“I’m a little bit of a pirate at heart and I like to have the more than occasional adventure.  This context of sustainable development is a whole new realm.  All of us are pushing the edge of opportunity.”
- Roger Bayley

Roger Bayley is the Design Manager of Millenium Water, the Southeast False Creek 2010 Olympic Village – Vancouver. Millenium Water is also the first Gold LEED^TM certified sustainable neighborhood in Canada, and one of the few in North America.  Developed by Millenium SEFC Properties Ltd., following the 2010 Olympics, Millenium Water will welcome permanent residents, and become an ongoing community in Vancouver.

Roger Bayley also spearheaded The Challenge Series, an online book detailing the conception and construction of Millennium Water.  It’s an amazing tale of a city and a group of professionals dedicated to sustainable living, and the steady and unique combination of talent, cooperation and circumstance that brought this plan to life.

KissMyCountry had the opportunity to speak with Roger Bayley just days before the Vancouver Olympics.  We invite you to enjoy hearing Roger talk about Millennium Water, about Vancouver, and about the places he loves.

Lexy:  Millennium Water is an extremely unique and complex project – far more ambitious than most Athletes Villages built for the Olympics.  Is this the first Olympic Village designed and built to be a permanent neighborhood?  What examples or roadmaps from previous Olympics did you use for your planning?

Roger:   I think other groups have built facilities that have been used after the Olympics.  Most have focused on facilities at universities, dorm type facilities, or affordable housing.  I think this is the first time that someone has focused on building something that will be brought to market.  We focused on what makes a sustainable community, and what we needed for a sustainable community.  We didn’t focus on previous Olympic Villages – although the Olympics made it happen by setting a schedule and timetable that made everyone work together to make it happen.

Lexy:  The Athletes Village is a very special place during the Olympics, and you’ve had a big hand in creating that special place for 2010.  What are you thinking and feeling right now, knowing the athletes will soon be living there?

Roger:  I’m very proud of the work we’ve done, and everyone involved is very proud of what we’ve done.  I’m a little humbled by the opportunity and when I think back over how I got involved I kind of stumbled into it.  We had a lot of support from The Millennium Group, a lot of support.  The athletes will be coming soon, and when they roll in – when the world rolls in – I think they’ll be impressed.

Lexy:  What do you think is the most creative sustainable feature of the Village?

Roger:  Pretty much everything we’ve done is something that someone has done before on an individual building, so the key issue here is the integration of everything together.  We wanted to create a better environment for people with less resource use and a reduced carbon footprint.  All of the pieces had to fit together.  Everybody got together, and worked together.  Decisions about energy affected decisions about heating, and decisions about heating affected the types of walls we built.  It was this way with every aspect of the design.  In the end we reduced energy consumption by at least 50%. And 65% of the heating comes from a waste energy source – the main Vancouver sewer line!   

Lexy: What might people find surprising when it comes to the sustainability of the Village?

Roger:  They’ll be surprised when they see the sign by the toilets telling them not to drink the toilet water.  We are not actually known for drinking toilet water in Vancouver! – unlike our cats and dogs.  And they’ll be surprised when they realize they have a device on their wall telling them in dollar terms how much money they are spending on energy.  I hope this encourages them to be up for the challenge – to realize the costs and adjust their behavior accordingly.

Lexy:  Do you have any advice for future Design Managers of the Athletes Village?  What would you like to pass on from your experience to those involved in the 2012 or 2014 Olympics?

Roger: Try and imagine what is going to come after the Games – how what you build will be used after the Games – and move the environmental bar a little higher.  The Olympics provide the opportunity to redefine your environment.  It gives you the opportunity to look at your environment in a new way and actually realize your creativity and innovation in a very compressed time frame.

Lexy:  Of course a busy and talented person like yourself is always thinking about their next project.   What are your plans following the Olympics?

Roger:  I’ve just been commissioned by Environment Canada to do a sustainable environmental project in Tianjin, China – in a sustainable city that is being built for 350,000 people.  Canada is sponsoring the design work for a Center there.  It’s very exciting.  And I’ll also be following up on The Challenge Series.  I’d like to take the knowledge we’ve gained here and push it out into the broader marketplace.  In February I’m making a series of presentations in South Korea at a conference on building, then I’ll be back to China in March, and in May I’ll be in Kuala Lumpur.  The Challenge Series is not highly technical yet it is engaging, and gives a background on what the issues are when developing a sustainable community

Lexy: At KissMyCountry we talk about saving the planet and enjoying the planet.  What places in the world do you most enjoy and love?

Roger:  I grew up on a very large sheep farm in New Zealand in the middle of nowhere.  So that’s in my DNA, and I love the rivers and the mountains, and love to be there.  I enjoy China too – there’s a frenetic pace and a feeling of optimism, and that’s great to be around.  I’m a little bit of a pirate at heart and I like to have the more than occasional adventure.  This context of sustainable development is a whole new realm.  All of us are pushing the edge of opportunity.

Lexy:  Very soon you’ll have lots of new visitors to Vancouver.  What would you like people to know about Vancouver as they prepare to visit?

Roger:  I’d really like them to feel the relationship between the water and the land, and the attention the City has paid to public amenities throughout the urban environment.  I’d like them to walk down Carrall Street from Gastown to Chinatown through the new urban greenway that runs through three downtown communities.  The city has spent a significant amount of money on creating this greenway.  It’s a very interesting social experiment and it’s just recently opened.  It’s in the heart of a gritty part of Vancouver.  So walk down Carrall Street and see what you think.

Lexy: We’re guessing that you’ve been too busy to get away for a vacation, but are you planning some time to relax after the Olympics?  Where will you go?

Roger:  Both of my children are getting married in July within two weeks of each other!  My son is getting married in Hawaii so I guess I’m going to Hawaii.  My daughter’s getting married in Vancouver. I also have trips planned to China, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Roger, we know that your travels are just beginning.  We’d like to stay in touch as you travel to China for your new project, and all over Asia to spread the word about Millennium Water, and hear how all of this unfolds!