On February 23rd, the Spain Chamber of Commerce organised a workshop in collaboration with the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce in their headquarters, as part of the GREENinMED project, which has the goal of making the Mediterranean tourism industry more sustainable through water and energy efficiency. The workshop was attended by a large number of tourism companies in the Mediterranean region.

Carmen Ayllón from the Spain Chamber, lead GREENinMED partner, opened the workshop with a presentation of the main objectives and results of the project. She then announced the launch of innovation sub-grants scheduled for 2022 in Spain, France, and Israel. Finally, she highlighted the pending activities such as the pitching rounds and the training sessions in order to involve the participating companies in the workshop.

Valentina Vologni from Capenergies in France, and Ram Shpiner from Kinneret College in Israel presented the GREENinMED technology benchmark. This benchmark is a compilation of a series of innovative water and energy technologies applicable to small and medium-sized hotels. The benchmark aims to support tourism SMEs in innovating water and energy management systems in order to become more sustainable and competitive. Water and energy technology experts from GREENinMED underlined the importance for hotels not only to save money, but also to maintain the comfort of their guests.

Dr. Clive Lipchin from the Arava Institute in Israel presented a case study on wastewater reuse treatment – "Laguna Innovation Off-Grid Wastewater Recycling Systems". The Laguna Tech system is solar powered and energy self-sufficient. It does not produce sludge, and is modular, scalable, remotely monitored, and treats black and grey water according to agricultural standards.

Laguna Tech has developed a decentralized wastewater treatment solution to create new water sources and it is targeted to remote and off-grid communities where the population doubles or triples in the summer period, and generally, have a desert climate. The Arava Institute expert highlighted that the main barrier to wastewater treatment is government regulation and requirements for recycled water.

The Energy Cluster of Catalonia moderated a round table where two companies related to consumption savings presented their technological solutions to the participants: 

• Rosa Nieto from Cenergist presented the technology solution “HL2024”. For many hotel visitors, a big bathroom with a powerful shower can make a significant difference in the overall guest experience. The HL2024 lets an optimal amount of water run through with stable pressure consistently. At the time of increased flow, the regulators shrink the size of the valve and broaden it at the time of low pressure. As a result, water is released in a stable flow – providing an optimal user experience.      
• DEXMA presented their software, an intelligent energy saving tool that allows companies to get personalised recommendations based on their actual energy bills, without the need to install a device or arrange a site visit. DEXMA highlighted the need for specialised software for the data analysis because SMEs are often unable to analyse and interpret the available data due to data overload.

The workshop was concluded with an open discussion, allowing the participants to questions about various topics discussed during the workshop.