The 2012 London Olympics will be environmentally friendly - and will also benefit Irish construction companies, writes Brian O'Connell
When the announcement was made in July 2005 to award London the 2012 Olympics, organisers quickly tagged the games the "Green Olympics", putting out the idea that the London games would be the most environmentally sustainable in the history of the Olympic competition. Since 1994, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had given greater focus to the relationship between the games and the environment, and the sustainable programme London set out was seen by many as a large factor in its successful bid. Increasingly, the IOC is taking account of the environmental legacy of the games and regarding them not just as global sporting occasions, but also opportunities to revive whole communities and re-establish open spaces within host cities.
At the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, for example, more than 100,000 trees were planted, solar energy was used, second-hand buses ran on natural gas and collected and rainwater was collected and recycled for irrigation. The organisers even went so far as to recruit 400,000 worms to consume the leftovers from the employees' cafeteria. The worms were used to lower the cost of waste removal and treatment, while all leftover food became natural fertiliser.
The London bid was no less pioneering, and accompanied plans to revitalise whole areas of east London. The area where the Olympic Village will be located, the so-called Lower Lea Valley, will be developed as an environmental zone with its unique network of waterways and marshland. Presently, the area contains large tracts of derelict or contaminated land, but by the time of the Games' opening, it will be transformed into the biggest new park London has seen since Victorian times. The overall build costs of London 2012 could be anything up to £9 billion (€12.2bn), almost four times the original estimate, as construction costs continue to soar. And this is where Ireland comes in.
Many of the construction contracts on offer demand environmentally friendly approaches from bidders with a proven track record. The emphasis is on companies which can minimise waste, reduce pollution and lessen the impact on London's wildlife habitats. Organisers of the games have been quite upfront in their promotion of sustainable procurement and design practices. Almost as soon as the London announcement was made, Enterprise Ireland began working on the contracts and promoting the value of the games to Irish industry. Ireland's recent building boom has left us well placed to take on major infrastructural projects and, by early 2006, Enterprise Ireland's senior market adviser, Emanuel Carvalho, was on the case.
With more than 9,000 new homes to be built, Carvalho was tasked with promoting Ireland's strong portfolio of companies with environmental, construction and waste management background. Thus far, there have been a number of notable successes, with the Olympics offering companies a chance to enter the UK market at a uniquely high level.
"You have to remember that the building boom in Ireland has been intense," says Carvalho, "with over 90,000 new homes a year being built at one stage. That's essentially double the building activity that was occurring in the UK over the same period. There is no doubt that there have been massive strides in Ireland in that industry, in a shorter period of time than the UK. That fact has left Irish companies well placed in terms of winning contracts for London 2012." Indeed, had the Olympics not come along, Irish companies might have been paying greater attention to the UK market anyway, as the construction industry here slows down.
LONDON HAS MAJOR infrastructural projects right up to 2020, and, over the last few years, Enterprise Ireland has been making concerted efforts to focus attention on the UK market. "Aside from the Olympics, there are huge opportunities in the UK market at present," says Carvalho. "But the Olympics undoubtedly provide an exciting opportunity to make contacts through a global event. Any Irish companies that do get involved should benefit hugely from the exposure. The Olympics are helping drive some of our companies to look at the UK market and to see the possibilities that exist. The £9 billion [ €12.2bn] worth of business for the Olympics represents a mere hiccup of the overall construction market available, and Irish companies are well placed to bid, especially taking the environmental and sustainable factors into account."
Not everyone, though, is fully convinced that London 2012 will be the greenest and most sustainable Olympics yet. Darren Johnson, a green party member of the London Assembly, which addresses issues relevant to Londoners, says that when it comes to sustainability, the London games will be more bronze standard than gold. Johnson has a range of concerns, including the fact that while the Olympic village will be built to the same standards of energy conservation as all new developments in 2013, the stadium and pool will be built to lower standards.
"I am still concerned that the target of 20 per cent of energy coming from renewables lacks ambition," says Johnson, "especially as there is no mention of micro-renewables such as solar panels and heat pumps."
Johnson believes there are a range of environmental concerns which the Olympic organisers need to deal with. "We don't have a mechanism in place to ensure that food at the Olympics will be organic, seasonal, locally sourced and representative of London's ethnically diverse cuisines," he argues. "Instead of the athletes and officials travelling in cutting- edge, low emission vehicles, they can ride in the same cars that increasing numbers of Londoners are currently choosing."
ONE OF JOHNSON'S specific criticisms - that the wood being used in the builds needs to be sourced from 100 per cent sustainable sources - may work in the favour of Irish company Earthwood. Based in Mullingar, the company specialises in providing reclaimed and recycled wood composite products and has already secured a contract worth more than €500,000 from London 2012.
The company is hopeful of attracting several other major contracts once final tendering is complete. The business has been up and running for four years, and is the only provider of wood polymer composite (WPC) products in Ireland.
"Basically, what we do," says Earthwood's managing director Brian Fitzpatrick, "is to make products which contain 55 per cent reclaimed wood from sawmills, and 40 per cent of recycled plastic coming from milk cartons or shampoo bottles and that type of thing. We take both materials and compound them together into one product."
The product has caught the environmental eye of London 2012 project managers, and ticks all the right sustainable boxes.
The day after we speak, Fitzpatrick is flying to Dubai to hold contract talks about decking material for 40,000 new berths in a large-scale waterfront development in the Emirates. Buoyed with the success of the Olympics contract, the company can now move into new markets with confidence.
"At present, ours is the only composite product being proposed for London 2012," says Fitzpatrick, "Sustainability is the key factor. Sixty per cent of everything that will be built for London 2012 will be taken down again. The beauty with our product is that it can be reused and recycled afterward, unlike say hardwood, which is difficult to recycle."
Fitzpatrick says discussions are ongoing, but with 80 per cent of all products used in design builds for London 2012 having to come from renewable sources, the potential for the company is staggering.
ALSO SET TO benefit is Anord Control Systems, the first Irish company to secure a contract for London 2012 last November. The company specialises in low-voltage switchgear, motor control, process instrumentation and control solutions. While managing director Kevin Flanagan wouldn't be drawn on exact figures, he described the contract as "very significant". The company plans to expand its workforce in the New Year as a result.
"We are a company very much aware of our environmental and moral responsibilities and have a range of energy efficient solutions which fit with the London Games requirements," says Flanagan.
As well as having a strong environmental conscience, companies bidding for London 2012 contracts will also need an ability to meet deadlines. "The London Olympics represent an enormous opportunity for companies in Ireland who have a track record of delivering on time," says Flanagan, "Remember, there can be no slippage of deadlines on this project - the end date can't be moved."
At present, roughly half of Anord's business is in the UK. Like many other Irish companies, though, they expect this balance to tilt in favour of the UK market significantly in the coming years, with about 85 per cent of their business being conducted in the UK by 2012.
For many companies, the opportunities presented by London 2012 will continue to be realised long after the games have finished. It seems, in this instance, England's opportunity has the potential to become the Irish construction industry's saving grace.