On 24 & 25 February 2022, the international team working for the European GREENinMED project met in Nice to visit the innovative technical facilities existing in the region. They also took part in a transnational workshop on the sustainable management of energy and water as a way of revitalising the region’s hotel industry in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The GREENinMED project boasts partners from Spain, France (represented by Capenergies) and Israel. It sets out to make the Mediterranean hotel industry more sustainable by promoting innovative solutions to improve the management of water and power consumption. Here is a review of the highlights of this two-day event.
GREENINMED CASE STUDIES IN NICE provided the perfect opportunity for partners to learn about innovative new solutions on offer and to discuss their possible application in the hotel industry.
- Visit of the real-estate programme called SMART BUILDING UNITY
The partners of GREENinMED were shown the real-estate programme Unity, headed by the property developer Nacarat. It is located in the centre of the Grand Arénas – the international business district in the Eco-Vallée park in Nice – and includes two hotels (3 & 4 stars), offices and shops.
The Dalkia Smart Building energy service company is designing and developing a smart-grid power system for this programme, which will be used to provide heating, domestic hot water and air-conditioning. It will use about 50% locally sourced renewable energy via solar thermal panels and air-source heat pumps (recovery of heat from the outside air). A smart energy storage system will also be used to adapt production to real-time consumption.
To improve the project’s overall efficiency, Dalkia Smart Building also plans to equip the lifts with an energy recovery device, and to install electric charging stations for 19 parking spots in partnership with Sodetrel.
- Tour of the Mediterranean Institute of Risk, Environment & Sustainable Development (IMREDD)
The GREENinMED partners were given a presentation on the IMREDD training programme and discovered the open-source collaborative technology platform called the Smart City Innovation Center, which promotes experimentation. It is a support tool for innovative sectors looking to conduct tests and build prototypes.
The IMREDD also hosted a transnational workshop on 25 February 2022 under the GREENinMED project to foster ties between hotel industry players committed to a sustainable development approach and interested in innovative solutions that enable water and energy savings.
Highlights of the GREENinMED transnational workshop in Nice on water and energy management issues in the hotel industry in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
Through this workshop, the tourist industry players in attendance were able to identify the best available solutions on the market that would meet their expectations in water and energy management. They were also able to see what other establishments were doing, and learn about the different funding schemes available on a national and regional level to make their own services more sustainable.
Innovative solution providers were able to better understand the expectations and trends of the hotel industry after the pandemic, to meet potential clients in need of energy and/or water efficiency solutions, and to present their technical proposals within a European context.
The opening speech was given by the IMREDD director of innovation, Paulo Moura, on how natural and man-made hazards can impact the building sector and the hotel industry. This was followed by a speech from Aline Fresier, in charge of coordinating the region’s economic recovery plan at the ADEME. She gave an overview of the government’s corporate actions that have been implemented to revitalise the tourist industry after the pandemic, i.e. the economic recovery and transformation plan, the fund for sustainable tourism, and the fund for thermal renewable energy.
The workshop continued with contributions from:
- Michelle Fawcett, head of tourism, culture and hospitality at the consulting firm InExtenso. She gave a presentation on the recent economic results of the European hotel industry and the trends for recovery in the wake of the pandemic.
- Marc Thepot, Chairman of Tourist Office & Convention Bureau in Marseille. He presented a case study on Marseille’s strategy for making its tourist accommodation more sustainable, particularly through the Clef Verte (green key) label. This programme awards labels to hotels and serviced apartments in Marseille that have made improvements to become more environmentally friendly, with the final objective of providing a greener hotel industry for the summer Olympics in 2024. The Clef Verte label aims at encouraging the hotel industry to make improvements in 7 key sustainable development areas, including water and energy management.
- Alice Denoix, Director of Hôtel 96 and winner of the Clef Verte award in 2021. She gave a talk on the resources that have been allocated to improve energy and water consumption levels in this 15-room hotel situated in the heart of the Calanques national park: the green building design, a permaculture approach, and the installation of PV solar panels.
The workshop ended with a presentation of several solutions designed to optimise the efficiency of tourist accommodation buildings while ensuring that clients remain comfortable, and operating costs are manageable:
- Rico Den Ouden from Hocosto talked about their new technology enabling the underground storage of CO2-neutral thermal energy.
- Eric Burkel from Hydrao gave a presentation of the first smart shower worldwide based on digital nudging.
- Pierre Magnes from FGWRS demonstrated their grey water recycling system called Firmus.
The workshop can be watched again on the GREENinMED Facebook page.