Green Asian Games: Fully showcase the beautiful ecological environment, low-carbon environmental protection and sustainable development of Hangzhou. The concepts of “green”, “low carbon”, “energy saving” and “environmental protection” will be fully integrated into the process of organizing the Asian Games to hold a “resource-efficient and environment-friendly” Asian Games.

Outdoor sporting venues in Chun’an county, Hangzhou

“Green” is not only a highlight of the Hangzhou Asian Games Village, but also a key concept of running the Hangzhou Asian Games. Through green planning, green design and green construction, the Hangzhou Asian Games Village has executed the idea of “green” in every detail. Indeed, the Hangzhou Asian Games Village has recently been awarded the National Green Eco-City Planning Certificate, the first project in Zhejiang province to pass the national green ecological urban evaluation.

The Hangzhou Asian Games Village integrates green space with pedestrian roads, with various functional areas connected through circular greenways. In the very beginning, it was already decided that the principle of adapting measures to local conditions would be followed and the design of the village would be based on the climate, resources, environment, social as well as economic settings of the area where the village is located, so that the village could blend into the surrounding ecological environment.

To build the village, a large number of modern green technologies and materials have been adopted. During the construction, strict management plans were formulated and regular inspections were carried out so as to minimize its impact on the environment. Indeed, greeneries and sprinkler systems were put in place at the construction site to reduce the generation of dust.

Apart from “green”, “low carbon” is another key word of the Hangzhou Asian Games. In practice, how to make sure the venues and facilities are low-carbon, since carbon cannot be seen by naked eyes?

“What we need is a professional team with digital prowess to help us understand where carbon is coming from, how much is being emitted and what can be done to reduce it,” explained He Dehai, who is in charge of the swimming venues of the Hangzhou Asian Games. “The team will help us achieve precise carbon reduction in the process of venue construction, operation and post-games management.”

A team of 12 “zero-carbon” engineers, the first in the history of the Asian Games, was accordingly organized. How will these zero-carbon engineers serve the Asian Games? They will provide professional services for the 2022 Asian Games, including safety inspection, efficiency assessment, energy-saving renovation and smart energy monitoring of venue electricity consumption, to realize the goal of the first-ever “zero-carbon” Asian Games.

The main stadium and the tennis center of the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center

“Making full use of digital and smart solutions is what our team is good at,” said Ni Yang, one of the “zero-carbon” engineers. But how to find out the carbon emission of these venues and facilities, and, on the basis of the findings, issue a reasonable “carbon reduction diagnosis” for them? Ni Yang has already given such a “diagnosis” based on the “dual carbon brain” developed by State Grid Hangzhou Power Supply Company. “We use the ‘dual carbon brain’ and the ‘photovoltaic module’ to carry out assessment and planning of the venue area for photovoltaic potential and, based on the conditions of each venue, provide personalized photovoltaic scheme design to increase the proportion of clean electricity to realize zero-carbon emission for the Asian Games,” Ni introduced. “For the Asian Games Village area, we propose to invest and build a 140KW distributed photovoltaic power station in the community center, which will reduce carbon emissions by about 73.4 tons a year.”

The HAGOC prioritizes the use of new energy vehicles for its work and logistics support as well, and requires staff members choose means of transportation with low energy consumption and low carbon emissions wherever possible, for example, taking public transport, driving energy-saving and environmentally friendly cars, carpooling, riding bicycles and even walking. It also purchases carbon credits through professional institutions to offset the carbon emissions generated by travel.

In addition, human waste disposal, which may put pressure on the environment, is another major but hidden issue that should be dealt with properly. New technologies will be adopted during the Hangzhou Asian Games for the harmless treatment of the waste at the source and for its recycling. Meanwhile, it is estimated that more than 50 million kilowatt hours of “green electricity” — power generated by renewable energy — will be supplied to the 58 venues of the Asian Games and the Asian Games Village, equivalent to the reduction of coal consumption by 6,100 tons and carbon dioxide by 15,200 tons.

Editor: Huang Yan