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Grimaldi Forum Monaco

The Principality’s premier convention center is aiming for an internationally recognized standard of excellence in environmental management, the ISO 14001 certification, which was received in October 2008.

The Grimaldi Forum Monaco has a long-standing eco-friendly policy. From its initial construction, the architects addressed environmental issues in the design of the building’s insulation, energy and air conditioning facets. It is an engineering “miracle”, built on land reclaimed from the Mediterranean Sea. Five hundred cubic meters of water are pumped per hour, generating energy to heat and cool the water needed for air conditioning. The electricity consumed to run the pumps is not used to produce heat but merely to transport it. With its high performance coefficient (ratio between energy produced and energy consumed), this air conditioning system helps to save energy while using an entirely renewable energy source − seawater − and without damaging sea life.

Town planning restrictions meant that two-thirds of the building had to be built below ground, but the architects turned this into an asset. Initially it meant high construction costs, but ever since it has provided efficient natural heat insulation. The above-ground third, i.e. the visible portion, is insulated with foam glass, a recyclable material that complies with all the standards of the High Environmental Quality (HQE) label. The Grimaldi Forum Monaco prides itself on its zero direct emissions of greenhouse gases; the only energy source used for running the building is electricity, except for two oil-fired emergency generators – which were selected from a range of low-emission equipment. A Centralised Technical Management system uses a remote control to switch off lights when they are not needed, and has all air conditioning units under servo-control, planned according to customers’ needs, to reduce unnecessary running time. Vestibules between radar-operated sliding doors reduce the loss of conditioned air.

These simple measures have a substantial impact on energy consumption. The Grimaldi Forum’s “buy green” policy does not stop at light bulbs – from cleaning products to office supplies, eco-labelled goods are chosen by preference. And everything the Grimaldi Forum publishes is printed on recycled paper. The Grimaldi Forum has encouraged staff to adopt a “green” charter which, among other things, gives instructions on how to save energy, conserve water, recycle and print “right”. To consolidate this “green” commitment, in early 2008 the staff participated in some practical field work - in collaboration with the French forestry authority (ONF) and the Association Monégasque de Protection de la Nature, they conducted a reforesting operation on land damaged by fire in 2007 on the heights above Monte-Carlo. Their recently created “Act Green” logo is the new hallmark of the convention center’s eco-responsible policy...