The Olympic Games aren’t just a collection of the greatest athletes on earth. They are a building, construction, and infrastructure undertaking of massive scale and expense.
Before the games begin, countries and cities embark on a multibillion-dollar endeavor to ensure that buildings are erected, transportation networks are expanded, and public services are scaled up to meet the demand of millions of visitors. How these projects – and others associated with readying the city to host the Olympics – are completed has enormous implications for a host city after the games conclude and the visitors have gone home.
They will either make the city more sustainable, more affordable, and more resilient. Or, leave it entrenched in outdated, inefficient buildings, financially burdened and vulnerable to rapid obsolescence.
Unfortunately in Olympic history, many cities fail to make long-term sustainability an outcome of their infrastructure initiatives. The journal Nature reports that “the overall sustainability of the Olympic Games is medium,” and it has actually declined over time.
Los Angeles, the host of the 2028 Summer Olympics, seeks to change the narrative, implementing the infrastructure that will positively impact the city's long-term urban development. It’s easier said than done, but it’s a priority that planners, developers, builders, and community leaders can’t afford to ignore.
The built environment, the human-made structures, spaces, and systems that form the physical setting for human activity, has an enormous environmental impact.
According to one estimate, the built environment is responsible for 42 percent of global CO2 emissions. A separate analysis found that the built environment produces 14.4 metric gigatons of CO2 emissions globally.
Construction is a significant culprit in climate change, and past Olympic infrastructure projects have received abundant criticism over their scale, expense, and environmental impact.
For instance, Los Angeles is allocating $1.4 billion to 28 major transportation and infrastructure projects throughout Los Angeles County in a project dubbed “Twenty-Eight by ‘28.” Along the way, the projects’ designers and managers will face real challenges to create a truly sustainable Olympic infrastructure that addresses the city's existing hurdles and future opportunities, including:
Addressing these challenges requires more than commitment and vision. It demands a strategic approach to building sustainable infrastructure from day one.
Under the appropriate tagline, “Creating What’s Next,” city and Olympics planners have the next three and a half years to ensure the infrastructure investments made for the LA28 Olympics leave a lasting legacy of sustainability and resilience.
Here’s how they can make that possible.
Sustainability should be embedded in the DNA of every project, from the initial planning stages to the final execution. This requires setting ambitious sustainability goals, conducting thorough environmental impact assessments, and integrating sustainable design principles into every aspect of the project. And then consistently communicating these goals through the entire build timeline and across teams.
Planners will need to account for the entire project lifecycle, from material sourcing and construction to operation and eventual decommissioning. Software tools play a pivotal role in facilitating this process.
Using life cycle assessment (LCA) software, which evaluates the environmental footprint of different materials and construction methods, empowers decision-makers to choose options that minimize carbon emissions and resource depletion.
Not all cities have the existing infrastructure to host the expansive housing and athletic requirements of the Olympics. For example, the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games required eight new permanent venues and 10 temporary facilities to account for all events.
Setting the tone for a better way forward and new standards in sustainability, the recent 2024 Paris Olympic Games repurposed iconic venues like the Stade de France, the Grand Palais, and even the Eiffel Tower for various events. This not only minimized environmental impact but also saved construction costs and created a useful blueprint for LA28 organizers
With its array of stadiums, arenas, and convention centers, Los Angeles will follow suit with a no-new-build plan, saving financial and environmental resources (Figure 2). According to Casey Wasserman, LA28 Chairperson, “... [using] existing venues, wherever they are, rather than building new permanent or temporary stadiums, achieves more than $150 million in savings…”
Redesigned buildings and infrastructure must maximize flexibility and adaptability to extend their lifespan and enhance their resilience to climate change and other challenges. But even post-design, during the construction phases, refit designs need to allow some flexibility so more sustainable materials can be integrated or adapted if possible as the project progresses.
Using software to help ensure sustainability goals are consistently monitored and optimized is a critical means to refitting sustainably.
Providing cloud-based, easy-to-read dashboards and sharable reports to keep all stakeholders constantly aware of goal progress are now basic table stakes for projects that prioritize sustainability. This near real-time monitoring of progress toward sustainability goals allows for faster response to changes and opportunities as they arise.
LA28 organizers recently announced Autodesk is the official Design And Make Platform used to connect teams and effectively plan and manage the $1 billion temporary overlay and construction plan. It’s an important role and Autodesk powered with AI and process automation will help teams realize efficiencies and develop better design solutions with lower environmental impacts.
California’s legislature isn’t waiting for planners, developers, and builders to identify environmental best practices on their own.
The Buy Clean California Act (BCCA) legislation mandates the use of construction materials with lower carbon emissions in public projects. This law requires the state to factor in the global warming potential (GWP) of key construction materials, such as steel, glass, and insulation when selecting suppliers.
These guidelines set the standard for LA28 as it selects materials, implements building processes, and accounts for the long-term environmental impact of each project.
While technological advancements and regulatory frameworks help achieve environmental sustainability, developers, planners, and builders can’t ignore the human element. Put differently, sustainable buildings and infrastructure should promote the health, well-being, and productivity of their occupants.
This might include adding walking and biking paths, using biophilic designs that incorporate natural elements into the built environment, and ensuring access to daylight and outdoor spaces.
LA28 isn’t just about the Olympic Games. It’s about creating spaces for people to live, work, and play in ways that enhance their quality of life long after the closing ceremony.
There are many digital tools that can make the process of designing, developing, and maintaining environmentally-friendly infrastructure more possible.
Specifically, software solutions can unify teams, aid in the assessment of existing buildings, identify opportunities for energy-efficient retrofits, and simulate the performance of different design options.
This includes:
To be sure, technology alone won’t make LA28 an environmentally friendly process with long-term sustainability outcomes. However, it can make the process more possible, elevating efficiency and impact during the building process and beyond.
Infrastructure doesn’t just influence today’s environmental outcomes. The built environment lasts for decades and has repercussions that reverberate for generations.
Fans and Olympic athletes will quickly breeze through Los Angeles in 2028 and take their memories and medals back home. However, the city's choices leading up to the games will impact Los Angeles, for better or worse, and its nearly four million residents for many decades to come.
As construction efforts ramp up in earnest this year, LA28 organizers are saying all the right things, prioritizing sustainability, adaptive reuse, and flexible design. However, the eventual impacts will be decided by the thousands of thoughtful decisions made on the computer and by contractors and subs across the job sites. By ensuring close attention to accountability, utilizing the right software, and baking sustainability into the entire work culture, LA can demonstrate authentic urban development leadership and inspire other cities worldwide to follow suit.
Tommy Linstroth is the Founder and CEO of Green Badger, a leading SaaS provider simplifying sustainability and ESG in the built industry. Green Badger is accelerating environmentally responsible construction worldwide by equipping the built industry with affordable technology and the knowledge to automate and easily report LEED compliance and ESG metrics. Pairing the most comprehensive user-friendly software with powerful data analytics and industry-leading customer support, Green Badger saves project teams hundreds of hours per project and helps ensure sustainability goals are met. For more information, visit www.getgreenbadger.com.
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