The 2010 Vancouver Olympics have come and gone. The flame that was lit to symbolize the struggle for victory is out. “Higher, faster, stronger”, that is the creed of the Olympics. That was the notion of performance in Greek modernity. As exciting as they were, the Olympics have come and gone. So what did the organizers leave for the future?
Believe it or not, that was the question with which the organizers began their project. They asked themselves what hosting the Olympics could leave behind for the community in the decades to come. Asking that question BEFORE starting the project is at the heart of sustainable development. Simply put, sustainable development is providing “enough, for all, forever”. What if those notions complemented our understanding of performance?
Here is an example of sustainable systems design that still runs today, long after the Olympics. An original concept using wastewater was developed to provide for a large part of the community’s energy needs. Consider the following: water is heated for showers and baths, toilet water stays at room temperature while it remains untouched and even boiling water goes down the pipes as we strain our pasta. In effect, this system captures the heat coming from wastewater and reroutes that heat to the village. Why did we not think of this before?
“In terms of managing wastewater, engineers have been working both
in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.” says Alice Nantel an urban hydrology engineer at BPR in Montreal. “Notably, in order preserve our natural watercourses from our polluted wastewater during strong rain falls, we are now optimizing the existing system and pushing the limits
of efficiency by controlling in real time the flow of water within the system. When it comes to effectiveness, water management is part
of a greater system that is the city. At that level, recuperating the heat from wastewater is a great example of how we are including sustainable design to create more effective urban development projects. Engineers are not the only ones improving the effective use of water. More and more citizens are reusing grey water and collecting rainwater to take care of their green spaces.”
If sustainable design leads to better performing water systems for cities, how can it help consumers and product manufacturers manage their impacts? The key to understanding the environmental impact of a product is to evaluate its full life cycle by studying its materials, fabrication, transport, use, and disposal. That implies having a holistic approach to avoid transferring the impacts to another phase. A classic case of transferring impacts would be to move from a gas powered car to an electric car. In such a case, the impact would not be coming from the green house gases when driving the electric car but from the coal plant creating the electricity used to move the car. This brings us to another notion to take into account when designing for sustainability: functional element. If you were to choose between a plastic water cup and a ceramic mug, you would have to factor in the amount of water contained versus the number of times the container would be used.
That ratio insures that we compare apples with apples. In other words, it would take 70 plastic cups to equate to the impact of one ceramic mug.
In creating Olympic villages, managing wastewater or designing consumer products, sustainable design has become a significant differentiation factor. In the end of it all, the Olympic organizers have shown that the notion of performance is redefined by taking into account the environment. Today “Higher, faster, stronger” also includes “smarter and forever”.