● The German Sustainability Awards

– proving that sustainable solutions can be implemented at small events

Coldplay’s “Music for Spheres” tour saw the band give great consideration to reducing the carbon emissions inevitably associated with a major tour as they looked at all aspects of the tour such as energy usage, fan travel, transportation and environmentally friendly set construction.

Particularly noteworthy was the band’s demand that the sound system had to be 50% more energy efficient than their previous world tour in 2016-2017. The company providing the loudspeakers for this tour was German Sustainability Design Award finalist, d&b audiotechnik, for their “d&b Certified Pre-Owned” Program - a carefully executed remanufacturing process turning used loudspeakers into high quality refurbished products.

Although the flagship project initiated by Coldplay received much praise across the industry, some people pointed out that globally successful artists enjoy certain privileges giving them completely different options for sustainable design compared to smaller events and tours.

The recent German Sustainability Awards, which took place in Düsseldorf on December 1, set out to prove that sustainable sound and lighting solutions can also be implemented at smaller events. Leslie Clio was among the artists. The singer, who is as well-known as she is popular, was chosen for the award show not only because of her captivating live performances, but also because of her socio-political activities.

Düsseldorf based company btl next Gmbh was tasked with providing the technical equipment for the awards ceremony and once again turned to d&b audiotechnik to provide the sound equipment to meet their demands for both sustainability and quality. btl Group has relied on high-quality sound reinforcement solutions from d&b audiotechnik for many years and the company’s CEO, Michael Terwint, was quoted saying that the company “was delighted to be able to use an audio solution for the German Sustainability Award 2022 that offered significant savings potential compared to traditional sound reinforcement concepts while still impressing with its sound”.

Terwint continued: “When you’re dealing with sustainable event concepts for the first time, you sometimes don’t see the forest for the trees because of the complexity of the issue. At btl next GmbH, we have since realized that the big picture requires us to tweak every little detail. For example, we now source our work clothes from a Gladbeck-based fashion label that has its textiles manufactured in Germany and Portugal. The clothing is produced fairly and is therefore maybe a little more expensive than typical products from Asia at first glance – but also last much longer than cheap goods.”

Hamburg based consultant, Stefan Lohmann, has been responsible for artist relations at the German Sustainability Awards for many years and has succeeded in getting artists such as ZAZ, Michael Patrick Kelly, Nelly Furtado, Jack Johnson, Die Fantastischen Vier, Simply Red, Jamie Cullum, Rea Garvey, Angelique Kidjo, Westernhagen, Jan Delay, Milky Chance and others onto the German Sustainability Award stage over the years. Lohmann, also an official partner of the German Sustainability Awards and the founder of “Sustainable Event Solutions” which uses an online platform (www.sustainable-event-solutions.de) and extensive networking activities to highlight sustainable solutions and suppliers from the event industry, was particularly pleased with the energy efficient solutions at this year’s event.

“To the best of my knowledge, d&b audiotechnik is currently the only manufacturer of high-quality audio systems that is already able to establish sustainability, recyclability, and top quality internationally as a sustainable business model. Coldplay and other superstars around the globe rely on d&b audiotechnik and value the company as a reliable partner that considers the environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainability. Off the top of my head, the key terms that come to mind are 50 percent less energy consumption for the same performance, longevity, value retention, recyclability, fair payment, refurbishing, education, knowledge transfer, and noise cancellation for events close to the city. From my point of view, d&b audiotechnik has rightly earned its place among the finalists for the German Sustainability Award Design 2022.” said Stefan Lohmann.

Leslie Clio was among the artists booked by Stefan Lohmann for this year’s event. The singer, who is as well-known as she is popular, was chosen for the award show not only because of her captivating live performances, but also because of her

socio-political activities. Leslie Clio actively strives to make her tours sustainable, as far as this is possible – on a club tour of a more modest scale, it is well known that the bands generally rely on the sound and lighting equipment available at the respective venue, meaning that the scope for design is limited. Nevertheless, the artist keeps the multifaceted issue top of mind and, for example, the catering on Leslie Clio’s tours is now completely vegetarian: “These are small steps, but when more and more bands make similar efforts, it does make a difference overall,” says Clio. “The products in my merchandising range are all 100% vegan and are produced in line with fair trade criteria. Incidentally, I don’t consider the latter to be something special, but simply a matter of course.”

Clio continued: “I heard that tonight at the German Sustainability Award Design, the sound system uses 50 percent less electricity than usual – I think that’s awesome and, of course, perfectly suited to the event!” d&b audiotechnik’s Robert Trebus (d&b Director Global Sustainability) and Stephan Greiner (d&b COO) attended the “Night of the Finalists” and both reaffirmed their long-term commitment to comprehensive sustainability principles during the event.

“d&b audiotechnik has been environmentally certified since 2013, and since 2018 we have made a voluntary commitment to the requirements of effective sustainability, both through various national and federal initiatives and in line with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,” said Robert Trebus. “Firmly enshrining these principles at d&b audiotechnik together with our employees is our stated goal - now and in the future!”