Global Sustainability Perspective magazine - Jones Lang LaSalle

Global Sustainability Perspective
Environment Programme (UNEP) concluded that the air athletes and
spectators in Beijing breathed in August 2008 was much cleaner than in
previous years. Though conceding that weather conditions at the time in
Beijing such as evening showers and wind directions played a helpful role,
city conditions showed reductions of 47 percent in carbon monoxide, 30
percent in volatile organic compounds, 20 percent in particulate matter,
and 14 percent in sulfur dioxide. City authorities also achieved a complete
phase-out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) 22 years ahead of their
2030 target.
• Waste classification and recycling goals were exceeded by 2 and
5 percent, respectively. Hazardous and medical waste treatment
facilities were expanded and updated, all solid waste was sorted in
venues, and the recycling rate in the Olympic venues was 23 percent
higher than the committed level.
From a development standpoint, from the visually spectacular venues
such as the “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium and Aquatics Center to the
huge Olympic Green park that housed venues and athletes, Olympic sites
are being actively used for sporting events or redeveloped for housing or
other useful purposes. The sustainability of Beijing’s other achievements,
particularly in air quality, are more subject to debate. Researchers from
the World Health Organization found that soot particles smaller than 2.5
microns, which are not subject to Chinese standards, exceeded safe limits
for the entire duration of the Games.
A team of scientists from Oregon State University in the U.S. and Peking
University in China went further in pronouncing the Beijing Games as the
most polluted Olympic event ever, with air contaminant levels two-tofour
times higher than Los Angeles on an average day. Soot levels were
allegedly 3.5 times higher than at the Sydney Games, the cleanest
Summer Olympics of the 21st century. The researchers, who took
samples before, during and after the games and published their findings
in the journal “Environmental Science and Technology,” found pollution
levels about one-third higher than Chinese government officials claimed.
Other critics pointed out that even the air quality increase Beijing achieved
was due in part to “artificial” means such as factory shutdowns and vehicle
use restrictions prior to the games that were not maintained. Even the
relatively benign UNEP report noted that, “there remains significant
room for improvement in Beijing’s air quality.”
On the other hand, questionable as Beijing’s air properties were, its
“before and after” improvement rate was arguably equal to or better
than most other Games. Ultimately, the 2008 Beijing Olympics probably
served as a laboratory for obtaining aggressive sustainable improvements
mandated in China’s more recent Five-Year Plan, rolled out in 2011.
Included in the plan’s national requirements are reduction of carbon
emissions per unit of GDP of 17 percent and an increase in the
percentage of clean fuels in China’s energy consumption mix.
London calling: What’s in store for 2012?
Organizers of the 2012 London Olympics have promised the greenest
Games ever, a guarantee that even the most optimistic Beijing principals
declined to offer. Teaming with worldwide environmental groups such as
the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and BioRegional, London has created a
“One Planet Olympics” concept to position the world’s premier gathering
June 2012
as a model for global sustainable communities. The plan’s holistic goals
covering energy¸ carbon, water and waste reduction; biodiversity; access
and inclusion; health and employment, include:
• The development of a decentralized energy network using Combined
Heat and Power (CHP) technology. These systems are built around a
network of local infrastructure, taking advantage of efficiencies gained
from producing and consuming energy “locally” — typically saving up to
30 percent when compared to standard national grid-supplied electricity
and individual housing unit heating.
• Use of renewable sources for 20 percent of energy needs. This target
is in jeopardy; Bloomberg Businessweek has reported that due to
unforeseen problems such as an on-site 2-megawatt wind turbine that
was scrapped for safety reasons, the Commission for a Sustainable
London 2012 reduced its renewable energy forecast to 11 percent for
the Games. However, organizers report that through other measures
such as renting instead of buying many infrastructure components
and cutting 969,000 square feet from venue spaces, overall carbon
emission forecasts are about 315,000 metric tons – 20 percent less
than an estimate of two years ago.
One thing is clear:
Regardless of who wins the individual events at
London, Rio and beyond, it seems that the Olympic
Games will permanently encourage a gold medal
performance for sustainability.
• Venues that are being designed to use 40 percent less water,
and athlete housing 30 percent less, than standard. Much of the
improvement will come from a dual system in new buildings with
separate supplies of drinking and recycled water, to assure that
potable water will be used only when necessary.
• Instead of the frequent practice of landfilling contaminated soil – which
only shifts the problem from one spot to another – Olympic authorities
have chosen to clean up all contaminated soil on site, using five soil
washing machines and a bioremediation plant that will clean 1.3
million tons of soil by the time they are finished.
• Reclamation and re-use/recycling of 90 percent of demolition waste
by weight. To date, that goal has been exceeded with a remarkable
98 percent demolition waste reclamation. In addition, 63 percent of
new construction materials have been transported to Olympic Park
by rail or water.
• As part of a pledge to send zero waste to landfill during the Games,
food packaging that cannot be re-used or recycled will be made from
compostable materials such as starch and cellulose-based bioplastics.
After use, many of these materials will be suitable for anaerobic
digestion, enabling them to be converted into renewable energy.
• Making the Olympic Park one of the most nature-friendly Gamesrelated
venues ever, with 45 hectares of wildlife wetland habitat and
675 bird nesting boxes, ensuring that otters, swans, bats and scores
of other wildlife will occupy the same area as athletes and spectators.
In addition, remediation of invasive Japanese knotweed has enabled
more diverse native species to proliferate.
Perhaps the most advanced green thinking applied to the London initiatives
is the concept of not just adapting Olympic Park and sporting venues to post-
Olympic use, but making their sustainable legacy the primary consideration
in all design and planning. Flats built for about 17,000 athletes have been
built specifically to be used after the Games, as are 12,000 additional new
homes surrounding the Olympic Village in Stratford City, an East London
development located close to the city centre on the site of a former railroad
yard. A new legacy shopping centre in Stratford City designed for Olympic
use and beyond is also exemplary in its design, making use of natural
light, effective insulation, high efficiency lighting, heating and cooling, and
control of solar gain to ensure that the buildings are at least 10 percent more
energy efficient than local regulations require. The centre will use a
250,000-square-foot rainwater system for toilet flushing.
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Jones Lang LaSalle
In June 2012, Jones Lang LaSalle is also publishing a more in-depth white
paper on the sustainability achievements of the London Olympics and its
impact on the broader industry. When this white paper is published, it will
be made available on the Global Sustainability Perspective website.
Rio and the rainforest
Like London, Rio de Janeiro ran on a strong environmental theme, “Green
Games for a Blue Planet,” to help win hosting of the 2016 Summer Olympic
Games. And as with Beijing, the host nation – in this case, Brazil – will use
the Games to position itself as a first-tier global superpower with the seventhlargest
gross domestic product.
Environmentally, Rio already has some sustainable distinctions from
other Olympic host cities. For one thing, according to the Major Events
International information portal, a whopping 45 percent of Brazil’s energy
already comes from renewable sources. The city’s goal is to power 100
percent of its public transportation with clean biodiesel ethanol by the
Games, and create a network of bike paths connecting all Olympic facilities.
On the downside, according to the Rio 2016 Sustainability Management
Plan, as of 2008, only 32 percent of the waste dumped into Rio’s bays
was treated. Officials have set an ambitious goal of 80 percent treated
sewage by the beginning of the Games in 2016. Like Los Angeles and
Atlanta, Rio will “recycle” many existing facilities for key events, including
the opening and closing ceremonies, track and field, football, aquatics,
basketball, volleyball and gymnastics. And like post-millennial Games,
much of the energy for new venues will come from renewable sources.
One of the most dazzling components of the 2016 Rio Games should be its
Olympic Village, a green paradise of flora and fauna meant to emulate the
Amazon rainforest. It remains to be seen whether this verdant park will call
to attention the plight of Brazil’s actual receding rainforest, much as media
attention – and television cameras – in 2008 focused on the continual haze
in Beijing. Some critics have already pointed out that regardless of what
Brazil does at Olympic venues, its greatest sustainable legacy would be
to reverse deforestation of the Amazon jungle, an act considered by many
to affect global climate change. With the eyes of the world on Brazil, the
nation’s leaders may consider strengthening their efforts to preserve
one of the planet’s greatest natural resources.