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Written by Richard
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Sunday, 14 February 2010 19:52 |
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 Vancouver's stated aim is to become the greenest city in North America, and this aim has been applied to some of the developments for the Olympics. After winning the right to host the games in 2003, an existing project to provide green sustainable housing at Southeast False Creek was accelerated to provide the Olympic Village.
The site chosen was an old shipyard, hence on a reclaimed brownfield site rather than a new greenfield one. In addition to the chosen land, there are several green and sustainable attributes to the project:
- LEED Gold and Platinum certification.
- Low-rise neighbourhoods designed for more communal living.
- Mix of market and social housing.
LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is set of guidelines to which buildings can be designed so that they use less energy and have a lower environmental footprint. Some of the initiatives taken for the False Creek project include: vegetation covering 50% of the roof-space, using rainwater to flush toilets, natural storm-water management, triple-glazed windows and neighbourhood heat sourcing.
To provide a better quality of life for the residents, 60% of the ground space of the project is high-quality open space based upon the concept of the woonerf. A woonerf is a mixed use street where pedestrians, cars and children intermingle. This will help create a more communal feel amongst the inhabitants.
After the Olympic and Para-Olymplic games the complex will be handed over to Vancouver council who will have the task of finding people to live in False Creek. Most of the complex will be dedicated to market rate housing, but up to 350 units will be available as social housing to those the council feel are in need.
The Olympic Village is breaking new ground both for the city of Vancouver and North America in designing urban neighbourhoods. Many people will be watching with interest to see how successful False Creek becomes as a neighbourhood. It is entirely possible that the Olympic games has enabled a new pattern of green and sustainable home construction to be developed that can be replicated across North America.
For more information visit: grist.org and vancouver.ca/olympicvillage
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjmilloy/4308338962 and http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecstaticist/3761366030
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Last Updated on Sunday, 14 February 2010 21:15 |
