London 2012: Sustainability features per venue
Olympic Stadium
- Lightest Olympic Stadium to date – minimising use of steel and reducing carbon footprint
- unwanted gas pipelines used for the roof truss which saved producing new steel
- high recycled content used for concrete foundations
- materials delivered to site by water, including delivery of pipes
- bird and bat boxes built into Stadium site
- recycled granite from King George V docks used for Stadium river banks
Aquatics Centre
- high recycled content used for concrete foundations
- Water used to clean the swimming pool filters will be recycled for toilet flushing
- 3,500sq m of ‘living roof’ – biodiversity space for wildlife
- Legal and sustainable timber used for cladding
- Bird and bat boxes built into Aquatics Centre bridge
Velodrome
- Strategically placed roof lights will reduce on the need for artificial light
- Almost 100 per cent naturally ventilated
- Designed to reduce water consumption by 44 per cent
- Rainwater harvesting for toilet flushing and landscape irrigation
- Light-weight venue design lowers carbon footprint
Handball
- 100 per cent recycled aggregate for piling
- Rainwater harvesting to reduce potable water demand
- 100 light pipes in the ceiling to allow natural light into the venue
- Rainwater harvesting to reduce potable water demand
Eton Manor
- More than 617sq m ‘living roof’ – biodiversity space for wildlife
- the Park’s 120m tall wind turbine will be built next on the Eton Manor site providing enough energy to power 1,000 homes
- non-potable water used for irrigation
Olympic Village
- will achieve the Government’s new ‘Code for Sustainable Homes Level Four’ which is a national environmental standard, resulting in a 44 per cent reduction in carbon emissions and 30 per cent reduction in water use, as well delivering a range of other environmental benefits.
- first time that a large scale development will meet ‘Level Four’ in the UK
Media Centre
- 2,500sq m of ‘living roof’ – biodiversity space for wildlife
- Bird and bat boxes
- Use of recycled water to flush the toilets and for other non potable uses
London 2012: Olympic Delivery Authority sustainability highlights
Sustainable venues
Olympic Park venues are being designed and built to be as energy efficient and sustainable as possible. For example the Velodrome is almost 100 per cent naturally ventilated and uses natural light to reduce energy consumption and rain water will be collected from the roof for flushing toilets and irrigation.
Green transport
To reduce the number of lorries on the roads and the resulting carbon emissions, the ODA is using rail and water routes to get materials delivered to site and waste taken away. Currently over 50 per cent of materials by weight are delivered by train including aggregate, kerbs and drainage units, and waste is being taken away by barges through the recently dredged waterways and a new lock and water control structure.
Green energy
The new Energy Centre and network being built on the site will provide efficient and low-carbon power by using new technology including biomass boilers and a Combined Cooling Heat & Power (CCHP) plant to capture the heat generated as a by-product of electricity production. A new 120m high wind turbine will also help contribute towards a 20 per cent renewable energy target.
Reuse
No materials leave the site if they can be reused or recycled in another way, reducing waste and the amount sent to landfill. During demolition, 97 per cent of the material was reclaimed to be reused in the creation of the Olympic Park. For example, the re-design of a key walking and cycling route, the Greenway, has used materials including bricks, paving stones, cobbles, man-hole covers, timber sleepers and tiles that were salvaged from the demolition stage.
Recycle
In one of the biggest clean-up operations of its kind, the ODA is cleaning and reusing hundreds of thousands of tonnes of soil which would otherwise have to be transported off site. A ‘soil hospital’ has been set up on the Olympic Park with machines that shake and clean the soil free from contaminants such as tar, oil and petrol, and produces clean material which can be used in the creation of the correct land levels, foundations and parklands.
Conserving water
The Olympic Park sports venues will use at least 40 per cent less water than equivalent buildings through initiatives such as low flush toilets, waterless urinals and rain water harvesting from roofs. The Aquatics Centre’s systems will be built to recycle the water that has been used to clean the swimming pool filters to then flush the toilets, whilst other venues are installing rain water harvesting facilities.
Protecting wildlife
Existing wildlife and habitats on the site are being protected during the construction phase, including translocating thousand of newts and hundreds of frogs. The Park and its venues have been designed to create 45 hectares of wildlife habitats and will include reedbeds, grasslands, ponds, woodlands, 525 bird boxes, 150 bat boxes and artificial otter holts.
Sustainable sourcing
The ODA is committed to using materials which are sustainably sourced and minimise any impact on the environment. A panel of timber suppliers has been set up for contractors across the Olympic Park that guarantees to supply only legal and sustainably sourced timber.
Brownfield to Greenfield
The Olympic Park site is being transformed from an area scarred by industrial use and years of neglect to a new urban park with improved infrastructure and world-class sporting facilities. Over 4,000 trees, 74,000 plants, 60,000 bulbs and 240,000 wetlands plants will be planted to create a new open green space for London, the largest planting project ever undertaken in the UK.
Low carbon
To reduce the embodied carbon of venues on the Olympic Park, the on-site concrete batching plant supplies low-carbon concrete to all contractors working on the project. This is achieved by substituting raw materials needed to make the concrete mix with secondary or recycled materials such as by-products from coal power stations and steel manufacture, and recycled glass.
London 2012s green build on track
ODA continues to set new sustainability standards as Olympic Park wins major industry award
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has announced it is on track or exceeding the wide-ranging set of sustainability targets for the London 2012 construction project.
The project’s sustainability standards have also been recognised by the industry with the ‘Legacy for Sustainability’ award at the Constructing Excellence National Awards.
The targets, set out in the ODA’s Sustainable Development Strategy in 2007, cover a variety of areas ranging from using low-carbon materials and recycling construction waste to incorporating rain-water harvesting and bird and bat boxes into the design and build of venues.
Among other achievements, the ODA is currently delivering 60 per cent of materials by weight by rail or water transport, beating a target of 50 per cent and dramatically reducing vehicle movements and the resulting carbon emissions. The ODA has also reported that 90% of construction waste is being diverted from landfill and is being reused or recycled instead, and the first of 4,000 semi-mature trees have been planted on site.
ODA Chairman John Armitt said: ‘Sustainability is at the heart of our plans and what we have tasked our contractors to achieve is unprecedented for a project of this size and scale.
‘Our targets include reusing and recycling 90 per cent of waste, delivering over half the materials needed by sustainable transport, using natural remediation methods to clean soil, barges to take away segregated waste through newly-dredged waterways and only legal and sustainable timber sourced through a supplier panel.
‘We wanted to lift the bar for the industry and set new sustainability standards and our contractors and suppliers have more than risen to the challenge. We hope that this project becomes a beacon for the planning, design and delivery of future large-scale projects.’
Minister for the Olympics Tessa Jowell said: ‘The London 2012 Games is an iconic project taking place at a time when the world is faced with the global challenges from climate change. That’s why they must be more than just six weeks of sport, they must also provide a blue print for sustainable working and living. Whether it’s using rail and water routes to get materials on to the Olympic Park, building an Energy Centre to provide low-carbon power or designing park venues to be as energy efficient as possible, sustainability has been embedded in the planning, staging and legacy of London 2012 from the outset.
‘The Games offer a unique opportunity to inspire large numbers of people to be more sustainable in their everyday lives. The standards achieved in the building of the Park also have the potential to be a major influence on the construction sector in the UK. This would be a major legacy not just for Britain, but the whole world.
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: ‘I want London to be the cleanest and greenest city in the world by 2012. The construction of the Olympic Park offers an unparallelled opportunity to secure a radical improvement to east London’s environment, whilst providing a sterling example of what can be achieved across the capital in other developments, small and large. We will be working to untap the potential springing from the Games to ensure a lasing legacy for Londoners.’
Work powers ahead on mean, lean and green Olympic Park Energy Centre
Work is powering ahead on a state-of-the-art Energy Centre in the Olympic Park the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) announced.
Sustainable features ‘will set a model for future urban regeneration’
The Energy Centre will include a range of sustainability features to create a ‘mean, lean and green’ building helping to reduce the carbon emissions of the Olympic Park and setting a benchmark for future regeneration schemes.
The Energy Centre is being constructed in the west of the Olympic Park and will provide an efficient heating and cooling system across Olympic Park site for the Games and for the new buildings and communities that will develop after 2012. The Energy Centre will include biomass boilers using sustainable biomass fuels to generate heat, and a Combined Cooling Heat and Power (CCHP) plant to capture the heat generated by electricity production. The project is one of the largest energy centre schemes to be built so far in the UK, and is being designed and built to be:
Mean
- Building designed to utilise recycled materials and a derelict Victorian building retained and reused to house key parts of energy centre equipment
- Flexible modular building design – avoids overcapacity in first phase of development but allows future technologies to be incorporated as they are developed and as demand grows after 2012.
Lean
- Deliver energy via low carbon technologies – a Combined Cooling Heat & Power (CCHP) plant will capture the heat generated by electricity production
- Community energy networks designed to operate at low temperatures
- Heating and cooling networks designed to minimise losses
- More efficient conversion of fuel compared to conventional gas and coal-fired energy plants.
Green
- Biomass boilers will use sustainable biomass fuels to generate heat, contributing to 20 per cent renewable energy target across Olympic Park
- Zero carbon renewable energy sources used such as biofuel
- CCHP plant will lead to carbon reduction of more than 1000 tonnes per year
- Recycled wastewater will be used for Energy Centre cooling towers.
ODA Director of Infrastructure and Utilities Simon Wright said: ‘Sustainability is at the heart of the 2012 project and the Energy Centre will ensure a lasting legacy of green power in the Olympic Park for generations to come. The state-of-the-art Energy Centre will be one of the largest in the UK and the lean, mean and green sustainability features that underpin this project will set a model for future urban regeneration schemes.’
Construction work started on the Energy Centre in August 2008 and progress over the last year includes:
- More than 200 piles installed more than 20m in length to form the foundations of the building
- Over 500 tonnes of steel installed to create the frame of the Energy Centre which will be 45m tall at its highest point
- 3,500 square metres of concrete ‘planks’ lifted into place to form the floors and roof of the Energy Centre
- 5 cooling towers lifted into place as the first of the major plant to be installed at the energy centre. These towers are each the size of a small house
- 3 hotwater boilers installed each around 60 tonnes in total
- Work now underway to install the steel cladding around the outer shell of the Energy Centre
- Work well underway on roof replacement works and structural improvements to the retained Victorian building.
The Energy Centre is due for completion in spring 2010 when it will begin providing heated water to the Olympic Park venues. The Energy Centre will then be connected to further venues and buildings when they are completed, delivering an early legacy of essential services throughout the Olympic Park.
The Olympic Park Energy Centre is being constructed by GDF Suez Energy Services, through its subsidiary Cofely East London Energy, together with approximately 16km of Community Energy Networks. The construction of the Energy Centre is being financed by GDF Suez Energy Services who will recover their investment through the long term operation rights of the new infrastructure
Norfolk growing over 300,000 Olympic Park wetland plants for UKs largest urban river planting
Over 300,000 wetland plants are being grown in Thetford, Norfolk for the 100 hectare Olympic Park.
The UK’s largest ever urban river and wetland planting will help create a colourful riverside setting and festival atmosphere for the London 2012 Games and new space for people and wildlife in legacy.
Over 30 species of native reeds, rushes, grasses, sedges, wet wildflowers and irises have been grown initially by Salix in its nursery on the Gower peninsular in Wales with around a third grown from cuttings and seeds collected in and around the Olympic Park before construction started in 2008. The plants are now being grown-on in waterbeds and pallets in Thetford designed and built by the company in Thetford before being planted in the Olympic Park from next spring
The Olympic Park parklands will regenerate and open up the waterways that crisscross the area for the public and wildlife. Visitors to the Park during the Games and in legacy will enjoy sloping riverbanks, new riverside cycle and foot paths, wetlands, reedbeds, ditches and swales, ponds and rare wet woodlands. The wetland plants in these areas will create new habitats for a range of native and rare species.
Visiting Norfolk ODA Chairman John Armitt said: ‘The plants growing in Norfolk will help regenerate the Olympic Park waterways to create habitats for wildlife and help ‘future proof’ the park and surrounding built-up areas against climate change and flooding. Wetlands, ponds, swales and widened rivers bristling with plants will help manage flood water and create fantastic new spaces for the public and wildlife.
‘We are on track to start creating the parklands and planting trees shortly and this contract is another great example of the companies across the UK helping to delivery the London 2012 Games working directly for the ODA or our contractors.’
London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe said: ‘We set out to ensure that the Olympic Park was just that – a park which as well as being home to fantastic sporting venues, can be enjoyed by local residents, visitors and families for generations to come. The fact that these plants are being nurtured in Norfolk shows how the benefits of hosting the Games are being felt far and wide throughout the country – economic benefits for sure, but also a fantastic sense of pride that the entire nation is part of the Games in 2012.’
Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said: ‘The Olympic Park will house a spectacular range of plants and flowers as well as world-class sporting venues that will leave east London with a beautiful park, teeming with wildlife for generations to come. The fact that these plants are growing in Norfolk after starting their life in Wales is further proof that the benefits of London 2012 are being felt across the nation.’
Richard Ellis, chair of East of England Development Agency (EEDA), said: ‘It is great news that a London 2012 Games prestigious contract is being delivered from Norfolk. It is testament to the ambition and innovation of businesses in the region to be the best.
‘EEDA has invested in the creation and development of the CompeteFor website and nearly 10,000 businesses in the region have already signed up. We continue to invest, in partnership, with Business Link to support for businesses to maximise their opportunities. Workshops are being held in locations across the region over the next few months.’
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has been consulting the London Wetland Centre in Barnes on species selection, planting methods and protection during establishment and with British Waterways on water level management within the park to support the wetland plants. This is alongside consultation with Natural England, the Environment Agency and CABE space.
The Olympic Park will create a green backdrop for the Games and a new green space in legacy for people and wildlife which will host the London 2012 legacy sports facilities including the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Velopark, multi-sports arena and Eton Manor outdoor sports complex.
The southern part of the Park will focus on retaining the festival atmosphere from the Games, with riverside gardens, markets, events, cafes and bars. The northern area will use the latest green techniques to manage flood and rain water while providing quieter public space and habitats for hundreds of existing and rare species from kingfishers to otters.
The London Development Agency (LDA) has been leading the legacy planning for the Olympic Park site. This work will be now be taken forward by the new Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC), while the LDA will continue to deliver Olympic skills and business opportunities for Londoners.
The ODA is working with the OPLC to ensure the parklands fit into the Legacy Masterplan Framework – a spatial plan for the development of the Olympic Park site after the 2012 Games which will include the long-term management and maintenance of the parklands. For more information about the plans visit www.legacynow.co.uk