Achieving a Green Olympics
    The Olympic Green Tennis Center was designed for a "Green Olympics" and reflects this concept through a number of cost and energy-saving technologies that include natural ventilation, heat preservation technology, heat recycling, the use of environment-friendly refrigerants, solar energy, etc.
    An advanced sewage treatment system allows for 100 percent of the tennis center's wastewater to be treated through membrane biological reactors (MBR) to remove contaminants. The treated wastewater can then be used to water the tennis center's foliage.
    In addition the No. 2 court is equipped with a geothermal heat pump system, which uses ground-source energy to heat and cool the court. Because the temperature underground, below the frost line, stays constant year round, the geothermal heat pump uses the ground as a heat exchange base. In cold weather, the system will use the heat available from the source, and in warm weather, it will put heat back into that source. This results in energy savings, cuts down on operation costs, and also produces no unnecessary pollution.
Technology will serve the Olympics
    The aforementioned technologies that add to a "Green Olympics" also play a role in contributing to a "High-tech Olympics," another concept of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Other high-tech features of the tennis center are universal wired and wireless communication, cable television network, digital safety network system, intelligent lighting systems, etc.
    Advanced technology has been applied to the spectator stands as well. Air collected through inlets at the top of the stands, which are located inside each "flower petal," is recycled and then released through vents throughout the competition courts. This recycled air is capable of reducing the courtside temperature by five degrees Celsius. Additionally, the stands are equipped with automatic curtains to provide shade for spectators.
People come first
    A "People's Olympics" emphasizes putting people first, and this is apparent in the tennis center's people-oriented attributes that consider the needs of athletes (comfortable showers), spectators and people with a disability.
    The builders researched the best arrangement for the bleachers at the tennis center. Wherever they end up sitting, spectators will have a good view of the tennis matches from the stands, according to a lead designer at China State Construction International Shenzhen Design Consulting Company, Ltd. -- the tennis center's construction management group.
    A designated seating area for people with a disability among the non-designated area has space for wheelchairs. In addition, the tennis center features barrier-free bathrooms.