Beijing Games need extra doses of frugality
28/7/2008 17:17
The Main Press Center (MPC) near the centerpiece Beijing Olympic venues is
undoubtedly a refuge from the midsummer heatwave, with its cool air outflowing
from the main entrance and felt from several paces away.
But coolness slowly
escalates into bitter cold when one stays in the building for more than 30
minutes, and my colleagues and I who spend days on end in our newsroom have to
put on jackets and even sweaters -- most of the time the indoor temperature in
Beijing is no more than 22 degrees Celsius.
"You might feel cold, but many
others will complain when the mercury goes up," a maintenance worker has told
us.
Yet 26 is the minimum indoor temperature allowed for Chinese government
offices in a nationwide campaign to cut energy consumption and improve
efficiency. Government employees have also been told to take off their suits and
ties in the office to stay cool.
The Games organizers may as well follow
these practices and force extra doses of frugality.
In fact, extravagance was
never part of the Beijing Games. Without any compromise of its architectural
security and futuristic style, Beijing has "slimmed" the landmark Bird's Nest
and cut construction cost by 400 million yuan (US$57 million). Steel consumption
alone was slashed by 12,000 tonnes.
To ensure the venues will not be left
unused after the Games, Beijing has built 20 percent of its Olympic facilities
on campus -- and four of all the 11 brand new stadiums are based in colleges and
universities.
The MPC itself is exemplary in saving -- its 80,000 square
meters of interior and exterior decoration cost 3 million yuan in total. Sources
from the industry said the amount was only enough to decorate a five-star hotel
lobby about several hundred square meters.
Beijing has promised "Green
Olympics", a concept widely applauded internationally. But in many cases, to
economize is essential if we wish to be "green".
Against the backdrop of a
global economic slowdown, surging oil prices and the growing pressure from
inflation and global warming, the Beijing Games need to be "green" and frugal
more than ever.
Not to mention the needy population at home, including those
people in the southwestern Sichuan Province whose homes toppled in the
devastating May 12 earthquake.
Sure enough, the stadiums need to be
air-conditioned to an ideal temperature -- probably around 20 degrees Celsius in
some events. But at the press center, we will feel perfectly comfortable at 26
degrees.
Xinhua
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