Sustainable Venues Host 2010 Winter Games

In between speed skating events at the 2010 Winter Games, spectators found their eyes drawn to the impressive roof of the Richmond Olympic Oval.

It was constructed from British Columbia wood, including trees damaged by pine beetle infestation. In total, 1.1 million board feet of pine beetle wood was used to complete the massive structure.

“There are blue striations in the wood, which are beautiful,” said VANOC corporate sustainability officer Ann Duffy. “The pine beetle wood is still strong, still marketable.”

Located across the Fraser River from the Vancouver International Airport and near Richmond city centre, the Richmond Olympic Oval opened in December 2008.

“It’s a community-sensitive and environmentally-sensitive building,” said Duffy. It’s also emblematic of how VANOC worked to reduce its carbon footprint is through venue construction.

Led by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines, the Oval and other venues use energy-efficient lighting and heating systems, high-quality insulation and alternative energy sources such as the capture and reuse of waste heat.

The LEED rating system was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council and provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction.

The Richmond Olympic Oval is targeting LEED Silver certification, an impressive level for such a large facility.
All buildings In the Olympic and Paralympic Village Vancouver are targeted for LEED Gold certification except the community centre, which is targeting LEED Platinum certification. It will be one of the highest-rated environmentally designed buildings in Canada.

The residential buildings in the Village use approximately 42 per cent less energy than the standard for residential buildings in Vancouver; waste heat from the city’s sewer system provide energy for all space heat and hot water in the village.

According to Duffy, one of the biggest sustainability challenges that the venues have faced is keeping up with new energy-efficiency technology.

“It’s always improving, and of course we can only use the best technology of the day.”

For more information, visit VANOC, Richmond Olympic Oval and LEED Canada.