Six decisions that change a booth's carbon, with results from our own projects.
A sustainable booth is one with a measured footprint that falls over time. Without a baseline, "sustainable" is a description, not a result. Measure the first show, then measure every show after it.
CBRE's ICSC booth in Las Vegas measured 39,912 kg CO2e in 2023 and 12,613 kg in 2025, on the same programme for the same client. That is a 68% reduction, and it is only known because it was measured both times. Our carbon measurement page explains the method.
Keep the structure standard and the finishes separate. Graphics, surfaces and furniture change from show to show. The frame does not. A booth shaped tightly to one floor plan has no second life. More on this in modular and reusable exhibition stands.
Recycling breaks a material down to make something else. Reuse keeps the whole object in service. A booth that is merely recyclable is still thrown away at the end of the show, so ask what happens to it and who holds it.
At Red Bull's Drift Pursuit in July 2025, 99% of production materials by weight were rented or reused. New material came to 52 kg.
Kit is only reused if someone stores it, checks it and has it ready for the next brief. We buy modular systems into our own stock and you rent what each show needs. You do not store, refurbish or dispose of anything.
"Eco" tells you nothing. A named material with a known source does. On our projects that has meant ReBoard, a paper-based board, for the PA Consulting awards at the Science Museum and for Capital One's Greenhouse, and ECONYL flooring made from discarded fishing nets for Hurtigruten. We specify from a library of 203 verified materials.
Freight and crew travel count as carbon. Hurtigruten's Sustainability Show booth was built and installed within 20 miles. Decide at the brief, not at the get-out, where every component goes afterwards: back into stock, to another show or to a named recycler.
Offsetting is not reducing, because a booth with credits attached still has its footprint. Recyclable is not reusable. A percentage with no baseline means nothing. And figures from two different methods cannot be set side by side.
Measure a baseline, design for reuse, keep the kit between shows, specify named materials, build close to the show and plan the end of life before you build. Then measure again.
No. A recyclable booth is still dismantled and processed at the end of the show. A reusable booth goes back into stock and is deployed again, which is what cuts the carbon.
By counting materials by weight, end-of-life route, freight distance and mode, crew travel, hotel nights and screen energy, and reporting kg CO2e. The method is on our carbon measurement page.
Yes. The structure is standard. Graphics, surfaces, furniture and lighting are designed for your brand and the show.
Figures are indicative, produced with our own in-house methodology and not independently audited. Third-party verification can be arranged on any project.
We will come back with a design, and the carbon and cost comparison against what you are building now. Ten working days. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
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