SUSTAINABLE OLYMPIC

Sustainable Olympic

Sustainable Olympic

Executive Summary

How successful was Olympic Games in achieving one of its objectives of “reduction of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in London 2012”? This report has been written in order to answer this question. The report is divided into four main sections.

Firstly, the research draws attention to the five basics key objectives of the sustainability plan, which are zero-waste, conserving biodiversity, inclusion, carbon management, and protecting the climate. These have been discussed briefly.

Secondly main question of the report is addressed, focusing on the details of “Reduce non-essential comfort cooling (HVAC) by 70% against March 2008 baseline and maximise opportunities for natural ventilation” (Aukett A., 2012, p. 3). This section looks at the question from both an news perspective as well as from as from an academic standpoint. The key findings of the news perspective are:

The Olympics decided this objective in 2009, and their main aim was to make the Olympics of 2012 into Sustainability Model.

This objective was inherently related with protecting the environment. HVAC systems have HFCs (Hydro fluorocarbon) which contribute global warming, and thus, by reducing HVAC, HFCs are automatically reduced.

The main hindrance in achieving this objective was that mostly suppliers do not make equipment which is HFC-fee; out of the very few, only Coca Cola does so.

The key findings from an academic standpoint are:

This objective was a SMART object, which let to its partial success.

This objective led London Games to make both environment-responsible decisions as well as cut down its costs.

For the third part of this report, I conducted a short opinion-survey to see what people think about this question. Students were unaware of the fact that HFCs are used in refrigerators and cooling systems, and in some cases they did not even know what HFCs are.

Fourthly and finally, this report critique evaluates the practicality of the objective, and concludes that even though this objective was not very realistic, however, it is a starting point for suppliers to realize the importance of producing HFC-free equipment, and consumers to understand the consequences of using HFC refrigerators and air conditioners.

A Brief Summary of Sustainability Plan of London Olympics

The Sustainability Plan focuses on five key themes:

Zero-Waste: To reuse almost all the waste this arises from the games, as well as use recycled material.

Conserve Biodiversity: To measure to minimize the negative effects of Games on the wildlife and its habitats through development of environment management plans.

Inclusion: To make the best use of human resource from all ethnic backgrounds in London, and encourage handicap and volunteers to work.

Carbon management: To reduce carbon emissions by 50%, to minimize carbon in 2012 torch.

Protecting the Climate: To reduce emissions of gases and substances which contribute to global warming (HFC, PVC and other greenhouse gases).

One of the Objectives: Use of HFCs for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games

From a News Perspective

Olympic Group Agreement in 2009

The Olympic Board, which consists of the ODA and LOCOG ...