Meeting planners and suppliers can finally dig into the industry’s long-awaited sustainable meeting standards. While the new APEX green standards won’t officially launch until September or later, the first training program on how to use them will be held July 24, in Vancouver, British Columbia, just prior to Meeting Professionals International World Education Conference.

The full-day session will offer a practical look at the voluntary standards, which have been created by more than 300 meeting industry volunteers over the past three years. Attendees will learn how to apply the standards in their RFP process, how to pick environmentally sound suppliers, and how to measure how green their meetings are in a variety of categories.

The Convention Industry Council’s Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX), through its relationship with ASTM International, plans to launch six of the nine Environmentally Sustainable Meeting Standards in September, according to Sue Tinnish, principal, SEAL Inc., and assistant professor at Kendall College in Chicago. Tinnish is the liaison between APEX and ASTM International, the international standard-setting body.

The Green Meeting Industry Council, an active participant in the creation of the standards, is running the training program and will charge attendees a small fee, according to Tamara Kennedy-Hill GMIC’s executive director. Each participant will receive a workbook and certificate at the end of the workshop. It is endorsed by the CIC and, upon completion, participants will receive six hours of CEUs, which will count toward credit for future certification.

For more information, visit the MPI Web site, or the GMIC Web site.