Eurobond going for GOLD!

Simon Thomas our MD recently met up with Sebastian Coe to discuss the sustainable commitments for 2012, here he provides us with an insight into the planned developments.

We were recently invited to the ODA Headquarters for a private meeting with Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games.

Myself, Phil Cook (Managing Director Euroclad) and our corporate ambassador, Olympian Lynn Davies were privileged enough to be taken on a guided tour of the Olympic Park site, giving Lynn and Seb time to discuss years gone by and dispute which of them was the greater Olympian.

During our visit Sebastian Coe outlined the ODA’s plan for the 2012 Olympic Games, detailing the milestones that would provide the foundations for the delivery of new venues and infrastructure for the Olympic and Para Olympic Games and importantly the legacy beyond.

The delivery of these milestones on time and within budget is underpinned by five priority themes; Health & Safety, Sustainability, Design & Accessibility, Equality and Diversity & Legacy.

The proposed site will include an 80,000 capacity stadium, Olympic Village providing accommodation for thousands of athletes, shops, and restaurants along with medical and leisure facilities. The site is also scheduled to include a VeloPark, Aquatics Centre, Handball and Basketball arena, along with a Hockey centre and Eton Manor.

Visualising the venue in 2012 with the design features and site accessibility it is easy to see that London will provide a great spectacle and undoubtedly make us a proud nation.

Placing sustainability at the heart of the 2012 Games has enabled the 2012 Olympics to become a platform to highlight Global environmental issues and climate change.

London 2012 and London 2012 stakeholders share a commitment to maximise sustainability through every phase, starting with building the venues and infrastructure, staging the Games themselves and post Olympics. The materials used in the construction of the Olympic Park and venues are a key aspect of their commitment to delivering sustainable developments.

Here at Eurobond we manufacture a wide range of roof and wall cladding systems that offer low environmental impact helping to support the 2012 vision.

Our wall systems are manufactured using materials with a high recycled content, reducing the need for scarce raw virgin materials. Our steel has a recycled content of over 70% and the stone wool core can be up to 100% recycled material, supporting the ODA’s aim to ensure that at least 20 %, by value, of construction materials will be from a reused or recycled source.

With Eurobond Products, all manufacturing waste, site waste and demolition waste at the end of a building’s life can be recycled into new products. Steel can be separated and used to make new products with the stone wool core recycled back into the Rockwool plant for reuse. The technology and infrastructure to deliver this "Cradle to Cradle" approach is active now, unlike the alternatives offered by PIR panel manufactures.

Both Euroclad and Eurobond manufacturing facilities are close to our steel and stone wool suppliers in South Wales minimising embodied energy impact. Material can be delivered to London by rail to support the ODA’s climate change target of 50% transport by rail or water. The low carbon impact of Eurobond and Euroclad systems is demonstrated by independent Environmental product Declarations and listing in the BRE Green Guide.

Health of the construction workforce and future building occupants is important to the ODA and it prohibits the use of harmful substances such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The stone wool insulation used in all Eurobond and Euroclad products does not contain any VOCs. This is in contrast to wall and roof systems using foam plastic insulation which often incorporate the chemical blowing agent Pentane in their production, a classified VOC.

The lengths Sebastian Coe and his team are going to to ensure the sustainability of the Games is fantastic and hopefully these measures will encourage others to take the same considerations into account.