The New Green Economy

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) identifies sustainability as "managing the environmental, social, and economic impacts and opportunities of our Games to produce lasting benefits, locally and globally." VANOC's holistic vision of the games sets an unprecedented benchmark of hope and inspiration for the diverse cultures of Canada and the world.

Environmental Sustainability

Due to the sheer magnitude of an event like the Winter Games, there is an inexorable contribution of sizeable proportions to the climate change crisis. "The most sustainable Olympics would be no Olympics," says Kathryn Malloy, Executive Director of the environmental non-governmental Sierra Club of British Colombia. "If you looked at the direct impact on environment and social issues, you could see a lot of negatives about the Olympics in general," says Molloy. "However, because VANOC is taking such a leadership role in sustainability, their influence is a catalyst for change. This is so significant that it probably outweighs the negatives."

Malloy is one of the 13 members of the Board Advisory Committee on Sustainability Performance (BACSP), a panel of experts that provides VANOC with feedback on its sustainability policy and initiatives. The board's diversity of opinion and expertise has created the ideal forum to help VANOC fulfill its sustainability goals for these Winter Games.

One of Vancouver's great feats in sustainable building is the Whistler Olympic Park, which serves as the site for the Winter Games three Nordic Sports: cross-country skiing, ski jump, and the biathlon. The venue is situated in the heart of the Callaghan Valley, a 3500-acre stretch of wilderness located in British Columbia's Coastal Range.

Nature herself was the inspiration in the creation of the park, and a look at its design and construction immediately acknowledges an exerted effort to respect and preserve the valley's natural settings. "What we see is nature as its finest," says Troy Bikadi, Project Manager of Resource Business Ventures, responsible for the construction of the site. "When we come up with a plan to disturb this beauty, we want to be responsible."

"I think if I say what deeply inspired me was actually the landscape. I think it's important that we actually preserve what was here, and in a lot of cases try and make it better," says Doug Ewing, Whistler Olympic Park Project Manager. Of the many outdoor wilderness areas across British Colombia, Callaghan Valley was chosen due to the fact that it already has a history of recreational and industrial use, thus eliminating any human impact on surrounding virgin wilderness areas.

Whistler Olympic Park is the first-ever Olympic venue to include all three Nordic sports at the same physical location. This consolidation allowed project engineers to reduce the overall venue size by 35 percent, lessening the human impact on the geography of the land by a significant margin. Project engineers moved the ski jump venue from one side of the valley to its center, allowing a portion of the valley's forests and wetlands to remain untouched. At the same time, the new site was built in harmony with the surrounding trees, offering competitors and onlookers stunning views of the valley, as well as enhancing event performance by reducing the wind impact on the competing jumpers.

Before planning and construction for the park, project engineers spent extensive amounts of time exploring the Callaghan Valley in an effort to better understand its nuances. There are a number of bridges that were built throughout the valley in preparation for the Games, most of which are situated in precarious areas amid the natural rock formations. Building the bridges in these locations presented project engineers with major challenges in terms of construction logistics, but in the long run led to minimal impact on the natural surroundings.

Wood waste created throughout the construction of Whistler Olympic Park was composted and reapplied to natural areas affected by the construction. The compost made way for lush wildflower meadows that provided food and shelter for the valley's wildlife including bears and deer.

Whistler Olympic Park is just one of sustainable sites that will host some of the many Olympics sports over the next two weeks. Click here to check out more of Vancouver's sustainable venues.

Measuring the Olympic Carbon Footprint

Since 2003—the year Vancouver was named host of this year's Winter Games—VANOC has been working on reducing the Games' carbon footprint in a way no other host city has done before. Ironically, while the Winter Games depend heavily on ideal and precise climate conditions, they are sources of enormous CO2 production and are among the first to be affected by climate change. Vancouver is the first host city ever to track and report its carbon emissions from the day of being named the host city up until the Games' closing ceremonies.

In 2007, VANOC implemented a four-step game plan to help carry out its environmental objectives. It began with a carbon forecast, where it projected the amount of carbon emissions based on the preliminary operational plans. The committee then came up with specific strategies to ensure actual CO2 reductions, including reduced fuel use, clean technologies, and complying with the latest in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.

Take for example the Olympic Torch, a symbol recognized universally as the hallmark of the Olympic Games. In games past, the carbon footprint of the torch itself can only be assumed to have been enormous, as it entails transporting the torch from Athens, Greece to its host city, where it remains lit 24 hours a day for the duration of the games. This year, VANOC plans to significantly reduce the torch's carbon footprint by up to two-thirds through integrated transportation planning.

The third step in VANOC's strategy is to offset those CO2 emissions that cannot be reduced or eliminated. Offsetters, a Canadian company dedicated to helping people to reduce their climate impact, is the official carbon offset supplier to the 2010 Winter Games. Offsetters provide individuals and organizations with clean energy ideas and projects to offset the Games' emissions, including an online calculator that allows those traveling to the games to measure their individual carbon footprint.

VANOC hopes that the previous three steps will organically culminate in the fourth and last step, which is to enable and inspire future action to reduce CO2 emissions amongst the Games' participants and spectators. This stage of the process might possibly have the largest impact of all, as it could reach a target audience of millions of people watching from around the world.

Social and Economic Sustainability

The official logo of the Vancouver Games is based on the inukshuk, a traditional stone statue used by Canada's native Inuit people. The statues are built to resemble a man with outstretched arms, functioning as a milestone or directional marker for the Inuit people in the country's extensive Arctic regions. The Olympic logo contains five different stones and represents the natural diversity of Canada including its forests, mountains, and islands.

In fact, VANOC has gone to great lengths to make Canada's native people an integral part of these Winter Games. The organization's close collaboration the Four Host First Nations (FHFN) helped Vancouver to become the host of the 2010 Games, which are being held on the traditional territories of the Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. The four nations have lived in harmony with Canada's natural surroundings for hundreds of years.

Chief Ernest Campbell of the Musqueam Nation expressed his approval of the involvement of his people: "The 2010 Games present us with a significant opportunity to build new or enhance existing relationships, establish partnerships and showcase our diverse and extraordinary culture to the world. By working together we will fully participate in 2010 and more fully contribute to the local, regional and national economy."

In an historic agreement signed by the FHFN and VANOC, both groups are working together to make the most out of the 2010 Winter Games for all of Canada's diverse cultural groups. One initiative, the Vancouver 2010 Aboriginal Licensing and Merchandising Program, actively involves Canada's native populations in the design, production, and sales of official 2010 Winter Games merchandise.

"Our young people are our most important resource. Sixty per cent of Aboriginal people in Canada are under the age of 30," said Tewanee Joseph, executive director and CEO FHFN Secretariat. "We need to develop our young people's skills and capacity. We need to invest in our young people." A third of all merchandising sales will go directly the Aboriginal Youth Legacy Fund and will help support education, sport, and cultural initiatives for Canada's Aboriginal youth. (Click here to see examples of official Olympic merchandise designed by Aboriginals.)

VANOC is also setting an example for the international community through its sustainable purchasing and ethical sourcing program, Buy Smart. Through the program, the organizing committee is showing the world the importance of supporting local economies and reflecting upon the source, production, and distribution phases of product life cycles.

Kevin DuCharme, director of logistics planning and integration, notes that "[t]he Buy Smart program aligns with VANOC's values and incorporates all of our objectives related to sustainability and Aboriginal participation. It is more than just a guideline; we are accountable for it."

From 2003 to 2008, Buy Smart helped ensure that $1.8 million of the Games' preparation was subcontracted to inner-city businesses and organizations. $53.8 million in venue construction contracts was awarded to self-identified Aboriginal businesses, while $1.2 million went towards non-venue construction projects.

Vancouver: An Exemplar for Future Large-Scale Sustainability Projects

The world now turns its attention on Vancouver for the next two weeks to watch an estimated 5000 athletes from over 80 countries compete in 15 different winter sports. As gold medals and world records begin to accrue, so too will the positive impact of these 2010 games on the environment.

Vancouver has successfully demonstrated to the rest of the world both the importance and feasibility of large-scale sustainability projects. It looks as though this will be Vancouver's lasting Olympic legacy for generations to come.