Victaulic Helps Vancouver Olympics Facilities Complete Construction on Time and Sustainably
Victaulic has been installed on over 20 Olympic facilities since 1976
EASTON, PA - With the 2010 Winter Olympics coming up mid-February in Vancouver, the city is the center of attention-as are the facilities that were built specifically for the Olympics. The Vancouver Convention Centre, the Richmond Olympic Oval and the Vancouver Olympic Village were all built using Victaulic grooved piping systems, helping to expedite the building process while making the installation and future maintenance of the piping systems more "green." Victaulic has been used on the construction of Olympic facilities since 1976, and is installed on over 20 Olympic facilities to date.
The expansion of the pre-existing Vancouver Convention Centre, which will serve as the main international media centre for the games and provide workspace for some 7,000 accredited broadcasters and technicians, is a truly innovative HVAC project. The centre was built so that two-thirds of the structure extends over the water into the harbor, allowing the HVAC system to actually use the ocean as a cooling tower. The system runs the harbor's seawater through plate & frame heat exchangers, rejecting and extracting heat from the chiller plant to regulate the temperature of the centre year-round. Victaulic couplings, valves, fittings and pump dressings, including the Advanced Groove System (AGS), were used on this and all applicable systems. Other sustainable elements of the LEED Gold building include a "living roof," on-site water treatment and a fish habitat built into the foundation.
Mechanical contractor Fred Welsh Ltd. chose to use 3D Modeling and Victaulic grooved piping systems to understand the complexity of the steel structure and how to design the piping system to accommodate a wide variety of loads and seismic movement. The Victaulic Company's individual commitment to environmental responsibility compliments the building design. All Victaulic products are made from natural and recycled resources, and they eliminate waste, emissions and noise during construction and installation. In addition, the use of Victaulic joining methods reduced the impact of CO2 into the atmosphere immensely compared to welding. Unlike welding, grooved pipe joining does not require open flame, and does not contribute fumes or emissions of any kind to the jobsite or atmosphere during installation or maintenance. These factors made Victaulic the optimal choice for a building striving toward such high sustainable goals.
The LEED Silver Richmond Olympic Oval, which will feature the speed skating events, faced an extremely tight schedule and challenging confined spaces for workers during installation. The use of Victaulic couplings, valves and fittings on the HVAC and domestic water applications made systems easier and safer to install, and three to four times faster than welded or flanged systems, which meant it was completed in time for athletes to train.
The Vancouver Olympic Village is LEED Gold certified, and has transformed a former industrial brownfield site into a model for sustainable living. With 1,100 units, this village of 18 buildings will house the more than 2800 athletes competing in the Winter games, and upon completion of the games they will be offered as community living to more than 16,000 residents. In addition to speeding up construction, the use of Victaulic ensures quick and easy maintenance on the buildings in years to come.
Victaulic has been a part of Olympic construction since the 1976 Winter Olympic Games in Montreal, Quebec, where products were used in the construction of three new facilities. Since then, Victaulic has been sought out for its innovative, efficient and reliable grooved products for HVAC and fire protection systems as well as other applications, and has been used in over 20 Olympic facilities to date.
Notably, the recent 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, used Victaulic pipe joining on their HVAC system in the main "Bird's Nest" stadium because of the deflection and seismic capabilities of the system. During the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Victaulic was used in order to expedite construction of six new facilities, including the main stadium and the aquatic center.
Olympic Games using Victaulic on construction include:
About Victaulic
Founded in 1925, Victaulic is the world's leading producer of mechanical pipe joining systems. Headquartered in Easton, Pa., Victaulic has manufacturing and distribution facilities worldwide and employs more than 3,500 people. The company develops products for a full range of industrial, commercial and institutional piping system applications. For more information, visit www.victaulic.com.
