2008 Ad

Science World, May 12, 2008 by Mona Chiang

According to Chinese beliefs, the number eight is lucky. So on 08/08/08 at 8:08 p.m., international athletes will gather in Beijing, China, for the start of the Summer Olympic Games. There, athletes will strive to break world records and bring pride to their home countries. The host nation is hoping for the same: China aims to hold the event in the greenest Olympic Games venues ever.

Achieving this green mission requires more than luck. For the past two decades, China's capital has been one of the most polluted cities in the world. Ever since 2001, when Beijing learned it would host the games, the Chinese government and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games (BOCOG) of the XXIX Olympiad have been on a mission to give the host city an environmental makeover.

Here's a peek at some of the ways in which Beijing hopes to make the Olympic Games green. Stay tuned until August to see if China's environmental efforts deserve a gold medal.

Beijing 'Blues'

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

While the world counts down to the start of the Olympic Games, the BOCOG is counting something else: the number of "blue-sky days" in Beijing. On blue-sky days, the sky isn't necessarily clear. It just means levels of air pollutants are low enough to meet China's national air-quality standards. The number of blue-sky days has risen over the years. The BOCOG is hoping for 255 blue-sky days in 2008 (see graph, right).

In preparation for the games, the Chinese government has been on a decade-long race to clean up Beijing's polluted skies. Officials have ordered many coal-burning industries--which spew toxic clouds of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide--to switch to cleaner-burning fuel, shut down, or move out of Beijing. Also, thousands of homes have replaced coal-burning stoves with ones that run on cleaner natural gas.

Still, some athletes are worried that Beijing's air could damage their health and negatively affect their performance. In March, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluated the city's air quality and deemed it safe for most activities. For outdoor events that last more than one hour, such as the marathon, however, there may be some health risks.

But the BOCOG is hopeful that continued air-clearing efforts in Beijing will allow everyone to breathe easy by game time.

Water Saver

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Like many of the venues at the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing's new National Stadium was designed with the environment in mind. Made of 42,000 tons of crisscrossing steel, the 91,000-seat stadium resembles a high-tech bird's nest.

Hidden in the stadium's gridlike roof is a system that collects water--a precious resource in Beijing. A network of drains and steel gutters siphon rainwater into underground storage tanks. Because the stadium will be around long after the summertime closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, the gutters were designed to be heated to melt winter snow and ice.

The collected water will be treated and then combined with the city's reclaimed water from wastewater-treatment plants. This water will be used for activities like flushing toilets and irrigating land.

[ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED]

Village Green

After a day of training, athletes will rest in the Olympic Village. This vast complex contains offices, entertainment centers, and enough apartments to accommodate more than 17,200 athletes and officials.

How to meet the energy and water needs of so many villagers? Highlights include a solar-powered water-heating system that provides hot water to the athletes' apartments on demand; there's no need to let the water run while it heats up. In addition, toilets and showers will feature low-flow water-saving technologies.

Joe Huang, a building-energy specialist and consultant to the Olympic Village says: Although the buildings are outfitted with green technologies, a bulk of the conservation work will be up to the athletes. For example, if they don't turn off the low-flow faucets while brushing their teeth or switch off the lights on their way out, they'll still be wasting precious resources.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Energy Star

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Swimmers at the Olympic Games won't have any trouble finding their competition venue. The National Aquatics Center, nicknamed the Water Cube, looks as if it's covered in giant soap bubbles. The clear bubbles, besides being decorative, help reduce the building's energy use.

The Cube's approximately 4,000 bubbles are made of high-tech ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), a sturdy material that is 1/100th the weight of glass. Transparent ETFE allows high levels of natural sunlight into the building. That way there's less need to switch on energy-powered artificial lights during daylight hours.

In addition, ETFE bubbles help turn the building into a heat-trapping greenhouse. According to ARUP, the building's structural engineering company, "About 20 percent of the solar energy falling on the building is trapped within the building and is used to heat the pools and the interior area."

BLUE-SKY DAYS