Egypt’s Min. of Tourism & Antiquities aims to certify the Grand Egyptian Museum as a green building

CAIRO – 27 February 2022: The management of the Grand Egyptian Museum project is working during the current period, in cooperation with the National Center for Housing and Building Research, to adopt all the buildings of the museum as green buildings that provide sustainability in their environmental, economic and cultural dimensions.

Thus, the Grand Egyptian Museum will be the first museum in Egypt to be certified as a green building.

This comes within the framework of the objectives of the strategy of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities for sustainable development and Egypt's Vision 2030, to maintain the ecological balance and the sustainability of tourism and archaeological activity and to encourage the transition towards a green economy, spreading environmentally friendly practices and using renewable energy sources in the tourism and antiquities sectors.

General Supervisor of the Grand Egyptian Museum project and the surrounding area Atef Moftah, explained that during the current period, all dimensions of green building and sustainable development are being integrated into the museum project, including obtaining green building certificates, in line with its cultural value and being one of the most important and largest museums in the world.

Moftah added that the project of accrediting the museum as a green building and obtaining the certificate of the Egyptian Green Pyramid requires the application of a number of conditions and specifications that must be met in the museum building, which is being implemented during the current period by studying the services provided to the public such as transportation and ease of access to the museum, to create dedicated bike paths and parking lots, use of electric cars, raising the efficiency of water and energy consumption inside the museum by reusing water and reducing its consumption -especially those used in agriculture-, as well as utilizing a measurement system, leak detection system, heat reduction system, and the use of renewable energy sources.

Moreover, Moftah stated that accrediting the museum as a green building also includes its management and indoor environment quality by improving ventilation performance and using natural ventilation and air flow calculations that must comply with the minimum required ventilation rates.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities is currently working on transforming the Egyptian tourism sector into an environmentally friendly sector that preserves natural resources and ecosystems by applying this to hotel and tourist establishments of all kinds and various means of tourist transportation.

This will contribute to limiting climate change and comes in line with the global goals of sustainable development.