Date of the report
July 2013
Author of the report
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Purpose of the report
The vision for London 2012 was to hold the greenest games in modern times, an aspiration which was delivered above and beyond expectations. With this in mind the report aims to highlight both the lessons learnt and the successful sustainability practices used so effectively during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. The purpose was to build upon the sustainability legacy of the games in order to replicate these lessons for the benefit of the UK as a whole, now and in the future. The report highlights key instruction on the procurement of sustainable buildings and infrastructure. The Olympic Delivery Authority published their Sustainable Development Strategy a year after winning the bid for the games. It was intended to act as a catalyst for industry to deliver improvements in economic, social and environmental sustainability with the hope that these lessons would be spread across the UK. The report now looks to local authorities to deliver growth in a sustainable way using the framework highlighted in the report.
Relevance to the region
The sustainability lessons highlighted in this report are of course as relevant for the West Midlands as a region, as they are for the UK as a whole. They are however particularly prevalent for the region at present due to the huge redevelopment projects currently being undertaken. Birmingham’s New Street station is just one of the large scale projects embracing many of the key aspects used in the building of the Olympic venues, including the use of responsibly sourced materials.
What SWM liked
Sustainability West Midlands is very proud to be associated with the innovative and significant work which took place during the planning and construction of London 2012. SWM chair Peter Braithwaite played an instrumental part in sustainability development in his role as Head of sustainability for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Working for CH2M HILL during the development of the games, Peter was responsible for delivering energy, waste, water, materials, biodiversity and sustainability targets.
Downloads
Sustainable Procurement For Construction Projects(pdf)
