Earthcharter

Sustainable Design: Vancouver's Richmond Olympic Oval

Monday, 01 March 2010 16:54

From the design of the facilities to the composition of the medals, the Vancouver Winter Olympics have made sustainability a central characteristic of the 2010 competition. The keystone of sustainabilty in the Olympic complex is the Richmond Olympic Oval, designed to qualify for LEED Silver certification.

In addition to a rainwater collection system and heat recapture, the 6.5 acre building incorporates one million feet of pine that was attacked by mountain pine beetles. Treehugger reports on the impact of the beetle plague:

The pine beetle has killed almost half of the pine trees in British Columbia. Forestry officials estimate the volume of wood lost to be around 620 million cubic metres - roughly equal to 15 million logging truck loads.

The pine beetles lay their eggs under the bark of the pine trees. When the larvae hatch, they feed on the inner bark of the trees, thus cutting off the tree's supply of water and nutrients. They also carry a fungus that stains the wood blue or grey and destroys a tree's natural defences against the attack, so it is a double blow of killer larvae and a fungus.

The sources of the problem seem to be fire suppression and climate change. With less logging taking place there are more trees standing than would naturally occur. The winters are no longer as cold so temperatures don't get low enough to kill them off. Mild winters have decreased the winter mortality rate from the usual 80 percent to less than 10 percent.

While the plauge has affected an enormous number of pines, the resulting blue dyed wood has found a good market as designers and manufacturers incorporate it into siding, furniture, trim, and picture frames. Read more about the sustainable design from Treehugger and ArchInnovations.