Sustainable design is vital to the future of racecourses. It’s about creating revenue streams, and long term viability as well as environmental stewardship, and eco-consciousness.
This challenge has several aspects. First, there is sustainability during construction and operation of a major venue. For example the London 2012 Olympics Stadium was billed as the ‘main stadium for the Environmental Games’. Part of a successful strategy is selecting the right materials at the beginning of the process, considering how this impacts on the environment, particularly the amount of “embodied” energy used. Furthermore, innovative technology can be used to reduce the quantity of materials needed.
Beyond this the key to long term sustainability is all about maximising use. This means using as much of the building as possible, as frequently as possible, by as many people as possible and having them stay at the venue as long as possible. In order to maximise use there needs to be flexible design.
Join the audience at the Hong Kong ARC to express these issues and to learn what racing should do in answering the modern challenge of sustainability.