Vancouver Winter Games 2010 Research Paper

Can world sporting events be successful and sustainable?
Vancouver Winter Games 2010

Introduction

Environmental Sustainability
Environmental concerns have become a key part of the Olympic Games, from the early planning stages to that of the post-games legacy. Over the past few years the Games have become a banner for environmental innovation and this holds no exception for that of Vancouver 2010. These areas of innovation include venue and infrastructure design, water conservation and treatment, materials and waste management and transport and carbon management and as a result have steadily raised the bar on environmental and ecofriendly outlooks on not just London but the Games as a whole.
The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games became

However during post game completion another 32,500 m2 of restoration occurred leaving the natural environment with little to no problems. On top of this, as seen bellow many of the venues were given a gold or higher LEED rating conducted by the Canadian Green Building Council which focuses on the impact of infrastructure on the environment and grades them on their ability to be considered a ‘green’ building.

Energy and Climate Change
In 2003, during the organisation and planning of the 2010 Games there were no global protocols focused primarily on how major sporting events managed their carbon footprints. As a result, in November 2009 VANOC (Vancouver Organising Committee) forecast that the Winter Games would directly emit approximately 118,000 tonnes of carbon emissions whilst 150,000 tonnes indirectly over the seven year period between Vancouver winning the bid in 2003 and the end of the Games in March 2010. As a result VANOC adopted a carbon management program for the 2010 Winter Games as represented

As a result the energy efficiency measures that were implemented in the 2010 Winter Games venues were expected to save approximately 18 gigawatt hours of electricity which calculates to be enough to power more than 1,600 homes for an entire year. On top of this, there was a 51% increase in road traffic in Vancouver itself over the planning, construction and commencement of the games. To combat this increase in traffic and ultimately emissions Vancouver’s TransLink CEO, Ian Jarvis implored the use of public services and more efficient and ecofriendly means of travel by saying “It was important for the future of Metro Vancouver that we do more than move enormous numbers of people during the Olympics. It was important that local residents see what their transportation system could do,” as well as “Many found out that there are alternatives beyond driving alone in a vehicle; there’s walking, cycling, ridesharing and especially, that our integrated transit system is a surprisingly viable option.” On top of this, special training was offered to the workforce for municipal purposes which in turn reduced the number of cars during the Games by a massive 30% than