The Richmond Olympic Oval is more than simply the city’s crown jewel. The massive 33,750-square-metre building, facing the middle arm of the Fraser River, is as environmentally-friendly as it is eye-catching.

From the concept stage, the oval was designed with a vision for the future. Flexibility permits it to house a 400-metre ice track that will host long-track speed skating for the 2010 Winter Games, or to be transformed into a multi-sport and wellness facility—a look it will sport post-Olympics.

The building’s high profile also increases the visibility and benefits of going green. The city-owned facility, constructed at a cost of $178 million, is designed to meet leading-edge high-performance building standards.

It boasts a silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating. Usually these standards are applied only to residential or office developments, but despite the added up-front challenges, Richmond expects to not only enjoy direct environmental and social benefits but also significant operating cost savings over the lifespan of the building, said Greg Scott, Richmond’s director of major projects. A $110 million provincial and federal legacy trust fund will help support post-Games operating costs.

Ironically, making ice will help reduce long-term maintenance costs. The energy efficiency measures are being realized from the giant refrigeration plant (equivalent to six international hockey rinks).

“To create ice, you need to transfer heat energy out of water,” said Scott. “In the Richmond Olympic Oval, however, we are capturing some of this extra heat energy and using it elsewhere in the building.”

The energy is captured in heat exchangers and then converted to warm the building, thus reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.

Air quality, which has become a major concern in rinks throughout the region, was also addressed. Aran Kay, communications coordinator at the Richmond Olympic Oval, said the electric Zambonis (ice cleaning machines) “don’t put any fumes back into the building.”

The oval roof, one of the most striking features of the building, is also an example of environmental sustainability. Constructed of salvaged pine-beetle-kill wood, the 100-by-200-metre roof (equivalent to 6.5 acres) is the largest surface to ever make use of the once-discarded wood. Its successful use has demonstrated that not only is it an attractive material, but it has helped mitigate some of the economic impacts being felt by B.C.’s major mountain pine beetle epidemic, which has reportedly resulted in the loss of one-third of the entire pine forest throughout the province.

“Certainly the oval has been a model in its use of the pine-beetle wood and orders for that type of roof have gone way up,” said Kay. “It’s a great sign for the B.C. forest industry.”

Rainwater is collected from the roof and used to help address the oval’s water needs and reduce demands on centralized drinking water supplies. The water is also used to supplement toilet flushing, while the remainder is directed into a picturesque pond that serves as a water supply for irrigating the surrounding trees and landscaping of the community gathering space.

Further, the storm water collection system incorporates public art, created by internationally-acclaimed Musqueam artist Susan Point.

Timber used in the building’s finishings came from trees that had been felled on the site to accommodate the building. All of the team benches in the oval are made from this wood.

Cuttings were also taken from oak trees planted on the site when the area belonged to Richmond pioneer Samuel Brighouse. They are being planted along the site’s new Samuel Brighouse Heritage Boulevard.

Going green doesn’t end there. Other efforts to help the environment include placing the building back from the Fraser River foreshore, preserving trees along Hollybridge Canal, diverting recyclable construction materials away from the landfill and using healthier building materials such as wood laminants and sealants. The city is also committed to enhancing the intertidal marsh along the foreshore adjacent the oval, strengthening the existing estuary. The pond that collects rainfall water will also act as a natural water purifier.

“Given the current state of our natural resources upon which we and future communities depend, we need to move in a direction which is restorative and replenishes ecological health,” said Margot Daykin, the city’s sustainability manager.

The oval is also a model for multi-purpose buildings of the future, said Kay.

“We haven’t built a white elephant, but the key centrepiece to a neighbourhood that will also help the surrounding region gain more access to a healthy, active lifestyle,” he said.

Kay said the oval will look much different after next February’s Olympic Games—starting with the field of play.

“The ice (in the configuration of a speed skating oval) will come out, although we’ll always have the ability to put it back in,” he said. “We’ll have a ton of flexibility. We can have two international-sized hockey rinks, or if we take the boards out a giant ice sheet for figure skating or carnivals. We’ll also have hardwood in the middle which we can expand to six or eight courts for multiple basketball games or for volleyball, indoor soccer or badminton.”

Plans are also afoot for a sprinting track and a baseball institute featuring a batting cage and pitching mounds. The fitness centre, on the third floor, will triple in size. It will be take up the entire length of the oval and will feature more specialized equipment.

“Post-Games, we also plan to transform an area into a sport medicine and health and wellness centre, featuring physiotherapists and massage therapists,” Kay said.

The Richmond Olympic Oval is one of 272 projects on this year’s short list for the 2009 World Architecture Festival Awards’ building of the year award. It will be presented Nov. 2 to 4 in Barcelona, Spain. The oval has already earned several honours, including the Innovation in Architecture Award of Excellence from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the Institutional Design Award from the BC Wood WORKS!/Canadian Wood Council, the Green Building Practices Award from the Globe Foundation and World Green Building Council and the Sustainability Star from the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. It has also been shortlisted for the Best of Canada Award by Canadian Interiors Magazine and both the Sports or Leisure Award and Sustainability Award by the Institute of Structural Engineers.

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Oval facts

•Tours (45 minutes) are offered at 1 p.m. daily Tuesdays through Saturdays. They are limited to 20 persons and are given on a first come basis.

•Honouring Richmond’s fishing heritage, the “red nets” are two ephemeral sculptures (sky lanterns) up to 18.2 metres (60 feet) in diameter and 21.3 metres (70 feet) tall made of steel rings and flexible nets that change shape over time with the play of wind.

•Close to one million board feet of primarily pine beetle lumber was used to build the oval roof which is 6.5 acres in size.

•Four jumbo jets can park wingtip to wingtrip on the oval’s main floor.

•The building cost $178 million to construct

•The oval reduces its electricity usage when closed to the public. Sixty per cent of the 308 lights are scheduled to turn off at 11 p.m. and back on at 5:45 a.m.