Championing environmental legacies

Apr 18, 2007

Athletes, there’s a new winner on the podium.

Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was recently declared a “Champion of the Earth.”

At a ceremony in Singapore on April 19, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) honoured Rogge as a “ Champion of the Earth 2007”, a nod to the IOC’s remarkable success in implementing rigorous environmental standards for Olympic bid and host cities. Rogge was one of seven award recipients, a group that also included Al Gore, former US Vice President, Senator and presidential candidate.

Linking sport and environment
According to IOC Sport and Environment Commission chairman Pál Schmitt, the IOC’s earth-friendly mandate can have immense trickle-down influence. Indeed, the state of the environment in a Games host city affects athletes, volunteers, the worldwide audience of spectators and citizens alike.

As quoted by Schmitt in the IOC Guide on Sport, Environment and Sustainable Development, “Sport and sustainable development are deeply interlinked and increasingly need to be addressed jointly.”

“The Olympic Movement and the [IOC] in particular therefore have a role to play in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development to ensure that present and future generations will be able to enjoy sports activities in a preserved socio-economic, healthy and natural environment,” said Schmitt.

Sport and Culture are the two traditional pillars of the Games. Interest and concern for the environment was addressed by the Olympic Movement during the 1994 Centennial Olympic Congress, Congress of Unity meetings (regular consultative meetings convened by the IOC and attended by Olympic Movement parties’ representatives) in Paris when, for the first time, the International Olympic Committee formally acknowledged environmental and sustainable development as part of its overall mandate.

These discussions evolved and resulted in the creation of the IOC Sport and Environment Commission in 1995. By 1999, the IOC had adopted its own version of the UN’s Agenda 21 for Sustainable Development. It called for a program of action aimed at using sport to advance sustainable development and established a formal collaboration between the IOC and the UN Environment Program (UNEP) upon its implementation. One of the objectives of adopting sustainable development into the Olympic Movement includes improving Games-based practices on environmental conservation and impact on natural resources.

Minimizing the environmental footprint
Vancouver’s bid to host the 2010 Winter Games integrated environmental, social and economic sustainability as part of its Games planning. On the environmental platform, the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation committed, if successful in its bid, to building and operating Games facilities that would ensure a minimal environmental footprint.

“In the Bid Phase, in recognition of the regional environment, and with the focus on green buildings, both in Vancouver and the Sea-to-Sky corridor, we wanted to live up to the expectations of what was going on around us,” said Tina Symko, a sustainability coordinator with the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). “We wanted to play a role in leading the way in green building design and standards.”

Leading the way
VANOC is on track and working hard on its environmental goals and objectives, but the organizing committee can’t do it alone. In efforts to achieve these objectives, VANOC has had early coordination with its government partners which include Canada, British Columbia, Vancouver and Whistler.  There is great commitment from all partners to ensure venue siting, construction and operation, selection of equipment and transportation, consumption of energy and water, pollution and waste management, species and habitat conservation are all considered in the planning, design and construction of its venues. Because of this partnership, the Games is able to minimize much of its environmental footprint by utilizing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building design principles for new and existing venues.

LEED incorporates design, construction and operational practices that combine healthy, high-quality and high-performance advantages with reduced environmental impacts. The LEED green building rating and certification program provides an opportunity for third party validation of green building design and operational practices. Improved building performance is certified with ratings (certified, silver, gold or platinum) based on the total number of points earned by a given project.

Aiming for silver, striking gold
VANOC committed to certify its new sport venues to a minimum LEED Silver level standard of certification. This past March, however, the Vancouver 2010 headquarters achieved gold-level LEED Commercial Interiors (CI) certification.

Much effort was made from many parties to achieve this certification. The City of Vancouver showed great support for this initiative and contributed to the Gold rating by improving the water efficiency with upgrades to the washroom, improving the thermal monitoring in the replacement of building controls and optimizing energy performance with the installation of daylight-responsive controls in areas close to the windows.

VANOC sponsors also played a very important role. Energy performance was further optimized with the selection of Top Sponsor GE Energy Star-rated equipment and appliances in the kitchenettes on each floor. Official Supplier Haworth provided some systems furniture and office seating that was Green guard indoor air-quality certified.

Other office renovations included: increased natural light, reducing the demand for lighting fixtures by 40 to 50 per cent; installation of energy-saving fixtures; use of recycled materials; and a carpet “tile” system that allows for the replacement of only certain tiles as needed, rather than re-carpeting entire rooms.

Finally, in addition to the renovations and furnishings, there are recycling and compost streaming systems on every floor, where VANOC staff have contributed to this gold level through their waste management efforts and cleaning systems. From partners to sponsors to staff and volunteers, everyone involved is very proud of the success of their efforts in achieving LEED-CI Gold.

The Vancouver 2010 offices are VANOC’s first completed LEED project to date, but the eco-initiatives don’t stop there.

Many of the Vancouver 2010 competition and non-competition venues are being constructed and upgraded to minimize environmental impacts. The Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Village will be strategically situated adjacent to a former municipal landfill to allow for the capture and re-use of methane gas. Heat produced by the nearby municipal wastewater treatment system will also be captured for re-use. At the City of Vancouver’s Hillcrest/Nat Bailey Stadium Park curling venue, waste heat from the refrigeration plant will be used to heat other building spaces and the nearby aquatic centre. Also, at the Richmond Oval, rainwater will be re-used for irrigation, ice-making and toilet flushing. There are also plans for the construction of an onsite wetland for storm water treatment at the site.

Going Green in Beijing
Beijing, host of the 2008 Olympic Summer Games, is also striving for eco-innovation. As with any event of this magnitude, hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games could be seen as a strain on Beijing’s infrastructure and resources. According to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), however, hosting the Games is a prime opportunity, and yet another good reason, for the city of Beijing to change its environmental practices for the better.

Beijing is a rapidly developing city and home to approximately 15 million people. Despite obvious challenges, the Beijing Organizing Committee has successfully expanded its environmental initiatives and the City of Beijing has joined in efforts to improve the city with better transportation, more green space and moving some industry out of the city core.

Admittedly the biggest test for BOCOG is to help the city of Beijing reduce air pollution produced by the city’s high proportion of coal consumption and rising popularity of automobile use. In efforts to minimize additional air pollutants, the Beijing municipal government, with assistance from BOCOG, has enacted phase-by-phase measures including improved dust control at construction sites and public awareness campaigns about the benefits of tree planting. Slated for completion by late 2007, Beijing has a campaign to plant 12,000 hectares of trees in an effort to increase the green coverage of the urban area to 43 per cent.

BOCOG’s Construction and Environment Department has also adopted significant innovative technologies during Games preparations. At the Olympic Village, for example, builders installed 6,000 square metres of solar heat collectors on building roofs; they’ll supply hot water to all apartment bathrooms and support facilities at Games time. The Olympic Village will also use recycled water from the Qinghe River Wastewater Treatment Plant to meet the needs of air conditioning systems for all Olympic Village apartments. And when it comes to recycling, construction of the roadbed within Beijing’s Olympic Village used 8,000 tonnes of waste steel scraps.

Greening the Future
Beyond creating healthy legacies for the people of Beijing, the Beijing Organizing Committee hopes to live up to its slogan of ‘One World One Dream’ by setting an example for the world to follow.

For future host cities, living up to their environmental aspirations from bid to Games ensures healthy environmental legacies long after the Torch is passed. Ideally, values such as the Games spirit will spread throughout the world’s nations, instilling a respect for the environment that binds us all together as strongly as the passion for sport.