeted donation seems to be more appealing to patrons.
The theatre plans to buy wind power from its local utility with the money raised from the green subscription because it doesn't require them to switch over to a new energy supplier. This will allow them to simply buy as much clean power as they wish after the theatre has tallied the amount of the green subscriptions. The other dollar from the green option will be used for capital improvements, such as insulation, to the Stagecrafters' historic buildings - one dating from the 18th century and the other from the 1930s. Currently, the theatre is in the process of finding a consultant to perform an energy audit on the buildings to determine what improvements will be of most benefit.
For the future, Stagecrafters is looking to parlay these efforts into a fundraising strategy. "We wanted to have some actions in place; then, as we...