Buzz from the community

Henry Paulson, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, recently honored Chinese officials with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold award for the environmentally conscious Olympic Village.

The Olympic Village, which presently houses 16,000 athletes in 42 six to nine story buildings, is the first residential neighborhood in Beijing to be awarded LEED status. The village incorporates such sustainable design features as solar power and solar thermal power for lighting and hot water, various water reuse systems, custom heating and cooling systems, and rainwater collection.

Once the Beijing Olympics have ended in early 2009, the developers plan to convert the Olympic Village into a luxury apartment development. The residences have already generated significant publicity for the energy-efficient design elements, as 80% of the planned residences have already been sold.

::Olympic Village wins award for 'green' design, Associated Press

Image from Flickr user shajahanmoidin shared with a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Buzz is our community powered blog. Have an article that you would like us to publish?
Find out how.