Creation of the Universal Cultural Forum

The first Universal Cultural Forum (also known as Forum 2004) held in Barcelona, Spain from May 9 to September 26, 2004 spanned 141 days and 65,000 delegates who took part in a wide variety of performances, exhibitions, lectures and workshops. It was estimated that the number of visitors would reach five million and TV audience viewing Forum 2004 activities would reach one billion. The Universal Cultural Forum will be held every four years in different countries throughout the world. The application procedure is to be the same with that of Olympic Games.

The 29th UNESCO Conference set the themes of the "Forum" as follows: cultural diversity, sustainable economic development and world peace. The Spanish government, Catalan Aotonomous government and Barcelona City Council hardily agreed on principles, values and codes which led the Forum.

There were many informative and colorful activities in the 45 round-table conferences and 50 exhibitions (including 5 large-scaled exhibitions, 9 medium-scaled exhibitions). Shows like "Different Voices","Inhabitants in the world","Mankind","Terracotta Warriors" are the highlights.56 concerts, 31 dramas, 300 films, 4 acrobatic shows, and 12 music and dance performances were performed.

The buildings and grounds of the "Forum" complex are 5 times that of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

Waste/Energy Recycling Plant

Trash is selectively collected by the waste processing plant in the city area of Barcelona, then it is sent to the waste-to-energy recycling plant built at the foot of a hill in Nord Park, an eco-park in the Forum complex.

This plant anaerobically (that is, without the use of oxygen) generates biogas from decomposing waste.

Treatment capacity: 430,000 tons/year Breakdown of recycled materials (in tons): 36,400 of organic matter, 8,400 of paper and cardboard, 5,600 of glass, 5,600 of metals and 2,800 of other materials.

District Cooling & Heating

Although there is a 40MW power plant in the Forum complex providing lots of electricity, the Barcelona government chose to use non-electric chillers which are not powered by electricity to supply the Forum Building, Convention Center, University Campus and hotels with air conditioning and heating.

This pioneering initiative in Spain, hailed for its vision and size, uses a small amount of the heat that the energy recycling plant produces. The plant will eventually be able to use the energy generated by the new sewage treatment plant and the combined cycle power plant.

It is estimated that the plant will be capable of fulfilling the heating, cooling and sanitary hot water needs of the public buildings in the area, as well as of the 800 housing units, should this be necessary. Hence, a reduction in CO₂ emissions will in turn reduce the pollution. It will also contribute to reducing the noise level of the vapor energy plant.

Reduction of primary fuel consumption through recycling of steam produced by the recycling plant is 32%.

Features of the Air Conditioning System

The air conditioning system in the Forum complex is extraordinary. This model will be followed by cities around world concerned with sustainable design. Its technical details can be used as a reference for engineers from different countries. The main characteristics are as follows:

1. The utilization of waste energy:
After waste is collected in Barcelona, the system anaerobically generates biogas from the decomposing waste.

2. Waste heat power generation:
The high pressure steam produced by burning trash drives a steam turbine to supply electricity to the Forum district and city power grid.

3. Cooling by waste heat of power generation: The high pressure steam becomes low pressure steam (0.6-1.0Mpa) after driving the steam turbine and enters the LiBr non-electric chiller for cooling.

During this process, the non-electric chiller not only utilizes waste heat to generat steam, but it also reduces the outlet pressure of the steam turbine and thus improves the steam turbine's efficiency. In conventional turbine generators, heat from low pressure steam must be emitted to the atmosphere through a cooling tower, which leads to heat pollution.

4. Cooling use sea water :
The system pumps 24oC sea water through a Titanium alloy heat exchanger to take the heat away and then become 30oC water.This substitutes for the use of a traditional cooling tower with its unpleasant appearance and resultant heat pollution. The system thereby minimizes the cooling tower space, lowers cooling water temperature and improves cooling efficiency.

5. Machine room: The roof looks like a hill. The edge of the roof is on the same level as the ground and is covered with soil and lawn, providing a place for public entertainment, which is harmonious with the surroundings.

6. District cooling & heating system: The energy center supplies cooling and heating to all the surrounding buildings, which meets the air conditioning requirements for meetings, exhibitions, hotels, colleges, hospitals, supermarkets and residential buildings.

Application of this heat recovery air conditioning makes the Forum district perfect example of a sustainable community in this world.

Chillers Leading the World's Future Technology

To realize one of the Forum themes-sustainable development (environmental protection), the architects decided to use lithium bromide non-electric chillers, which do not use electricity, freon and other substitutions, at the Forum site.

To make the project quality and energy efficiency achieve cutting-edge levels of performance, in selecting chillers, the construction company decided to choose only the best technology, equipment and company.

After almost one year research by more than 10 experts, they finally chose BROAD as the sole supplier of non-electric chillers for the Forum Complex.

The organizer of the Forum 2004 stated that there were two major gifts from China:

1) "Warriors in Xi'an" which represents
China's ancient civilization.
2) Broad Air Conditioning, which is a world
leader in energy efficiency technology.

In Barcelona, BROAD products combine Oriental wisdom with Occidental technological advancement.
Thousands of visitors formed a long queue
in front of the exhibition hall of "Warriors
in Xi'an". To ensure that all visitors could
appreciate exhibits closely, only 1,000 people were allowed to enter the exhibition hall per hour according to the press.

BROAD non-electric chillers, which were not displayed to the public, have however become the focus of many Spanish and other European media outlets. The chillers have been touted as "the Future of Development of European Air Conditioning Systems - a classic blend of the environmental consciousness with economy".