London 2012 Learning Legacy: showcasing sustainable construction
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has launched Learning Legacy: London 2012, an online library of resources to share the knowledge and the lessons learned through construction of the Olympic Park. The Learning Legacy aims provide a blueprint for sustainable, safe and successful construction, to encourage and help the UK building industry to maintain and replicate the high standards set by the London 2012 project.
The Olympic Park nears completion (image courtesy London 2012)
Sustainability standards
The London 2012 Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is certified to the British Standard 8901: Specification for a Sustainability Management Systems for Events. The BS 8901 standard was inspired by the London 2012 bid and has been developed specifically for the events industry to help event organisers, venues and suppliers to operate in a more sustainable manner.
London 2012 Sustainability Ambassadors are helping to bring to people’s attention the importance of sustainability at the Games and recently visited the Olympic Park. Jonathan Porritt, chair of the Sustainability Ambassadors’ Group, explained the opportunity the Games present:
‘The Games provide an important opportunity to feel proud of what we’ve achieved. London and the UK will be on show to billions of people during the Games and this is a precious once in a lifetime opportunity to visibly display our leadership in sustainability issues.’
The eight London 2012 Sustainability Ambassadors are James Cracknell, Eugenie Harvey, Ellie Hopkins, Saci Lloyd, Deborah Meaden, Kevin McCloud, Jonathon Porritt and Tim Smitt.
Learning Legacy
Learning Legacy is a collaborative programme involving the ODA, contractors, professional institutes, government bodies and academia. It builds on the ODA’s aims to set targets well above the industry benchmarks, to meet the majority of these and, in many cases, to exceed expectations.
Learning resources are organised under ten industry themes – including sustainability alongside areas such as design and engineering, planning, procurement and project management – with the following sub-sections:
- Micro reports: Short examples of lessons learned, best practice and innovations from the construction programme by the ODA, its Delivery Partner, contractors and industry partners.
- Case studies: Peer reviewed papers on lessons learned, best practice and innovations from across the Programme by the ODA and its Delivery Partner, the supply chain and industry.
- Research summaries: Summary reports of research projects undertaken by academia and industry on the London 2012 construction project. These organisations will also publish full research papers as they are finalised throughout 2012.
- Champion products: Examples of tools and templates used successfully on the project.
Showcasing sustainable construction
From the outset the ODA aimed to minimise any adverse impacts during design and construction of the Olympic Park, and to create venues, facilities and infrastructure for the Games that leave a lasting social, economic and environmental legacy for London and the UK.
The ODA set a range of targets for itself and its contractors to meet objectives in six key areas: energy, water, waste, materials, biodiversity and environmental impact. The targets were embedded in systems, processes, tools and the culture of the project.
In construction work on the Olympic Park the ODA relocated species, including birds, bats and lizards, installed over 650 bird and bat boxes, recycled 98% of the material from Olympic Park demolition work, cleaned over a million cubic metres of soil and ensured state-of-the-art, sustainable technologies were embedded in venues. It also established a new energy infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions, optimised the opportunities for efficient water use and created more than 100 hectares of open space, to reduce the risk of flooding in the river valley and enrich the biodiversity of the area. 63% by weight of construction materials were transported to the Olympic Park by rail or water.
Learning Legacy resources provide details of the ODA’s strategies and actions to meets its sustainability targets.
Disseminating the lessons learned
The ODA is working with industry and professional bodies to disseminate the Learning Legacy framework through seminars, events and workshops to advise and educate future construction projects. The organisations involved are Association for Project Management, Chartered Institute of Building, Health and Safety Executive, Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, The Institution of Engineering and Technology, The Landscape Institute and UK Green Building Council.
Further reading
- Learning Legacy: sharing the knowledge and the lessons learned from the construction of the Olympic Park.
You may also be interested in...
- Olympic and Paralympic Games: learning and inspiration
- In sight of the finishing line: reviewing preparations for a sustainable 2012 Games
- London 2012: a spectacular opportunity for sustainable behaviour change
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