2016 Olympic Bid by Chicago Focuses on Green Games

2016 Olympic Bid by Chicago Focuses on Green Games

Feb, 2008  - Chicago's bid for the 2016 
Summer Olympic Games makes the environment an integral part of its 
proposal. Mayor Richard Daley said, "Our plan involves the entire city, 
focuses on athletes and leaves a lasting legacy for our young people 
through sport, culture, education and the environment." 
"We are looking forward to the international process to showcase the 
spirit, energy and commitment that Chicago can offer to further strengthen 
the Olympic Movement here in the United States and around the world," the 
mayor said. 
The first step was using 100 percent soy ink on Neenah's Environment 100 
percent post-consumer recycled fiber to print Chicago's Application File, 
called a mini-bid book or questionnaire, which was handed to the 
International Olympic Committee, IOC, on January 14. 
The carbon emissions associated with printing and distribution of the 
mini-bid were offset with carbon credits purchased on the Chicago Climate 
Exchange. 
Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, known as Chicago 2016, 
donated 100 copies of the mini-bid book to Chicago Public Libraries where 
they were released for public viewing on Monday. 
Doug Arnot, senior vice president of Venues and Games Operations for 
Chicago 2016, said, "With the worldwide need for environmental 
preservation, Chicago 2016 has made building a green Games an essential 
priority." 
"Mayor Daley has worked to improve the sustainability of our city over the 
past two decades, and now the questionnaire, which was printed using an 
entirely green process as a symbolic gesture, demonstrates to the IOC the 
steps we are willing to take to ensure an environmentally friendly games," 
said Arnot. 
Chicago is competing with six other cities for the 2016 Summer Games - 
Baku, Azerbaijan; Doha, Qatar; Madrid, Spain; Prague, Czech Republic; Rio 
de Janeiro, Brazil; and Tokyo, Japan. 
The winner will be announced on October 2, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Chicago 2016's Olympic Village design takes advantage of Chicago's 
lakefront park system and centers the athletes in the heart of the city. 
The Olympic Village would be surrounded by 19 sports venues, and 91 
percent of the athletes will be within 15 minutes of their competition 
venues. Only five permanent competition venues have to be built. 
In its mini-bid, Chicago 2016 emphasizes that Chicago's air quality 
exceeds all but one of the U.S. national standards and full compliance is 
anticipated before 2016. The city's water quality exceeds all U.S. 
standards. 
The application showcases Chicago's commitment to achieve reductions in 
greenhouse gases in line with the Kyoto Protocol, which requires a cut of 
5.2 percent in a basket of six gases relative to 1990 levels. 
Mayor Daley has championed a variety of green initiatives and the mini-bid 
lists them - the development of Millennium Park, built on a deck over 
railroad tracks; brownfield remediation; the Leadership in Energy and 
Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum rated Center for Green Technology; a 
Green Business Strategy and Green Construction Permit Program; a green 
roof effort, with more than 300 gardens and green roofs constructed to 
date in the city, covering 37.2 hectares on public and private buildings; 
a major tree planting program, with 500,000 new trees to date; and the 
reclamation and conversion of the downtown airport into Northerly Island 
Park, now a planned Olympic venue site and nature preserve. 
And Mayor Daley recently appointed a chief environmental officer, Sadhu 
Johnston, the first cabinet-level environmental officer in a U.S. city, to 
oversee Chicago's sustainability programs, the mini-bid emphasizes. 
In its application, Chicago 2016 pledges to extend the city's ongoing 
policies and programs, adopt best practices from current Olympic Games, 
consult with nongovernmental organizations and other stakeholders and 
integrate the principles of the IOC's Agenda 21 into a "state-of-the-art 
environmental management system." 
Chicago 2016 has committed to staging a carbon neutral Olympic Games that 
will serve as a catalyst for long-term environmental legacies, such as the 
introduction of new sustainable technologies and programs to promote mass 
transit. 
To read the Chicago 2016 mini-bid book online, click here. 

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