Shining a spotlight on sustainability in 2010

What would you tell the world if you had the chance?

For the Sustainability team at the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), the Games represent the chance to shine a spotlight on environmental sustainability and highlight the many social and economic benefits of going ‘green.’

At a time when all eyes will be on Vancouver and Whistler, cutting-edge environmental initiatives will be showcased – both at existing and newly constructed venues. Such initiatives include reusing rainwater at the Richmond Oval, adding ‘green roofs’ to the Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Village and donating wood debris from mountain venue sites to regional stream habitat restoration projects.

These and other planned initiatives in the Sustainability program draw on creative solutions and technology while minimizing the impact on natural assets.

Green benefits aside, sustainable Olympic and Paralympic Games venues are also financially and socially clever. The refrigeration plant at the Whistler Sliding Centre, for example, will capture waste heat generated through the cooling process at the refrigeration plant. This ‘captured heat’ will then be transferred to other buildings on site – resulting in cost savings, over time, with the accompanying reduction in energy demand.

Clean air to breathe. Safe drinking water. Healthy ecosystems for today and tomorrow. Like most things cherished, it’s difficult to put a price tag on the combined social and environmental benefits of sustainable choices.

Environment is the third pillar of the Olympic Movement, in addition to Sport and Culture. Environmental sustainability means using our resources wisely today so that future generations are able to enjoy and utilize them as well. As we move ever closer to the 2010 Games, the Sustainability team will continue to do its part to share the benefits of ‘going green’ with the widest possible audience and working toward targets related to VANOC’s goal of environmental footprint reduction.

Wood Waste Composting – Whistler Nordic Competition Venue
At the Whistler Nordic Competition Venue, over 30,000 cubic yards of remaining wood waste (after cleared timber was sold or donated) was chipped onsite. Additional organic material was then added to it, and the entire mixture was stuffed into large plastic ‘ag-bags’ for composting. Once composted, this material will be removed from the bags, mixed with indigenous wildflower seeds and then applied to the disturbed soil sites to facilitate vegetation re-growth (known as ‘green up’). Greening up a site helps prevent soil erosion and sedimentation to waterways while restoring natural vegetation and habitat to disturbed areas. Any leftover compost will be shared with other venues and projects within the Sea to Sky corridor for their use in greening up areas disturbed by construction.

Bird and Fish Habitat – Vancouver Olympic Village
The birds and the fish around the Vancouver Olympic Village will be healthier due to the creation of key habitat initiatives. The Vancouver Olympic Village project will create habitat corridors throughout green spaces, facilitating urban habitat nodes for birds. The development of the overall site is aimed at improving overall water quality in False Creek. It includes creating additional fisheries, as well as cleanup of Inlet contamination.

Ecological Footprint
Ecological Footprint is a concept used to describe the amount of land and resources required to sustain a given population over a specified period of time. (Land and resources provide food and energy and assimilate waste.)

This concept can be used as a tool to estimate the amount of land and water a human population would need, in the future, to live as it does today. (This might mean, for example, using the same resources and technologies to deal with waste in 10 years as we do today.) In this regard, sustainable technology aims to lessen ecological “overshoot”, which occurs when a society’s Ecological Footprint exceeds the resources available to sustain both present and future populations while, at the same time, maintaining healthy ecosystems.

LEED Green Building Standards
LEED, a standard for building design, stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED Buildings are rated against five criteria: Sustainable Sites; Water Efficiency; Energy and Atmosphere; Materials and Resources and Indoor Environmental Quality. Depending on scoring across each category, buildings are rated as LEED Gold, Silver or Platinum.