Sustainable design of Glasgow's 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes' Village

Glasgow will be hosting the Commonwealth Games in thesummer of 2014. It is the first major event that will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, and therefore is entitled to a great deal of significance. It is approximated that around 6500 athletes will be taking part in the event, and almost 1 million spectators will be attending the Commonwealth Games. To house the athletes that will be participating in the Commonwealth Games 2014, an Athletes' Village is being constructed in Glasgow. Sustainability of buildings is a major issue that needs to be addressed every time a mega construction project (like the Athletes' Village) is undertaken.

The purpose of this report is to look into the project of the construction of Athletes' Village with respect to the recommendations of the Code for Sustainable Homes, which aims at constructing buildings that are carbon critical. Other issues that will be discussed as a part of this report with relevance to minimum carbon dioxide emission and sustainability include the demand and supply of water along with its drainage, the use and allocation of resources, the behavioral changes and the biodiversity of Glasgow. The approach that needs to be adopted pertaining to the issues along with the areas of uncertainty will briefly be discussed in this report.

The project goes on to show that Level 4 of CSH will be achieved at the time of the construction of Athletes' Village in 2014. Moreover, the Code Level that needs to be achieved by 2016 is Level 6. The latter Level implies 'zero carbon home', as for the former Level the percentage improvement over Target Emission Rate as determined by the Building Regulation Standards of 2006 is 44%. The recommendations for the achievement of the CSH Code Level 6, as well as Level 4 will also be briefly discussed in this report.

Introduction

The Athletes' Village for Commonwealth Games 2014 will be constructed on a 50 acre site, which is a rundown piece of land, surrounded by the River Clyde, London Road, Dalmarnock Road and Springfield Road. The project has revealed that the Athletes Village will have 758 houses and flats, along with a 120 bed care building. It will not be wrong to say that when this new community is developed, it will have the potential to transform the eastern region of Glasgow. The aspect of the Games that cannot be overlooked is sustainability, since it is crucial to the construction of the Athletes Village and to the Commonwealth Games. It is important to note that all the stakeholders of the Commonwealth Games need to act responsibly during the entire course of the event, and therefore it needs to be made sure that the management and those involved in the construction project act in the most beneficial way for the environment, which is economical and also the way that will prove to be of great interest for the local people and the local environment of Glasgow in the long-term (Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Sustainable Plan, 2010).

The project of construction of the Athletes Village has revealed that since the main purpose of the Games is to make sure that the event promotes 'green' in the region. It should be noted here that the latest and innovative ideas will be used in order to reduce carbon in the construction of the Athletes Village, and this approach will prove to a strong indicator of Glasgow's movement to address the climate change. It was stated in the Sustainability Conference that was conducted to discuss the sustainability issues with respect to the construction of the Athletes Village that the Commonwealth Games will have such a beneficial impact on the environment that it will leave a sustainable legacy, which will include improving air and land quality with the perfect blend of innovative and latest approaches to make use of recycling and energy sources (Communities and Local Government, 2006).

Background

Since the emission of carbon dioxide is considered to be the main cause of significant environmental changes that are affecting the environment, the Code for Sustainable Homes has been introduced in order to bring about a significant change in the sector is sustainable construction of buildings. This code provides the engineers and builders with a standard including al key elements involved in design and construction of a building that is sustainable. Moreover, it is also expected that this code will turn out to be the basis for the Building Regulations in relevance with carbon emissions from, and energy used in building and maintaining homes and other buildings. There are some categories that are assessed as a part of this Code in order to measure the sustainability of a building. The design categories with respect to building regulations include energy/Carbon Dioxide, water, minerals, pollution, materials, surface water run-off, waste, health and well-being, management and ecology. The aforementioned categories have also been assessed and analyzed in relation to the construction of the Athletes' Village and will be described in detail in the subsequent sections of this report.

The rating system has been presentedaspart of the Code, which is indicated by using stars that range from one to six, depending upon the extent of the achievement of standards set by the Code. One star means that the design and construction are above the level of the Building of Regulations, but entry level, meanwhile six starts reflect the highest level of performance of Code standards. The aim of the project of construction of Athletes Village for the year 2014 is to achieve at least 4 stars, meaning that the project will come at Code Level 4. This implies that the percentage of improved emission of carbon dioxide (reflecting energy conservation) is going to be 44%, for which the project and the building design will be awarded 9.4 points. As for 2016, it is expected that the Code Level 6 will be achieved implying a 'zero' carbon home and total points awarded for energy conservation would be 17.6.

Literature Review

Once the Commonwealth Games 2014 star, the Athletes' Village will prove to be an ideal attraction for the participants of the event since they will be provided with an opportunity to relax and enjoy the semi-rural environment of Glasgow. The accommodation that shall be provided to them would be constructed with sustainable materials that will first be rated under the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Management (BREEAM) Code for Sustainable Homes, when the construction is completed. It is should be noted here that the measurement and rating for green buildings is a voluntary service that is being used to bring about the change in the trend of construction and sustainable designing of homes, as well as other buildings (Glasgow Architecture, 2010).

Some of the categories that were mentioned at the beginning of this paper shall be briefly discussed in relation to the approaches that need to be adopted to make the construction of Athletes' Village as sustainable as possible. It is noteworthy here that the main purpose of this report is to identify and highlight the categories that are considered for the measuring the sustainability according to the Code. These categories will be touched upon in this part of the paper.

Biodiversity

It is important for us to note here that the main purpose of making the construction of a building sustainable is to make sure that the environment of the region is preserved. Along with carbon dioxide emission, the maintenance of biodiversity is extremely important since it is required to maintain the ecological value of the region. The main aim of this report is to target biodiversity as one of the main issues with respect to the sustainable construction of the Athletes' Village. The first objective of the proposal is to assess and analyze the Biogeography of the Glasgow Village, where the construction will be taking place. Needless to say, every place has its own original habitat that needs to be preserved. Habitat fragmentation implies that the species are divided into smaller groups so that habitat loss can be avoided to the maximum. The approach that has been included in the project proposal with respect to the maintenance of biodiversity in the region includes the use of the civic space to make open plains. This way the biodiversity value of amenity can be increased. The strategy also includes the creation of meadows in residential amenity space and greening of the public space. This approach is also quite feasible economically since the meadows will be developed through rain gardens. Artificial watering and irrigation will not be required, which makes it quite cost effective. It should be noted here that the development of open meadows and rain gardens can greatly help in the reduction carbon dioxide emission.

Another plan that has been included in the project proposal is the Biodiversity Action Plan, also referred to as BAP. The continued management of parks as well as semi-natural areas within the urban community for biodiversity comes under this plan. Apart from this, the improvement of ecological connection along core corridors that includes road, rail and river networks is also a part of the Biodiversity Action Plan. The Biodiversity Action Plan needs to be implemented to achieve the Code Level of 6 by 2016.

The uncertain area pertaining to this approach is the reaction of the local community. This implies that it cannot be said if the people of the area will be willing for the development of open meadows within the community.

Local Infrastructure

Especially attention has to be paid towards the local infrastructure since it can have serious consequences if not dealt with sensibly, on the environment. Electric team buses will be provided so as to minimize the number of vehicles that are used for transportation. The more the number of vehicles is on the road, the more energy will be used and more carbon dioxide will be emitted in the atmosphere. The Dalmarnock Station will be reconstructed in such a way, keeping in view the sustainable standards, which the local people can make use of it once the Games are over. The Code needs to be used efficiently for the reconstruction of the public transport, so that reconstruction is not required over and over again after the Games are over, and it is being used by the local population. There are some uncertain areas pertaining to the local infrastructure and the reconstruction of the rail tracks and other stations. One of the uncertain issues that need to be addressed is that whether or not this reconstruction will be cost effective since it needs to be analyzed if the number of local residents coincides with the accommodation of the new transport system. The reason why this area is uncertain is that the number of expected spectators and athletes is being kept in mind while considering reconstruction and local infrastructure.

Energy

Energy and carbon dioxide emission are the most important categories with respect to the Code for Sustainable Homes. Since the aforementioned factors are dependent on each other, they are considered to be one category. The importance of this category cannot be underestimated since the percentage of carbon dioxide emission reflects the sustainability of a construction project, in this case the Athletes' Village. The approach that will be used to make the construction of the Athletes' Village is a sustainable is to make use of the renewable energy sources. The use of solar panels and that of wind energy has been recommended by the Code and is included in the proposal of the project. The estimated power demand of the Athletes' Village is about 31.5 GWh. This suggests that use of fossil fuel is not enough, and other sources need to be used. As for the solar energy, the initial cost will be 6.3 million pounds, which is many-fold greater than the cost of fossil fuel. However, 1902 tons of carbon dioxide can be prevented from being emitted in the air. Also, this energy will become profitable in 13 years, which is as of now uncertain since factors that determine the efficacy can change in such a long period of time. The use of wind power and biomass is also recommended meeting the energy requirement. It is high yield to note here that the initial cost of wind energy is 5.5 million, and the payback is expected in 14 years. It will not be wrong to say that the cost-benefit analysis as of now will not support these approaches; however, they have an extremely positive affect on the environment since the amount of carbon dioxide emitted can be tremendously decreased by these approaches.

Water

The demand and supply of water and the use of the reclaimed water, all are considered important with respect to the Code Levels. The water supply will be attained from the River Clyde, and it is recommended that low flow fixtures are used so that water is conserved. It should be noted here that the reclaimed water can be used for sanitation and irrigation purposes later on. The uncertain area in this category is that the demand and supply of water are dependent upon personal habits of individuals. This suggests that there should be an urge among all the athletes, spectators and local residents to conserve the water and not use it excessively so that it does not get wasted. In order to provide attenuation, the sustainable urban drainage system also needs to be installed.

Building Material

A great amount of energy is wasted when the buildings are not well insulated. This is the main reason why especially attention has been given to the selection of building material. Structural insulated panel system (SIPS) has been included in the proposal since it has outstanding thermal properties. The CSH Level that has been awarded to this system is Level 6, which implies that 64.9 credits are awarded to this system. SIPS is also associated with decreased carbon dioxide production embodiment and build time. This implies that the construction cost will also be decreased, and the games schedule will also be met by making use of SIPS.

Waste

Site Waste Management Plan has been included in the proposal of this project. It should be noted that 3 credits are given when SWMP is implemented, according to the Code. However, the behavior of the community and that of the athletes and spectators is important in ensuring that things are properly recycled and reclaimed to conserve maximum energy.

Community

One of the issues that will hold significance in the sustainable construction of the Athletes' Village and even after the construction has been completed is that of the behavioral changes within the community. The awareness among the community about the Code for Sustainable Homes and the target of level 4 that needs to be achieved by 2014, and that of level 6 by 2016 needs to be created. Once the construction of the Athletes' Village is complete, and the Commonwealth Games have started, the community of Glasgow has to be involved in the 'Green Incentive'. This suggests that there are certain behavioral changes that will have to be adopted so that the emission of carbon dioxide is decreased. One of such adaptations would be the maximum use of public transport so as to reduce air pollution and conserve energy. However, it cannot be said as to how many people would be willing to give up their own transport for the sake of decreased carbon dioxide emission.

Conclusion