Qingdao's Olympic Village: A model of green design

(BEIJING, August 13) -- With energy-saving, environmentally friendly architecture, the Qingdao Olympic Village is a model of "green Olympics" design. "Green Olympics" is one of three slogans for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a major focus of the Games.

Qingdao, host to the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Sailing events, is one of six co-host cities for the Summer Olympic Games. Covering a total area of 100,000 square meters, the Qingdao Olympic Village is the largest non-competition venue in the city.

Two 17-story buildings, two seven-story buildings, two three-story buildings, and more than 400 standard hotel rooms are located on the village grounds. The blue wave-colored complex is divided into a park area and three additional zones: residential, international, and operational. The international zone sports a post office, a bank, an Internet bar, a book stall, a supermarket, a tearoom, souvenir shops, and other recreational facilities.

During the Games, the village will accommodate 700 athletes and officials from 65 different nations and administrative regions. Its location adjacent to the beach allows athletes easy access to the competition venues.

China's cultural heritage is on display in various locations throughout the village. There are Chinese tea demonstrations and a national handicrafts display.

Following the "green Olympics" theme of the Beijing Games, a reclaimed water supply system has been installed in the Olympic village for all toilet and outdoor use, enabling the facility to save an estimated 50,000 tons of water annually. External insulation, which meets the design standard for energy efficient buildings, has been used in the installation of all building walls.

The village has been designed and built with the standards of a luxurious five-star hotel in mind. After the Olympics Games end, the village will become just that, a luxury hotel – the Qingdao InterContinental Hotel, jointly operated by Qingdao and the InterContinental Hotel Group. For this reason, funding for the village's construction has come through business financing rather than a government budget.