The Green Games - BC"s Earth-Friendly Approach to the Winter Games
Back in the spring of 2007 in Singapore, a new Olympic champion was crowned.
This individual didn't run the farthest, swim the fastest or skate the hardest.
In fact, he didn't win a medal at all that year.
Yet he was bestowed with an interesting title: Champion of the Earth.
His name is Jacque Rogge and he is the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The grandiose title and subsequent award was the doing of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and was a means of honouring and drawing attention to the efforts Rogge had made implementing policies that demanded rigorous environmental standards for Olympic bid and host cities.
That night in Singapore, six other individuals received this honour including former Vice President Al Gore.
Since then, Rogge and the IOC have seen great success in their earth-mandate efforts, affecting host cities, athletes and even volunteers the world over.
Sports and Culture are the two fundamental pillars of the Olympic Movement and the IOC Guide on Sport, Environment and Sustainable Development recognizes their joint importance in preserving a functional socio-economic environment.
It was in Paris in 1994 that the IOC first acknowledged environmental and sustainable development as a part of its mandate.
A year later, the IOC Sports and Environment Commission created a United Nations-inspired agenda for sustainable development, proving the committee's unflagging commitment to greener purposes.
Hiccups in the agenda seemed to present themselves as many individuals expressed grave concerns regarding the environmental viability of staging 2008's summer Olympiad in the overpopulated smog-factory that was Beijing, China.
Yet despite the poor air quality, the Games went on.
Two years later, Western Canada is ready to lead by example...
Fast-forward to Vancouver 2010 - a city that won the Winter Olympic bid on the shoulders of a platform that promised what could potentially be the smallest ecological footprint of any Olympiad yet.
In collaboration with Canada, British Columbia and the City of Vancouver, the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) has designed green buildings in Vancouver and the Sea-to-Sky Corridor that meet and exceed the new standards discussed in Paris.
Areas that have been given special attention are venue-siting, construction, operation, equipment, transportation, pollution, waste-management, species and habitat conservation and consumption of energy and water.
A large contributor to this host city's particular success is the implementation of principles as outlined by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
LEED as it is more commonly known was developed in 1998 by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to provide the construction industry with a set of standards for environmentally sustainable construction.
LEED's standards have been adhered to on more than 14 thousand projects in over 30 countries covering over one billion square feet.
It's safe to say that these responsible practises are catching on.
Further, the integrity of these standards is upheld by a third-party validation system which allows for silver, gold and platinum incentive certifications based upon a points-total tally on a by-the-project basis.
VANOC's commitment was originally to aim for a silver certification for its new Olympic sports venues, however the consummate overachievers at the helm managed to earn a gold-level LEED Commercial Interiors (CI) certification.
Much credit can be given to the City of Vancouver for improving water-efficiency with restroom upgrades and optimizing energy performance by improving thermal monitoring and installing daylight-response controls in windowless environments.
Other changes included increased natural light, installation of energy-efficient fixtures, the use of recycled materials and recycling and compost-streaming systems.
Sponsors also contributed in practical ways.
Haworth produced furniture and seating that made the grade with indoor air-quality certifiers while General Electric provided Energy Star-rated appliances and equipment.
Many more upgrades on new and existing Olympic competition and non-competition venues have felt the effects of this new, responsible way of looking at pre-games construction.
The Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Village have been built adjacent to what use to be a municipal landfill in efforts to re-use the methane gas it produces (No, it's not as stinky as it sounds).
Along the same vein, the heat from the local municipal wastewater treatment plant will also be re-captured for further use.
But who would expect less from Whistler? This international alpine destination has a rich history of eco-friendliness, having already reduced their waste by more than 540 tons annually and their electrical consumption by more than 18%.
It's the city venues that are most impressively taking this newer, greener tack...
The Richmond Oval, the 8 thousand-seat venue for Speed Skating events, will collect rainwater for re-use in irrigation, ice-making and even the humble function of toilet-flushing.
Vancouver's Hillcrest/Nat Bailey Stadium Park, the Olympic curling venue will utilize waste-heat from their refrigeration plant to heat other buildings including the nearby aquatic centre.
Downtown Vancouver's 9-block Olympic Village will house 10 thousand athletes.
One section, a condo-project called the Millennium Water will feature 200 units that will be put on the market once the Games have come to a close.
Fetching anywhere between 450 thousand and 3.
5 million, these units are anticipated to earn the LEED Gold certification.
And with eco-friendly add-ons like the plant-covered green roofs, it's no surprise.
But these green initiatives go far beyond construction.
They affect transportation as well.
The Vancouver Skytrain, a light monorail that currently connects the city with its eastern suburbs, will be opening additional lines which will result in less traffic congestion and ideally, reduce vehicular carbon emissions.
Their new route will connect Vancouver International Airport (YVR) with the city centre in just under half an hour.
Not to be outdone, Vancouver's taxi fleet will be continuing their green push with even more hybrid cabs on the road by the time the first Olympic visitors begin arriving.
But like everything, there's always a list of cons as well as a list of pros.
In this case, producing an event that entails 17 completely carbon-neutral days might be more ideal than practical, not to mention when the same lofty expectations apply to athlete air-travel and every structure built or renovated for the Games.
This costs money.
Approximately 4.
5 million dollars worth.
And despite VANOC and the David Suzuki Foundation's combined efforts to find sponsors, the weight of running a green Olympics might end up resting squarely on the shoulders of the Vancouver taxpayer.
But on the other hand, can you put a price on balancing the 300 thousand tons of carbon emissions the 2010 Winter Olympics could potentially cough out all British Columbia?
This individual didn't run the farthest, swim the fastest or skate the hardest.
In fact, he didn't win a medal at all that year.
Yet he was bestowed with an interesting title: Champion of the Earth.
His name is Jacque Rogge and he is the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The grandiose title and subsequent award was the doing of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and was a means of honouring and drawing attention to the efforts Rogge had made implementing policies that demanded rigorous environmental standards for Olympic bid and host cities.
That night in Singapore, six other individuals received this honour including former Vice President Al Gore.
Since then, Rogge and the IOC have seen great success in their earth-mandate efforts, affecting host cities, athletes and even volunteers the world over.
Sports and Culture are the two fundamental pillars of the Olympic Movement and the IOC Guide on Sport, Environment and Sustainable Development recognizes their joint importance in preserving a functional socio-economic environment.
It was in Paris in 1994 that the IOC first acknowledged environmental and sustainable development as a part of its mandate.
A year later, the IOC Sports and Environment Commission created a United Nations-inspired agenda for sustainable development, proving the committee's unflagging commitment to greener purposes.
Hiccups in the agenda seemed to present themselves as many individuals expressed grave concerns regarding the environmental viability of staging 2008's summer Olympiad in the overpopulated smog-factory that was Beijing, China.
Yet despite the poor air quality, the Games went on.
Two years later, Western Canada is ready to lead by example...
Fast-forward to Vancouver 2010 - a city that won the Winter Olympic bid on the shoulders of a platform that promised what could potentially be the smallest ecological footprint of any Olympiad yet.
In collaboration with Canada, British Columbia and the City of Vancouver, the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) has designed green buildings in Vancouver and the Sea-to-Sky Corridor that meet and exceed the new standards discussed in Paris.
Areas that have been given special attention are venue-siting, construction, operation, equipment, transportation, pollution, waste-management, species and habitat conservation and consumption of energy and water.
A large contributor to this host city's particular success is the implementation of principles as outlined by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
LEED as it is more commonly known was developed in 1998 by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to provide the construction industry with a set of standards for environmentally sustainable construction.
LEED's standards have been adhered to on more than 14 thousand projects in over 30 countries covering over one billion square feet.
It's safe to say that these responsible practises are catching on.
Further, the integrity of these standards is upheld by a third-party validation system which allows for silver, gold and platinum incentive certifications based upon a points-total tally on a by-the-project basis.
VANOC's commitment was originally to aim for a silver certification for its new Olympic sports venues, however the consummate overachievers at the helm managed to earn a gold-level LEED Commercial Interiors (CI) certification.
Much credit can be given to the City of Vancouver for improving water-efficiency with restroom upgrades and optimizing energy performance by improving thermal monitoring and installing daylight-response controls in windowless environments.
Other changes included increased natural light, installation of energy-efficient fixtures, the use of recycled materials and recycling and compost-streaming systems.
Sponsors also contributed in practical ways.
Haworth produced furniture and seating that made the grade with indoor air-quality certifiers while General Electric provided Energy Star-rated appliances and equipment.
Many more upgrades on new and existing Olympic competition and non-competition venues have felt the effects of this new, responsible way of looking at pre-games construction.
The Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Village have been built adjacent to what use to be a municipal landfill in efforts to re-use the methane gas it produces (No, it's not as stinky as it sounds).
Along the same vein, the heat from the local municipal wastewater treatment plant will also be re-captured for further use.
But who would expect less from Whistler? This international alpine destination has a rich history of eco-friendliness, having already reduced their waste by more than 540 tons annually and their electrical consumption by more than 18%.
It's the city venues that are most impressively taking this newer, greener tack...
The Richmond Oval, the 8 thousand-seat venue for Speed Skating events, will collect rainwater for re-use in irrigation, ice-making and even the humble function of toilet-flushing.
Vancouver's Hillcrest/Nat Bailey Stadium Park, the Olympic curling venue will utilize waste-heat from their refrigeration plant to heat other buildings including the nearby aquatic centre.
Downtown Vancouver's 9-block Olympic Village will house 10 thousand athletes.
One section, a condo-project called the Millennium Water will feature 200 units that will be put on the market once the Games have come to a close.
Fetching anywhere between 450 thousand and 3.
5 million, these units are anticipated to earn the LEED Gold certification.
And with eco-friendly add-ons like the plant-covered green roofs, it's no surprise.
But these green initiatives go far beyond construction.
They affect transportation as well.
The Vancouver Skytrain, a light monorail that currently connects the city with its eastern suburbs, will be opening additional lines which will result in less traffic congestion and ideally, reduce vehicular carbon emissions.
Their new route will connect Vancouver International Airport (YVR) with the city centre in just under half an hour.
Not to be outdone, Vancouver's taxi fleet will be continuing their green push with even more hybrid cabs on the road by the time the first Olympic visitors begin arriving.
But like everything, there's always a list of cons as well as a list of pros.
In this case, producing an event that entails 17 completely carbon-neutral days might be more ideal than practical, not to mention when the same lofty expectations apply to athlete air-travel and every structure built or renovated for the Games.
This costs money.
Approximately 4.
5 million dollars worth.
And despite VANOC and the David Suzuki Foundation's combined efforts to find sponsors, the weight of running a green Olympics might end up resting squarely on the shoulders of the Vancouver taxpayer.
But on the other hand, can you put a price on balancing the 300 thousand tons of carbon emissions the 2010 Winter Olympics could potentially cough out all British Columbia?
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