commentOlympic Village takes the gold
The U.S. Green Building Council announced last week that the Olympic Village, which housed around 16,000 participants who strived for gold, silver, and bronze medals in the 2008 games in Beijing, has itself won a gold—LEED Gold that is.
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The Village, designed by PTW Architects, has been overshadowed by another Olympic building from the same firm, the Water Cube swimming stadium. Though renowned for its unique and intricate design, the arena did not compare to the competition of the Village in terms of sustainability.
The US Department of Energy worked with contractor Guoao Investment Company to assist with the green tools that helped the village earn a Gold certification—low energy materials, solar technology, water conservation, and passive ventilation.
The heat exchange system draws energy from a local sewage plant and employs a heat pump device to convert the energy for useful winter heating and summer cooling purposes. Rooftop gardens contain tubes to collect and utilize solar energy for various purposes. Additionally, the Village boasts its own water ecological system to treat wastewater and uses the excess recycled water for landscape watering. They consume just 1/30th of the energy consumed by conventional buildings, according to the contractor, Guoao Investment Company.
The Olympic Village is comprised of 22 six-story and 20 nine-story buildings and spans across 160 acres. It includes amenities such as health clubs, gyms, swimming pools, and tennis courts that helped keep the athletes from over 200 countries and regions in shape for the competitive games. A library, a restaurant, an entertainment center, retail and commercial shops, and community centers will help convert the village to a tourism and residential area while keeping the memory of the spirited, international competitions alive with a post-games Olympic Museum.
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