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London 2012 Olympic Games and Sustainable Procurement

The London Olympics has committed to strict sustainability standards during the build of the Olympic Park and has worked closely with its suppliers to ensure that all materials used deliver positive environmental impacts. A great example of this commitment has been the concrete sourced for the build of the Olympic Park.

Peter Bonfield, the Olympic Delivery Authority's advisor on materials procurement explains. "Regularly we're told by suppliers that it's best they get involved early on in a project, so we started consulting with them nearly 12 months before we actually commissioned a final supplier. They were able to give us their views on how best to manage logistics and risk and how to deliver on sustainability."

Delivering sustainability became a key differentiator between the tenders submitted from the five suppliers. The winning bidder from Aggregate Industries was selected because they had paid attention to reducing the embodied carbon content by supplying concrete mixes that used higher proportions of recycled materials and delivering to site by rail rather than road.

Mr Bonfield says that what makes the Olympics project different is that the use of alternatives has been specifically encouraged. "Having gone through the procurement strategy, the next step was to embed all these mixes in the designs. Because we've used these lower-carbon mixes, we've managed to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating for all our venues."

This impressive rating has been achieved because by weight, around 22.2% of the aggregate used in the concrete on site has come from recycled aggregate and it is estimated that this has resulted in a carbon reduction of around 35%. Part of this reduction has been achieved because the majority of the concrete delivered on site has been done so by rail: around 94.6% in all.

Mr Bonfield concludes, "We've shown that a supply chain, if given the chance, can deliver lower-carbon construction. The opportunity now is to deliver this carbon reduction outcome at a larger scale. We know from the prequalification process, where firms were tendering low-carbon mixes, that there are other major suppliers who can offer similar products. This will be a part of our legacy."

For more information on the sustainability of the London 2012 Olympic Games, please click here.

Extract taken from an article by James Boley "Stratford's Concrete Legacy" that appeared on page 33 of Construction News, published on 30 September 2010

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London 2012 Olympic Games and Sustainable Procurement

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