Plan calls for green facilities, transportation
Green buildings, zero waste, zero net emissions, and a hydrogen and natural gas infrastructure are just a few of the environmental legacies that are currently being planned for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.
"Since the beginning we’ve been wrestling with the issue (of sustainability)," said Ken Baker, the executive director of sustainability and the environment for the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation. "There’s no road map here for what we’re trying to do, because we’re the first. But we’re figuring things out the best we can."
Baker and Maureen Douglas, the director of community relations for the Bid, discussed the environment, sustainability and Olympic legacies at the monthly AWARE meeting on Nov. 7.
While a green bid is not as important to the IOC as the facilities or public support for the bid, says Baker, he believes that environmental initiatives will give Vancouver’s bid a competitive edge at the IOC, while boosting support for the bid at home.
According to Baker, the bid is being guided by a sustainability management system to ensure that sustainable economic, social and environmental principles are taken into account in every aspect of planning.
The details of the various sustainability initiatives are in the official Bid Book, which will be sent to the IOC members in January.
He said the details of these initiatives are still considered competitive information, and won’t be released to the public until the bid book is distributed. Still, some of the details in the bid book are already public knowledge.
For example, all of the new facilities that are being built for the games will be designed to qualify for a minimum silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) architectural standard.
"Of course we’re going for gold LEED certification, and our partners want to go for gold because it’s an opportunity for them to showcase what is possible," said Baker.
Apart from being better for the environment, and addressing social issues of housing, "that also falls on the economic side of sustainability," Baker said. "Whistler and Vancouver already build great buildings. We are recognized as world leaders in the field of green building technology. We can export that capability (using the Olympics) as a vehicle to show other countries what’s possible."
In the transportation department, Baker said the bid is not as badly off as some people might think.
While he acknowledges that the Sea to Sky Highway is perceived at home as a weakness in the bid, Baker says that they will be able to reliably shuttle all ticket holders from Vancouver to Whistler using buses, ferries and trains.
In addition, public transportation is already widely used in Vancouver and Whistler, and those systems will be beefed up considerably for the Games. By contrast, Salt Lake City did not have any public transportation prior to the Games, and the system created for the Games was a park and ride.
Taking a page from the Games in Lillehammer, Norway, all tickets to Olympic events will include the cost of transit from bases in Vancouver.
The Games will rely on almost 1,000 buses to bring people between Whistler and Vancouver, and by 2010 Baker hopes that they will either be gasoline hybrids, hydrogen-powered, or converted to use natural gas.
Vancouver-based companies in these fields will have an opportunity to show off their technology.
"There are plans to build a hydrogen highway all the way from California to B.C. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Olympics could be a catalyst for building a hydrogen infrastructure in Whistler and Vancouver?" asked Baker.
In the energy department, Baker said the Bid Corporation is looking at ways to reduce demand through energy efficiency, while adopting more green power sources for new facilities.
"The hotel industry in Vancouver, it’s a great opportunity for them as well to position themselves as the greenest in the world through water conservation, energy conservation, waste reduction," said Baker.
"That’s just one way we can use the Games to reach out to people and create change. Ultimately we want people to see what we’ve done, and give them an opportunity to take what they learned here home with them."
In the liquid and solid waste areas, the bid hopes to create zero net waste, protecting watersheds by recycling and reusing water at new facilities.
A revolutionary wastewater treatment plant in the Callaghan Valley, the proposed site of the Nordic centre, would use natural wetlands to break down waste, rather than chemical treatment.
For solid waste, Salt Lake City succeeded in recycling or eliminating 92 per cent of all garbage. The Vancouver 2010 Games hopes to recycle 100 per cent of all waste.
As for greenhouse gases and air quality, the goal is to host a climate-neutral Games. The Games will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by creating more efficient facilities and transportation. Any net emissions would be offset by a carbon credit program.
In addition, a study in Vancouver found that the Olympics would only increase greenhouse gas emission by one per cent over the course of the Games.
As well as answering questions about Olympic Legacies, Baker also defended the Bid Corporation’s idea not to embrace The Natural Step sustainability program that was adopted by Whistler.
"It basically comes down to the position where it’s a partnership, private companies, several levels of government, and the majority of partners don’t follow The Natural Step. It was a challenge that we and others did not think we could take on," said Baker.
"But with Whistler in (the bid), that will help educate other bid partners. People could adopt the systems you create later on. That’s the opportunity, the legacy there."
A more detailed look at environmental legacies will be available when the Bid Book is released.
