Calgary, AB - November 24, 2009
The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games has awarded Dow Canada a “Sustainability Star” for its role in constructing energy-efficient venues for the 2010 Winter Games.
“Vancouver has a history of pushing the ‘green’ envelope when it comes to the built environment,” said Ann Duffy, VANOC’s corporate sustainability officer. “Winners of this award took inspiration in that legacy, and have demonstrated a measurable, positive impact on Vancouver’s social, economic and environmental wellbeing.”
Dow Canada is the Official Supplier of Insulation Materials for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and collaborated with architects and build-teams to paint the town “green.” Installed in most every part of the building envelopes- from the foundations and walls to the ice tracks and garden rooftops- Dow’s insulation products help reduce energy usage and CO2 emissions at several venues, including: Killarney Ice Rink, Richmond Olympic Oval, Olympic Village Vancouver, Olympic Village Whistler, UBC Thunderbird Arena, Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre, Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Centre, The Whistler Sliding Centre and Whistler Olympic/Paralympic Park. Many buildings are on track for LEED certification due, in part, to Dow’s insulation and air sealing solutions. The venues’ many garden rooftops and terraces help absorb greenhouse gas emissions and combat urban heat island effect.
“We are very proud to contribute to the overall sustainability of the 2010 Winter Games,” said Torsten Kraef, Business Group vice president, Dow Building and Construction. “At Dow, we take sustainability very seriously, and one of the most effective ways to help our environment is to reduce building energy usage through proper insulation. That’s an investment that will pay dividends to the Olympic Games now and to the Vancouver community for decades to come.”
Dow and Sustainability at the 2010 Winter Games
One example of how Dow insulation products are contributing to the overall sustainability of the 2010 Winter Games is the STYROFOAM™ Brand XPS Foam Insulation installed beneath the Richmond Olympic Oval. It not only helps to maintain a uniform ice temperature, but also helps minimize the energy costs required to do so. And by safeguarding the structural cement slab below the ice assembly from frost penetration, the protective insulation layer improves the ice rink’s longevity.
“It’s not enough to use sustainable materials in a design. They have to do their job today and well into the future,” says Mike McGaugh, general manager for Dow Building Solutions, North America. “If not, they’ll end up in a landfill, wasting energy and resources on a premature replacement. For Dow, sustainability goes hand in hand with lasting performance.”
Dow’s support of the 2010 Winter Games is one way of achieving its 2015 Sustainability Goals. These Goals include improving energy efficiency, contributing to community success, addressing climate change and providing solutions to world challenges through sustainable chemistry. Recent innovations for the built environment include:
- Development of a new, zero-ozone depleting, no-VOC foaming agent technology for producing STYROFOAM Brand XPS Foam Insulation. Plant conversions are on schedule to be completed in advance of the 2010 deadline set forth by the Montreal Protocol.
- Life Cycle Assessment of STYROFOAM™ Brand Insulation to demonstrate the net environmental benefit of the product’s existence, from manufacture to disposal/recycle.
About Dow Canada
Dow Chemical Canada ULC, a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, employs approximately 1,000 people in Canada. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Dow Canada and its affiliates have manufacturing locations in: Sarnia and Toronto, Ontario; Fort Saskatchewan and Prentiss, Alberta; and Varennes, Quebec. For more information about Dow Canada, please visit our web site at www.dowcanada.com.
About Dow
For Editorial Information:
Jan McKinnon
The Dow Chemical Company
(519) 541-0336
Marissa Peterson
Gibbs & Soell
(212) 697-2600
mpeterson@gibbs-soell.com