In order to ensure the entire convention village access to clean energy that takes into account both the economy and the climate, significant investments have been made in recent years.

High proportion of clean and renewable energy

In 2018, the energy center was officially opened, a facility that will maintain the Oslofjord Convention Center’s environmental profile; lowest possible emissions and most environmentally friendly operation. The energy center ensures as much as 95% renewable energy for the facility. The UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 is clean energy for everyone, and Oslofjord wants to support this goal.

Energy is the largest contributor to climate change, and the construction project at Oslofjord has provided a unique opportunity to establish efficient and sustainable systems that can impact the site’s climate emissions for many years to come.

New energy center helps to halve our emissions

With a total building mass of approximately 200 000 m2, including 16 new hotel buildings, a multi-purpose hall, ice hockey arena and conference hall with room for several thousand people, as well as an underground parking facility for 1 500 cars, a lot of energy is required for heating and operation. If you compare the figures with the capacity before the development, the solutions that have been developed are so efficient that they double energy production for heating, but also halve climate emissions.

Using wood chips, bio-oil and heat from seawater, the new and modern energy center supplies the entire new hotel city, the multi-purpose facility Oslofjord Arena and parts of the former facility with energy that is 95% renewable. This investment has a significant impact on the overall climate account for the local area. Greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by 208 tons in relation to emissions before the development.

Technology has developed at a rapid pace since the previous development of the site, which took place in 2002-2006. But even then, we built forward-looking and environmentally friendly solutions. The power station that was installed under the conference center back then, is now connected to the new and state-of-the-art energy center at Oslofjord Arena, in a manner that enables the systems to work together.

Further development of solar cell technology has also been taken into account, and we have developed infrastructure that will enable this technology to be installed and used later. We thus look to the past and future in the search for the best renewable energy solutions.

Architecture and environment working together

Architecture also plays a role in our commitment to the environment. All the hotel buildings are classified as low-energy buildings, and are positioned in the landscape to make optimal use of the light and sunshine. The UN Sustainable Development Goal 11.7 is about providing access to safe, inclusive and accessible green and public spaces.

In the new hotel city, all parking is underground. This has great aesthetic as well as practical benefits. The park areas around the hotel buildings thus provide good opportunities for recreation, play and outdoor interaction in a car-free and safe environment that supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

It is important for Oslofjord Convention Center AS to be a socially responsible player in the market. Therefore, we have entered into an agreement with Sandefjord municipality which ensures that Oslofjord Arena can be used by local sports teams and clubs, several of which are already regular users. In addition, Oslofjord can be used as a center for evacuees and relatives if a disaster occurs in Sandefjord or in the counties of Vestfold and Telemark.

Development with positive ripple effects for the local community

The development agreement that was entered into between the foundation and the municipality, required the developer, Oslofjord Property, to make several investments in the local area, including contributing to better, more environmentally friendly infrastructure in the immediate area of Melsomvik.

Before the development got fully underway, over five kilometers of water and sewage pipelines were replaced, and a new pumping station was built at the beach in Melsomvik. There had previously been problems with polluted bathing water here due to leakage from the sewage network, but the new pumping station has since cleaned the water.

A total of NOK 25 million was invested in the municipal pipe network, which also ensured an increase in capacity that will meet the municipality’s needs for many years to come.

Newly established recreational areas and coastal path provide recreational opportunities

As a direct result of the development, NOK 6 million has also been invested in the development of a coastal path and new recreational area at Rosnessodden, east of the development area at Brunstad. A 2.5-km coastal path was cleared in a previously overgrown area of forest, signposted and opened to the public. The result was a more open cultural landscape with a view of the outlying land and the sea, with access and paths adapted for the disabled.

New access and improved road standard with pedestrian and bicycle paths

As part of the development plan, the Skjærsnesveien road from the Melsomveien road to Oslofjord was also significantly expanded and retarmacked, a new roundabout was built at Brunstadveien road and a pedestrian and cycle path was built from the RV 303 road, all the way to the development area. To ease the load on Brunstadveien road, a new driveway and pedestrian and bicycle path were built directly from the Skjærsnesveien road to the Oslofjord Convention Center. Furthermore, the exit at the Fv303 road was improved by building a separate turning lane. A total of NOK 11 million was invested in this project.