dan epstein face to face


these the most environmentally friendly and sustainable ever held. This is an easy claim to make but it is more difficult to achieve in practice. However, such a claim has enormous implications, not just for all of the new construction and restoration work but also for the subsequent management of the facilities in the future to ensure that all of the good work that was done during construction and during the actual Olympic Games is not then thrown away and the benefits for future generations lost. One of the key appointments in ensuring that this does not happen is that of Dan Epstein as the Olympic Development Authority’s head of sustainability and regeneration.


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PM-Select: What appealed to you about this position which is a very challenging, if not even a daunting one? Dan Epstein: I applied for the job three years ago as I felt that my particular background suited the needs of the position. I had spent a number of years in the Himalayas fixing the results of major landslides and then came back to the UK and worked on a number of major contracts with English Partnerships, working with 150 project managers on sustainable projects. Despite having worked in several parts of the world, I actually grew up in north London and know the area in which the Olympic Village is being built. There are many aspects that appealed to me – the scale of the project, the immovable deadline and the need to address issues like climate change, local economic development and social renewal make this a once-in-a- lifetime challenge. Another aspect is the opportunity to work on the biggest ever sustainable project in the UK and possibly in Europe. Perhaps more importantly, looking at the future long-term management of property there is an opportunity to set new benchmarks and by working in partnership with the community, non- government organisations, business, industry and London 2012 key stakeholders, we can change the way that large-scale regeneration is delivered in the UK and hopefully how future Olympic and Paralympic Games are delivered. PM-Select: How have you approached these problems? Obviously, there is an increasing amount of knowledge with regard to sustainable buildings, but how have you applied this thinking to the infrastructure? Dan Epstein: If we look at the utilities first, we have taken out 52 overhead electricity


hen the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games were awarded to London, the organising team said that the intention was to make


pylons and run the high voltage cables through two shafts, each 30m deep. We have cleaned up 8km of water and we have installed sewerage and water systems capable of supplying the needs initially for 10,000 people but with another 20% of capacity to cater for the next 20 years. In terms of energy, we have installed 100MW of heat and 30MW of electricity. There are 16km of piping for hot water and 15MW of cooling capacity. The energy centre is linked to a similar one at the nearby Westfield shopping centre. In this way, we can balance out the needs of both sides according to their individual demands. This energy centre includes biomass boilers and a Combined Cooling and Heat and Power (CCHP) plant to capture the heat generated as a by- product of electricity generation. There is also a 120m high wind turbine to enable us to meet a target of 20% renewable energy on site. PM-Select: What about construction materials? Dan Epstein: This has been a crucial area for us. Wherever possible we have tried to reuse material on site. For example, the first transport infrastructure project to be delivered was Orient Way which was a showcase sustainability project achieving a 44% reduction in carbon against a “business as usual” scenario and for which we were awarded a Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment (CEEQUAL) rating of “Excellent”, the highest of any rail project to date. Orient Way was completed using sustainable methods, with 99% of the demolition and site clearance waste being recycled and re-used, including 4,000 tonnes of crushed concrete (1,000 tonnes used on site), 620 tonnes of tarmac, 80 tonnes of steel, 20,000 tonnes of previous rail ballast screened and re-used and all 2.9km of track lifted and re-used. Many parts of the track were used to build the new accommodation block for drivers. The Greenway, which is a key walking and cycling route, has used materials including bricks, paving stones, cobbles, manhole covers timber sleepers and tiles that were salvaged at the demolition stage. These materials have also been used to build Gabion walls on the bridges across the site. We have also set up a “soil hospital” on site, which shakes and cleans the soil free from contaminants such as tar, oil and petrol and produces clean material that can be used in the creation of the correct land levels, foundations and parklands. PM-Select: What have you done to reduce the environmental impact of delivery of material to the site and removal of any waste material from the site? Dan Epstein: Where we have had to bring in material from outside, we have done everything we can to mitigate the impact


Dan Epstein, head of sustainability and regeneration at the Olympic Development Authority.


Looking at the future long-term management of property there is an opportunity to set new


benchmarks, and by working in partnership with the community, non- government organisations, business, industry and London 2012 key stakeholders, we can change the way that large-scale regeneration is delivered in the UK and hopefully how future


Olympic and Paralympic Games are delivered.


upon the environment. Currently over 50% of materials by weight are delivered by train including aggregate, kerbs and drainage units, and waste is being taken away by barges through the recently dredged waterways and a new lock and water control structure. This really links with my last answer, for in order to reduce the carbon content of the vast amount of concrete required, we have worked with the suppliers to produce concrete containing Pulverised Fuel Ash, Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag sent from the China clay industry and recycled glass. By using concrete with a high content of recycled material and by maximising the use of rail transport, nearly 80,000 tonnes of carbon emissions have been avoided, equivalent to a 42% reduction when compared to conventional concrete.


Although we are doing everything we


can to re-use material on site, there are still large quantities that cannot be used. Our five soil-washing machines have successfully completed cleaning most of the 1 million m3


of soil contaminated with


oil, petrol, tar, cyanide, arsenic and lead and so far, over 80% of contaminated soil has been cleaned for reuse on the Olympic Park using soil-washing, bioremediation beds (large-scale composting) and sorting machines, and over 98% of demolition materials on site have been recycled. In terms of removing waste from site,


improvements have been made to the waterways in and around the Park. In a project that has been led by British Waterways, the new Three Mills Lock is now open and the ODA has completed a multi-million pound dredging programme to allow 350-tonne barges to access the site. So far, around 30,000 tonnes of silt, gravel and rubble, as well as tyres, shopping trolleys, timber and even a motor car have been removed. Now the barges are being used to take timber, plasterboard, mixed recycling, cardboard, paper, glass and cans to the municipal recycling centre at Rainham. PM-Select: Have you been able to carry the sustainability aspects into the construction of the buildings? Dan Epstein: All of the contractors have to abide by the Considerate Constructors Scheme and have to achieve a minimum score of four out of five, placing the site above industry standards and they all have to work to approved Environment Management Plans. Regular internal audits are carried out to ensure compliance. Permanent buildings will achieve a BREEAM “Excellent” rating. A single Environmental Monitoring Service Provider has been appointed to track contractor performance and an on-line reporting tool has been developed to track contractor performance.


www.pm-select.co.uk l july/august 2010 l Property Management Select l 27


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