Ottawa Business Journal
When Ottawa's David Chernushenko says he's about to clean up the field at the Sydney Olympics in September he's not talking about winning gold in the marathon. His mission covers more ground than that. Chernushenko will be in Australia's largest city to ensure that every centimetre of the Olympics facilities complies with the environmental standards of one of the world's toughest sports judges the International Olympic Organizing Committee.
Chernushenko is president of Green and Gold, an Ottawa-based environmental company selected as the official environmental watchdog company for the Sydney 2000 Olympics. The Sydney Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (SOCOG) is the first committee in Olympic history to include an environmental charter in its bid. It is a tall order but SOCOG is determined to make its Olympics the cleanest in history. Chernushenko's job is to make sure it happens.
From the installation of solar panels on Olympic buildings to the preservation of frog habitat surrounding the Homebush Olympic stadium, Chernushenko will be there to report as to whether SOCOG has met its environmental objectives laid out in their original IOC bid for the Games. Green and Gold makes its reports to the Olympics Organizing Committee, an organization set up by the Australian Government to independently monitor the Games.
Green and Gold's work on the Olympics began long before the torch lighting September. The company won the contract to monitor the games environmental progress in 1996, the year Sydney was announced as the host city. Since then, Chernushenko has made three trips to Sydney to research and compile independent reports on the games' environmental progress. The company will conduct its fourth and final review during the Games.
Anna Van Der Kamp, Green and Gold's project director and the other half of the company's two full-time person team, said the Ottawa company didn't need to approach the IOC for the contract the IOC approached it.
Green and Gold is one of the only environmental consultants in the world to concentrate solely on sports events. Other companies consult on a wide variety of environmental projects not just sporting events.
"David and I are the only people we know of that make a full-time job of it," Van Der Kamp says.
Its charter is simple. Green and Gold helps sports organizations to come up with a "green" game plan. This, Green and Gold argues helps save money, protect athletes' health and reduce the environmental impact of constructing athletic facilities. Green and Gold's client list includes Nike Inc., the Toronto 2008 Olympic Bid and the International Water Ski Federation.
At $45,000, the Sydney 2000 contract was modest in monetary terms but big on prestige for an Ottawa company with two full-time staff members. The company also has a part-time bookkeeper and several associate contractors used on a needs basis.
The company has its work cut out for it. Green and Gold has monitored the protection of frog habitat and ensured that Olympic facilities comply with environmental standards. To conserve energy, SOCOG ordered the construction of the world's first solar-powered athletes village.
After the games, the state-of-the-art housing development will be sold off to become Sydney's newest suburb. Each home relies on solar energy for its electricity and hot water supply. Recycled materials have been used to build part of the Olympics infrastructure and Olympic facilities have been designed to minimise water and power consumption.
"What we have got out of this contract is an in-depth view of what happened in Sydney a specialized piece of knowledge the challenges and benefits of putting on a green Olympics," said Van Der Kamp. "Improving the environment also helps athletes. I would say the main issue for athletes is concerns for health if games organizers are concerned about the air quality if it's the marathon or some of the out door road races athletes will notice a difference if the air quality is poor."
Van Der Kamp should know. She was a silver medallist at the 1996 Olympics in rowing as a member of Canada's women's eight and a member of the National Rowing Team for several years.
Van Der Kamp said the concept for Green and Gold started with the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona. Chernushenko had worked with environmental consulting company Delphi Group to advise on cleaning up the games and decided to branch out on his own. Chernushenko consulted on environment issues for the Summer Olympic Lilihammer games in 1994. That was the first year that the International Olympic Organizing Committee insisted that the environment be included as the third pillar of the Olympic Games along with sports and culture.
"Evaluating the Sydney Olympics first-hand is as exciting an assignment as one could wish for," says Chernushenko. "Not just because this is the Olympics, the world's biggest event, but because Sydney organizers have been setting a whole new standard for incorporating sustainable development in the construction of new facilities and infrastructure, as well as the operation of the Games.""14264,0,"The Ottawa Business Journal
