Members of EllisDon’s Infrastructure Services and Technology (IST) team provided services at the Paralympic Village in Paris to support athletes participating in the 2024 Paralympic Games and this year’s focus was on sustainability.
The Games ran from August 28 to Sept. 8. This was not the first time the EllisDon team has contributed to the Games, but their scope has evolved over the years.
“It has been really important for the CPC (Canadian Paralympic Committee) for sometime to focus on how we can not only make sure that the contribution we have to the Games are with a view to sustainability but also starting to measure their emissions for what they are contributing to the Games overall,” said Jody Becker, COO and executive vice-president IST with EllisDon.
EllisDon carries out ‘a first’ at the Games
Two members of EllisDon’s climate and sustainability team were on the ground in Paris.
“Jolene McLaughlin, who is our VP of climate and sustainability, and Denyse van Opbergen, director of the climate and sustainability team, both participated this year with Denyse having a focus on measuring emissions both in the lead up to the Games and then during the Games themselves,” said Becker.
The onsite team provided several services, including space planning, inventory an inspection, signage, procurement, venue operations, carbon footprint tracking and advising on sustainability practices.
“Sustainability champions focused on quantifying the current environmental impact of CPC’s participation in the Games and advised on best practices including energy and water consumption at the facilities, waste, how materials were being procured including through international transportation,” she said. “If materials were being brought over, they would be quantifying the emissions and in-country transportation services as well. That was a first for us at these Games.”
In the past, EllisDon provided key services at the Paralympic Village at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, including concierge support, space planning and pre- and post-occupancy inspection services. The partnership with the Canadian Paralympic Committee became official in 2021.
The team provided onsite operations and maintenance technical expertise, inventory management and signage strategy and implementation at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games and Santiago 2023 Parapan Am Games.
“This year we had seven members that went over in two groups…one on the commissioning side and one on the decommissioning side that crossed over in the middle of the Games to make sure there was constant service available,” said Becker.
IST team reflects on the opportunity
IST is a group of teams focused on optimizing the built environment through technology-backed solutions. It is made up of seven different business units including EllisDon Facilities Services, Furniture, Equipment and Design and Sustainable Building Solutions.
For Paris, the team was predominantly focused on managing the assets on behalf of the organizing committee.
“We set up the rooms and the operational spaces including things like medical suites; rest and recovery rooms; the gym area, which had a cold tub and a massage therapy room; operational spaces for CPC; and the athletes and the staff apartments,” explained Becker.
Post Olympics and pre-Paralympics, the team got everything ready on the commissioning side and they did the decommissioning as well following the Games.
“During the Games we work with the CPC to make sure all of the Canadian spaces at the Athlete’s Village are in good shape,” said Becker. “We manage the buildings, assist the athletes in moving in and making sure the rooms are set up and ready for them, make sure that there are no major issues including facilities management type issues like making sure the plumbing is working, there are no leaks in the building.”
The Games are a huge undertaking and require the EllisDon team to start planning well in advance.
“We have a steering committee within IST that works directly with the CPC organizing committee and thinks about what particular scopes we can help with,” said Becker. “They start planning out what it will look like and creating the schedule for all the activities that need to take place both on the commissioning and decommissioning side of things. Then we draw in different members of the IST team with some focus on keeping at least a couple of people on each team who have been at the last Games so there is some level of consistency…but also then focusing on different skill sets within the team and giving different people on the team the opportunity to experience the Games.”
The feedback from employees who attend has been very positive.
“It’s a highly sought after assignment,” Becker noted. “Everyone that has been to one of the Games has come back indicating that it’s been such an enriching and really rewarding experience for them to get to know the athletes and the team.”
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