Olympics are all about games, fun and people. As more people accumulate, the level of responsibility to spread awareness about eco-friendliness automatically increases! However, recently the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold award being presented to Chen Zhili (Head of the Beijing Olympics) by the strict standards developed by the US Green Building Council, certainly speaks for itself! The Olympic village (Beijing) uses solar cells and geothermal heat pumps to protect the environment and it surely is noticeable. Apart from this, the Chinese authorities also made sure to close down the heavy polluting factories around the city and beyond, reduction in the car traffic around the city by about half, and free use of public transport for people holding tickets to Olympic event, in order to keep the air clean.
Also the building in which the athletes, coaches and officials are living is constructed using environmentally-friendly paint and other materials. The building provides solar hot water, solar thermoelectric cogeneration. This gold award is a gesture that indicates the cooperation between China and the United States in utilizing clean energy technology for the Olympic Games. It’s a brilliant platform that can be used to illustrate the use of renewable resources and to develop environment-friendly projects that would add to our sustainable economy and to the social developments of the world.
Via: Xinhuanet
Comments
They deserved it! Three cheers for the most greenest Olympics ever. Thanks to Chinese government who stayed true to their green promises.
The LEED, awarded to the Beijing Olympic Village, indicates the efforts and achievements made by the two countries in cooperation on clean energy technology and building a green Olympics. The fact that the Chinese authorities took major steps to reduce air pollution is remarkable. They have definitely earned themselves this award for all their efforts and for leaving an everlasting impression on the world.
Wow! China has really gone out of the way to make this Olympic Green and they do deserve this award. But I have this nagging thought, can they permanently close down the polluting factories around the city? or can they permanently reduce the car traffic around the city?
Hope they have a ”after Olympic” plan in place to make sure all the good Green work is not undone once this special event is over.
Btw, didn’t know they are also using geothermal heat pumps.