Your Stand Is Being
Assessed.Here's What That Means.
If you have booked space-only at an Informa, Clarion or other participating event, your stand will be rated against the Better Stands framework — at build-up and again at breakdown. This page explains the ten elements, how Bronze, Silver and Gold are actually awarded, and what you need to change to move up a level.
It Rates How Much Of Your StandGets Reused, Not Skipped.
Better Stands rates exhibition stands on how much of the structure is reused rather than scrapped, across ten elements, at three levels. Bronze needs the first four elements reusable. Silver needs the first eight. Gold needs those eight plus floor covering and graphics being reusable or recyclable. Below Bronze, a stand is classified as disposable and receives no certificate.
The programme started inside Informa and now runs independently under Net Zero Carbon Events, with more than 60 participating organisations across over 400 events worldwide and tens of thousands of stands assessed. Clarion has joined, and the list continues to grow.
Its target is deliberate. The framework exists because of the industry's habit of building a stand from timber and MDF, using it for three days, and putting it in a skip. So it applies principally to space-only stands, which is where that happens. If you have taken a shell scheme or the organiser's modular stand design package, that is treated as already meeting the Gold standard and there is nothing for you to do.
It is worth being clear that this is not a sustainability badge you apply for. It is an assessment carried out on your actual stand, on the actual floor, by someone who was not involved in building it.
The Ten Elements,In Assessment Order.
The order matters. Elements one to four decide Bronze, one to eight decide Silver, and nine and ten decide Gold. An element counts as reusable if it is built to be used again without significant modification — or, for furniture, if it is hired rather than bought.
| # | Element | Counts toward |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stand structure and walls | Bronze |
| 2 | Platform or raised flooring | Bronze |
| 3 | Furniture and equipment | Bronze |
| 4 | Lighting | Bronze |
| 5 | Fascia and overhead signage | Silver |
| 6 | Rigged structure | Silver |
| 7 | Ceiling | Silver |
| 8 | Display facilities — cabinets, lightboxes, showcases | Silver |
| 9 | Floor covering | Gold |
| 10 | Graphics and decorative items | Gold |
Elements 1–4 reusable. In practice: the walls, any raised floor, the furniture and the lighting all come back. Achievable on most modular builds without doing anything unusual.
Elements 1–8 reusable. Adds fascia, rigged elements, ceiling and display facilities. This is where custom builds usually fall away and where system-built stands pull ahead.
Elements 1–8 reusable, plus floor covering and graphics either reusable or recyclable. Note the difference — for the last two, recyclable is enough.
Below Bronze, a stand is recorded as disposable. No certificate is issued, and at some events that is reported back to the organiser.
Assessed On The Floor.Twice.
This is the part exhibitors are most often unprepared for. The assessment is not a form you complete — it happens at the venue, and what matters is what the assessor can see.
- 01Assessed at build-upAn independent assessor visits during build-up and records what the stand is made of and how it is being assembled. Photographs are taken.
- 02Assessed again at breakdownThey return at dismantle. This is the part that catches people out: what matters is not what you intended, but what actually leaves the hall — and what goes in the skip.
- 03Report issuedA report goes to the exhibitor and the contractor, typically within a fortnight, setting out the rating and the reasoning.
- 04Right of replyIf you disagree with the assessment you can respond, and the rating can be revisited.
- 05Certificate awardedA certificate is issued at the rated level — Bronze, Silver or Gold — which you can use in reporting and in future tenders.
Two practical consequences. First, your contractor determines your rating more than you do, so it is worth asking what a supplier expects to achieve before you appoint them rather than afterwards. Second, breakdown is where ratings are lost. A stand built from reusable components still rates badly if the crew cuts up the graphics and bins the carpet on the last night.
Nine Of Ten By Design.And One Decision Left To Make.
T3 Systems is a listed Better Stands service provider. We manufacture a modular aluminium system in Harlow and Trappes, and because the whole thing is built to be dismantled and rebuilt, most of the framework is covered without anyone making a special effort. Here is the honest mapping — including the one element that still needs a decision from you.
| # | Element | A T3 build | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stand structure and walls | Reusable | Aluminium frame with SEG fabric or panel infill, rebuilt for every show. |
| 2 | Platform / raised flooring | Reusable | T3 raised floor system on adjustable feet. |
| 3 | Furniture and equipment | Qualifies | T3 counters and podiums are reusable. Loose furniture qualifies if hired rather than bought — the simplest single fix on most stands. |
| 4 | Lighting | Reusable | T3 Wandlight LED, 70,000-hour life, reused indefinitely. |
| 5 | Fascia and overhead signage | Reusable | Built from the same profiles as the structure. |
| 6 | Rigged structure | Reusable | Hanging banners and rings use standard T3 components. |
| 7 | Ceiling | N/A | We do not manufacture a ceiling system — and Better Stands have confirmed that where a stand has no ceiling the element is not applicable. See below. |
| 8 | Display facilities | Reusable | Lightboxes, showcases and cabinets built from the system. |
| 9 | Floor covering | Needs specifying | Carpet is the most common gap on an otherwise strong stand. Specify a recyclable or take-back product, or use a reusable raised-floor surface. |
| 10 | Graphics and decorative items | Reusable | SEG fabric graphics are designed for repeated use and update independently of the frame. |
On element 7 — confirmed by Better Stands
Most modular stands are open-topped and have no ceiling at all. We asked Better Stands how that is treated, and they confirmed it directly: where a stand has no ceiling, the category is considered not applicable, because something is being reduced. It does not count against the assessment, and all rating levels remain achievable.
That is worth knowing before you over-engineer a build. If your stand does have a ceiling it needs to be a reusable one to count — but adding one purely to satisfy the framework would be the wrong move, and the framework does not ask you to. Confirmed with Better Stands, September 2026.
What reuse looks like when it is real
This stand at Content Americas in Miami was built from the same aluminium components for the fourth consecutive show — reconfigured each time, with only the graphics renewed.
That is the distinction the framework is trying to draw. Not a stand that could be reused, but one that demonstrably has been, repeatedly, with the reuse history to show an assessor. See reusable exhibition stands.
And what reuse looks like at scale
Content Americas shows depth of reuse — one stand, four shows, already delivered. iGEM in Paris shows the other kind: scale. A single stock of T3 parts building 220 booths of show infrastructure in a 48-hour install, under a three-year agreement that will see the same inventory returned and redeployed at the next two Jamborees.
The significance is whose decision it was. This is not one exhibitor choosing a reusable stand — it is an organiser specifying reusable infrastructure for an entire show floor, and committing to redeploy it rather than rebuild. For anyone applying the framework across a venue rather than a single stand, that is the model it points at.
So the short version: Bronze is comfortable, Silver follows, and Gold comes down to your carpet. With the ceiling question settled, floor covering is the only element on a well-specified T3 build that needs a decision rather than a component — and it is worth making early, because it is chosen weeks before the show and is very difficult to fix on site.
Five Things That MoveYour Rating.
- 01Ask your contractor what they expect to achieveBefore appointing them. A supplier who cannot answer, or who has not heard of the framework, is telling you something useful.
- 02Hire furniture rather than buying itThe single cheapest way to secure element 3. Hired furniture counts as reusable.
- 03Decide the floor covering earlyIt is the most common reason a good stand misses Gold. Recyclable or take-back carpet, or a reusable raised surface.
- 04Keep graphics separable from structureGraphics that update without scrapping the frame count. Anything printed directly onto a structural panel does not.
- 05Brief your crew about breakdownRatings are lost on the last night. If the build is reusable, it has to leave the hall in one piece to count.
If you would like a stand designed against the framework from the outset rather than assessed against it afterwards, that is what we do — send us the show, the space and the stand number and we will come back with a 3D design, a price, and where it lands on the ten points.
Better Stands —Common Questions.
What is Better Stands?
Is it mandatory?
What happens if my stand rates below Bronze?
Does a modular stand automatically get Gold?
Is T3 certified?
Who assesses the stand?
What is the difference between this and a sustainability certificate?
Building To The Framework.Not Just Reporting On It.
Tell Us The Show.We'll Tell You Where You'd Land.
Send us the event, the space and the stand number. You get a free 3D design and an itemised quote within 24 hours — and an honest view of which of the ten elements your build would satisfy, before you commit to anything.