If sustainability is not affordable, people will not put practice it. We would like to use our 2010 Winter Games to showcase and make the business case for sustainable innovation and practice.

Currently, our working definition of a sustainable innovation is "a business/marketplace product, service, process or technology that demonstrates a sustainability feature (generates a notable social, economic and/or environmental benefit)." It should have one or more of the following innovative characteristics:

• New to the 2010 Winter Games region marketplace 
• New to the Olympic Games 
• Significantly “scaled up” through the 2010 Winter Games 
• Brings together unique partners to introduce the innovation

Venues and Villages
To date, VANOC has identified four sustainability innovations associated with Games venues and villages: 

1. On-site composting for site green material - Indigenous wildflower seed mixture added to composted wood waste and applied to disturbed soils at the Whistler Olympic Park for sediment and erosion control and revegetation 
2. Pilot projects at the Olympic and Paralympic Villages in Vancouver and Whistler with Canada Green Building Council - to test LEED Neighbourhood Development standard 
3. Richmond Oval roof structure - to be constructed with wood damaged by the pine beetle infestation in British Columbia 
4. Net-Zero Energy building pilot project for one of the buildings in the Olympic and Paralympic Village Vancouver - to include consumption monitoring, solar recovery, waste-heat harvesting and above-LEED standards in energy conservation

2010 Sponsor Sustainability Initiative
In July 2006, VANOC convened a dialogue with our corporate sponsors to obtain their input on our sustainability performance platform. In June 2007, Teck Cominco, as part of its Games sponsorship, convened a second dialogue. Participating corporate sponsors formed the 2010 Sponsor Sustainability Initiative to foster collaboration on opportunities to showcase sustainability in the operational and legacy aspects of the Games. (See Sport for Sustainable Living.)

Sustainable Buildings and Investment Opportunities
Green buildings and infrastructure are defined as developments that use fewer resources, produce less waste and have superior indoor air quality. To examine the business case for green buildings, VANOC, Environment Canada and Industry Canada commissioned an independent evaluation of the return on investment that would be generated by incorporating sustainable design into the Vancouver Olympic Centre/Vancouver Paralympic Centre facility, in Vancouver, home to curling and wheelchair curling during the Games. This includes measures that would improve energy performance and reduce water consumption.

The study, entitled LEED Business Case Study for Hillcrest Curling Facility, found that additional upfront investment in energy efficiency would significantly reduce the facility’s long-term operating costs. The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, the venue’s owner-operator, has decided to invest in energy-sharing technologies that will, for example, capture heat given off by the refrigeration plant for the curling arena and use it to warm the adjacent community swimming pool. The arena will also use groundwater instead of city drinking water in washroom facilities. For a copy of this study, please visit www.busbyperkinswill.ca or www.stantec.com.

VANOC also co-funded, with the City of Vancouver and a small group of interested parties, a scoping study to assess the feasibility of an investment fund to help finance green buildings and infrastructure projects. Towards A Green Building and Infrastructure Investment Fund: Review of Challenges and Opportunities was prepared by an expert in green building financial analysis.

The study examined typical green construction premiums and potential investor returns from attributes such as enhanced energy conservation and greenhouse gas credits. It also considered the possible focus and structure of a British Columbia-based investment fund and the level of interest among investors, developers and building owners. The study confirmed that, as a general rule, sustainable design can increase the upfront cost of buildings between 0 and 8 per cent, depending upon the building type, location and level of certification. Financial advantages of green buildings include quicker market take-up, higher rents or sales, lower tenant turnover, lower operating and maintenance costs, and health and employee productivity improvements.

The study concluded that green property investments appeal to investors with an explicit interest in these values and long-term building owners. For a copy of this study, please visit www.compassrm.com