Olympics organisers look for green solutions for temporary buildings

The Olympic Board has agreed a policy, which sets out stringent specifications for the manufacturing, use and disposal of PVC fabric, when used in temporary buildings, such as the Basketball Arena, as well temporary components of permanent buildings, such as the Olympic Stadium itself. The move includes working with contractors to try and achieve recycled content, avoidance of phthalate plasticisers and requiring guarantees from PVC suppliers or manufacturers for planned 'take back’ systems to ensure it  will be re-used or recycled after 2012.

The move follows work by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and the London Organising Committee (LOCOG)  to work with industry on sourcing sustainable materials such as timber, aggregates and concrete.

"London 2012 will have a greater number of temporary venues than any previous Games or global event," said David Stubbs, LOCOG head of Sustainability. "Given our sustainability goals, this represents a unique and exciting opportunity to work with industry to develop new methods and tools for assessing, sourcing, specifying temporary materials and identifying appropriate reuse and recycling options."

Dan Epstein, ODA head of Sustainable Development, added: "As we have done in the past with materials such as timber and concrete, we want to use the opportunity of hosting the London 2012 Games to work with industry to set new standards. In this case, this may help move the industry towards a more sustainable manufacture, use and disposal of PVC fabrics.

"We are putting in place stringent controls and audit processes to ensure that where we need to use PVC fabrics, it is done in an environmentally friendly way with an emphasis on recycled content and 'take back’ systems to enable it be re-used or recycled."

The call to action on temporary building materials comes at a time when the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 has described the work carried out to define the wider carbon footprint of the upcoming Olympics as "groundbreaking" and that the "sustainability standards set at the time of the bid are being maintained."