On the west side of the “Ice Ribbon,” the National Speed Skating Oval, stands a grey-white cabin measuring 6 meters by 6 meters and 2.5 meters high. Atop it rise two sets of striped blades that blend red, blue, and green — design elements strongly evocative of the Winter Olympics — dancing in the winter wind and echoing the translucent, flowing façade of the “Ice Ribbon” nearby.

“This is the ‘Zero-Carbon Cabin’ developed by our project team. During the Winter Olympics it will serve as a service and emergency consultation station for the ‘Ice Ribbon,’” said Wei Yiming, Vice President of Beijing Institute of Technology and Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research at BIT.

The Zero-Carbon Cabin is “fully equipped and well provisioned.” It uses wind turbines and solar photovoltaic panels on its roof to supply clean energy, meeting the electricity demand of indoor air conditioning, office equipment, and the exterior large screen. It is also fitted with a heat recovery system and an electrical energy storage system, achieving energy self-sufficiency and intelligent control, and thus zero carbon emissions. “The building itself also uses environmentally friendly, recyclable steel materials, and the cabin can be disassembled, relocated, and recycled,” introduced Yu Biying, a member of the project team and Deputy Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research at BIT.

Since September 2021, Beijing Institute of Technology, together with the National Speed Skating Oval, Tsinghua University, and other institutions, has undertaken one of the key special projects of the National Key R&D Program for Science and Technology in the Winter Olympics — “Key Technologies and Demonstration Applications for Low-Carbon Winter Olympics Monitoring and Carbon Neutrality Regulation” — to empower green Olympic hosting.

Where do emissions come from? How much is there? What should be done about it? Centering on these “three soul-searching questions” about carbon emissions within the Olympic venues, the team further developed a “measure–calculate–control–plan” technical system for carbon emissions and built the Winter Olympics Carbon Measurement Platform, taking on the role of the Winter Olympics’ carbon emission “monitor,” so that the carbon reduction contribution of the Beijing Winter Olympics has a documented basis, verifiable figures, and physical evidence. At present, the equipment developed by the project has been applied at the “Ice Ribbon” and the “Ice Cube,” the National Aquatics Center.

“We have installed intelligent monitoring equipment at dozens of points — venue seating areas, energy-consuming equipment, spectator entrances, and so on — to collect real-time data on carbon dioxide concentrations, foot traffic, electricity, venue temperature and humidity, and other human–machine–object–environment data. This is ‘measurement.’ The data are transmitted back to the Winter Olympics Carbon Measurement Platform, which automatically calculates the carbon emissions of each area of the venue. This is ‘calculation.’” Yu Biying said. The project team is also responsible for measuring the emission reductions of various low-carbon technologies at the Beijing Winter Olympics as well as the overall carbon emissions of the Games. “This platform keeps careful accounts of the Beijing Winter Olympics’ carbon emissions — in other words, it settles the CO₂ ledger.”

“Based on the actual calculated carbon emissions, the research team will propose carbon neutrality regulation schemes under different scenarios — for example, carbon emission donations by Olympic-related enterprises, forestry carbon sinks, and low-carbon transportation. In addition, the Winter Olympics Carbon Measurement Platform can detect abnormal energy consumption and remind staff to investigate. This is the original intent of ‘control’ and ‘plan.’” said Shen Meng, Associate Researcher at the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research at BIT.

Beyond providing scientific and technological support for the Winter Olympics, the project team will in the future, in response to the needs of relevant national departments, produce low-carbon solutions for the Beijing Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics, a global communication plan for low-carbon achievements, and a white paper on how the Winter Olympics drive Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei coordinated development — showcasing to the world the low-carbon actions, emission reduction contributions, and catalytic effects on regional coordinated development of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics.

“Quantifying the Winter Olympics’ catalytic effects on investment industries, the energy economy, social life, and other aspects is of great significance for summarizing the Olympic legacy,” Wei Yiming said. He expressed the hope that the Beijing Winter Olympics will enable the world to come closer to, and more vividly perceive, China’s approach to green Olympic hosting and China’s experience in low-carbon Olympics.