The Beijing Winter Olympic venues take advantage of the sustainable development benefits of the Olympic Games

"At a time when there is a global effort to mitigate the effects of climate change, sustainable development is critical to the future of the Olympic Movement. We hope that the hosting of the Olympic Games will lead the world in terms of sustainability, and that the hosting of the Olympic Games will become an accelerator for sustainable development in the host countries. On February 9, at a regular press conference of the International Olympic Committee and the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, Maria Thelos, Director of Enterprise and Sustainable Development of the International Olympic Committee, said.

The Beijing Winter Olympics have emphasized sustainable development from the very beginning of its preparations. Let the wind in Zhangbei light up the lights of Beijing, use carbon dioxide for the first time to make ice, and the Olympic venues meet the green building standards... Li Sen, director of the Overall Planning Department of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, said at the press conference that the requirements of sustainable development run through the entire process of preparation for the Beijing Winter Olympics, "which can be summarized in two words: 'low-carbon environmental protection' and 'ecological protection'".

The concept of low carbon is integrated into the whole process of preparation for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games

In the Beijing division, the only new ice stadium for the Beijing Winter Olympics is the National Speed Skating Hall "Ice Ribbon", and the other ice venues are transformed from the Legacy of the Summer Olympics. For example, the "Water Cube" of the water sports competition venue of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing was transformed into a curling field to creatively realize the "water ice conversion"; the Wukesong Sports Center realized the "land ice conversion" and became an ice hockey rink. Li Sen introduced that the transformation of the Summer Olympic venue into the winter Olympic ice venue has laid a solid foundation for the wide application of multiple projects and multi-format operation after the game.

In addition to the overall utilization of the venue, the renovation of the venue also focuses on low-carbon environmental protection. The National Speed Skating Hall, the Capital Gymnasium, the First Body Short Track Speed Skating Training Hall, the Wukesong Ice Hockey Training Hall and other four ice venues, for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, use the cleanest and most low-carbon carbon dioxide refrigerant, which not only reduces the destruction of the ozone layer by the traditional refrigerant, but also greatly reduces the energy consumption of the refrigeration system, and can achieve energy saving of more than 30% compared with the traditional refrigeration method.

Why aren't all ice venues using CO2 direct cooling to make ice? Li Sen said that because the National Aquatics Center "Water Cube" will continue to carry out "ice water transformation" as needed by the event, the construction of a fixed refrigeration equipment is not suitable for this scenario; Wukesong Stadium has built refrigeration equipment in the early days, if dismantled and rebuilt, it will cause unnecessary waste.

Energy consumption is critical during the operation of a venue. Beijing Winter Olympic venues all use renewable energy, through the Zhangbei flexible DC power grid this green highway, the scenery and other renewable energy in Zhangbei into green electricity, delivered to Beijing, Yanqing, Zhangjiakou 3 areas, light up each venue of the Beijing Winter Olympics, but also to achieve all venues conventional electricity consumption 100% of the use of green electricity.

"It has been estimated that from June 2019 to the end of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games, the cumulative electricity consumption of the venues of the Beijing Winter Olympics is about 400 million kWh." Li Sen said that to meet the energy consumption of the Winter Olympics, there is no problem in the supply of green electricity in Zhangjiakou.

Maria Selos also said at the press conference that the use of Beijing Winter Olympic venues has three characteristics: it can hold sports competitions, can also become training places, and can also be open to the public after the game. Although this model has been used in previous Olympic events, the possibilities of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games for the comprehensive utilization of venues have been fully reflected, bringing together the advantages of the Olympic Games in terms of sustainable development.

The construction of the competition area implements the concept of ecological protection

From design to construction, the Beijing Winter Olympics adhere to the ecological priority, resource conservation, environmental friendliness, ecological protection and overall planning of venue construction, and guard the green water and green mountains of the competition area.

Li Xinggang, chief designer of Yanqing Competition Area, adheres to the concept of "mountain forest venues and ecological Winter Olympics", conducts environmental impact assessment of the planned area before the construction of the venue, and fully integrates the sustainability requirements into the planning and design and construction process of the venue.

In view of the rich local plant resources, the construction team implemented classified measures for protection, protected the plants with less disturbances in the construction process in situ, and protected the plants that could not be avoided in the near-land or relocated place. Li Sen introduced at the press conference that although some plants have moved home, they still grow very well after careful care by the garden department.

In the preparation process for the Beijing Winter Olympics, another successful experience of ecological protection was the effective ecological restoration of the Yanqing competition area through the stripping of the topsoil. Li Sen said that the mountain seedling soil is a valuable natural resource and contains a rich seed bank. Before the construction began, the Yanqing Division carried out nearly a year of topsoil stripping and collection work, in order not to destroy the soil of the topsoil, most of the stripping work was done manually. "According to statistics, a total of 81,000 cubic meters of topsoil has been stripped from yanqing, and all of these topsoils have been used for ecological restoration in the competition area, which has become a key factor in restoring the original ecology of the competition area." Li Sen said. He Liang

Source: Science and Technology Daily