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With Rio de Janeiro being named the host of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, many have already begun speculating about who will take the bid for the 2022 Winter Games. The United States is rumored to be seriously pushing to win the bid. With this win the United States Olympic Committee would be hoping to not only further their athletic dominance in the Winter events, but help with the efforts of making the event more green.

 With the naming of CEO Andrew Liveris and DOW Chemical as the official sponsor of the Olympics for the next decade, it is clear that the USOC is backed p by the International Olympic Committee. By goig green and naming them as an Olympic sponsor the IOC President, Jacques Rogge believes the overall commitment to advancement, sustainability, and corporate responsibility parallels the Olympic Movement of peace, progress, and international collaboration.

Following the lead of the Beijing Olympics, Olympic partner Andrew Liveris and other USOC members are looking to do more. The summer Olympics made great efforts to showcase conservation practices and sustainable energy sources because while the sporting event is unifying and fascinating, it’s not the most eco-friendly event. These changes that the IOC is hoping to make as actually a huge deal. It has been estimated that over 2/3 of the carbon emissions from the event is a result of some of the 1.5+ million attendees traveling (mostly via airplane) to and from the event.

Exactly what environmentally friendly services did the Olympic facilities feature?

• Solar power - Used to light lawns, courtyards and streets at several venues, including the Olympic Village. A 130 KW photovoltaic system illuminated The National Stadium, where events such as athletics and football were held.
• Geothermal - Ground source heat pumps used the earth’s constant temperature to heat and cool much of the interior including athletic suites, media rooms and underground venues of the National Stadium.

•  Water Conservation- Waste water collected from the Qinghe sewage treatment plant was filtered and used for the various heating and cooling needs throughout the Olympics site, yielding a 60% savings in electricity. Rainwater was collected from around the grounds, collecting over 75,000 gallons by using water permeable bricks, pipes and wells installed on roofs, roads and green areas.
•  Natural Light - Remember the famous ‘Water Cube’ where the aquatic events were held? The walls of the National Aquatics Centre provided natural light, and for the interior of the building, specially designed ‘beam-pipes’ funneled sunlight into corridors, toilets and car parks at venues, including the Olympic Green.

•  Recycling - The 2008 Olympic hosts aimed for a 50 per cent recycling of waste including paper, metals and plastics at venues. A modest expectation, considering that a test run carried out during the 11th World Softball Championships held in 2007, achieved a nearly 90 per cent recycling rate.

 You can expect these products and more to appear at the coming events over the next decade. While the Olympics in 2008 had great new ways of filtration and insulation for the events, the IOC as is hoping to take that vision a step further to include dozens of other products which will help reduce waste and promote conservation.

Co-written by Nerissa Barry and Daniel Fielding

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 at 12:15 AM and is filed under Guest Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.