Environmental Leader

After seven years of sustainability efforts, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games has achieved numerous environmental goals including a carbon neutral Organizing Committee and torch relay, and 62 games-related sustainability innovations, according to the fourth annual corporate Vancouver 2010 Sustainability Report.

The report covers the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games’ (VANOC) performance against its sustainability commitments between August 1, 2008 and July 31, 2009.

Here are several at a glance environmental highlights:

– 15 percent reduction in carbon footprint (or 57,000 tons of carbon emission averted) due to energy efficiency and clean technologies (As part of the effort to reduce pollution at Port Metro Vancouver, the city is allowing visiting cruise ships to plug into the city’s electrical grid.)

– Partnered with Offsetters to make the 2010 Winter Games the first in Games history to have an Official Supplier of Carbon Offsets

– 45,000-kilometer carbon neutral torch relay

– Eight multi-purpose sport venues and two athletes’ villages targeting the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver or better certification (Two already certified to a Gold level.)

– Fully implemented a Buy Smart sustainable purchasing program: 271 Buy Smart contracts at a total value of $133 million or 85 percent of the total VANOC contracts

– 83 fleet vehicles out of a total of 237 with lower emission features (51 hybrids and 32 vehicles with Active Fuel Management technology)

– Reused, recycled or composted 734.2 metric tons or 67 percent of its total solid waste.  When waste from which energy is recovered in its waste-to-energy facility is included, the diversion from landfill rate increases to 72 percent.

– 32 sustainability innovations at venues, villages and operations

VANOC will continue to track and report on sustainability performance through the Games period and initial dissolution phase on April 30, 2010.