The document summarizes the process of creating a sustainable fabric wrap for the 2012 London Olympic Stadium. Key points: 1. Dow Chemical, Rainier Industries, and Cooley Group partnered to develop a fabric wrap using sustainable materials and processes that met the specifications for wrapping the stadium. 2. Creating the wrap involved significant problem-solving as the initial materials did not meet standards. Dow and Cooley developed a new formulation for the fabric. 3. Producing the fabric proved challenging as well and required multiple attempts to get a smooth, defect-free material through the extrusion process used to apply the various layers of the fabric. 4. After several iterations, the team was finally able to produce

1. 2012 LONDON
OLYMPIC STADIUM WRAP
IT’S A WRAP!
The Project: Innovation, Collaboration, Sustainability
Vision & Design
Sustainable Games, Sustainable Fabric
The Process: Problem-Solving & Partnership
How Rainier Got the Job
Getting Down to Work
Producing the Fabric
Making the Panels
Installing the Wrap
Thanks to the Team

2. THE PROJECT: Innovation, Collaboration, Sustainability
Partnership commits to improving Games experience
through sustainable, chemistry-based solutions
Worldwide Olympic Partner The The wrap includes resins made
Dow Chemical Company by Dow’s Performance Plastics
(NYSE:DOW) produced a Division and requires fewer raw
sustainable fabric wrap to materials to manufacture. It is up
encircle London’s iconic Olympic to 35 percent lighter and has a About Rainier Industries
Stadium during the Olympic and lower carbon footprint when Rainier is a state of the art international manufacturer of innovative
Paralympic Games. The stadium compared to conventional sports graphics solutions and retail point of purchase displays,
was home to several athletic materials. based in Seattle, Washington. The company’s work is visible in
events, and the Opening and over a hundred professional and collegiate sports facilities, as well
Closing Ceremonies. Digital printing of the design was as major retail chains and the Salt Lake City and Vancouver
done at the Rainier Industries Olympics. Rainier is certified to ISO 14001:2004 and ISO
The wrap is comprised of 306 facility in Seattle, WA with UV- 9001:2008 as well as being a G7 certified Master Printer and
receiving the SGIA Sustainability Recognition Award for 2011 for
individual panels – each curable, water soluble inks
its Environmental Management System. More information about
approximately 25 meters high instead of conventional solvent
Rainier Industries can be found at www.rainierdisplays.com.
and 2.5 meters wide – and based inks, in order to reduce
helped make the stadium the emissions during the printing
visual centerpiece of the London process and eliminate volatile About Dow
2012 Games. organic compounds (VOC). Dow combines the power of science and technology with the
“Human Element” to passionately innovate what is essential to
Dow worked with Rainier The wrap includes post- human progress. The Company connects chemistry and
Industries and Cooley Group to industrial recycled content and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address
develop the wrap. These are the the hardware used to hang the many of the world's most challenging problems. Dow's diversified
only companies in the world wrap will be recycled in Europe industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced
capable of producing the wrap following the Games. materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad
within the specifications range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in
outlined. approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as.
In 2010, Dow had annual sales of $53.7 billion and employed
In keeping with LOCOG’s goal approximately 50,000 people worldwide. The Company’s more
than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 35 countries
to stage a sustainable Olympic
across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean
Games, Rainier Industries, Dow
The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries
and Cooley partnered to create unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow
a unique material developed can be found at www.dow.com.
specifically for this event.

3. The wrap completed The wrap provided
Vision & Design the Olympic Stadium
for the Games as the
some protection to
Olympic spectators
architects from from the sun and wind,
Populous intended. and also featured
directional signage and
It also helped the shielded exposed
stadium become the elements of the
visual centerpiece of stadium from sight.
the London 2012
Games.
Photo courtesy of The Guardian
Olympic Stadium Shortlisted for 2012 Stirling Prize
We’re pleased to offer our congratulations to Populous, the architects
behind the Olympic Stadium. The Olympic Stadium is shortlisted for the
Stirling Prize, a prestigious architecture award, for its innovative design.
The Stirling Prize winner will be announced on October 13, 2012.
“As with the other London 2012 Olympic Games buildings, Populous’s Olympic Stadium had to be
designed to be used post-games. So the 80,000-seat stadium will shrink down to a 20,000-seat
stadium after this summer.
In order to be able to achieve this, Populous designed the stadium as a sort of kit of parts, said
principal Phillip Johnson in a video on RIBA’s site.
‘The roof itself is separate from the upper tier so that in theory you could take down the tier without
taking down the roof, or vice-versa.’
The stadium will be the lightest one ever built, with 11,023 tons of steel.”
-Lindsay M. Roberts, Architect Magazine
The Stirling Prize is the highest prize of the Royal Institute of British
Architects (RIBA). Read why the Stadium was chosen on the Stirling Prize website here.

4. Vision & Design
Rainier’s design drawings for the Stadium Wrap
Vision: A virtual projection of the final wrap, complete with virtual spectators.
Reality: A quiet moment after the installation was finished –
and before the spectators arrive.

5. Sustainable Games, Sustainable Fabric
For the Olympic committee, it Plus – it’s the lightest stadium ever
The Olympic Stadium wrap is “PVC-free.” means holding “Games guided by built, according to Architect
the principle that the world should Magazine’s Aaron Seward: “The
The processes used to make it are “eco-friendly.” live within its means.” They steel used in London’s Olympic
embraced several initiatives – Stadium was sourced in a
The London Organizing Committee of Olympic Games related to venue, travel, food, and sustainable manner. The
waste — to support this mission. subcontractor obtained many of the
(LOCOG) is committed to hosting “sustainable games.” tubular members that make up the
LOCOG says, “Where possible we roof structure from unused steel
What does all of this mean? have used existing venues…Where sections intended for a Russian oil
there is a legacy need we have built pipeline.
new venues – the Olympic Stadium,
the Aquatics Centre and the “When completed, the elliptical-
Velodrome and where there is no shaped stadium covered a 40-acre
need, we have built temporary footprint with just 10,000 metric tons
venues in iconic places…” (11,023 tons) of structural steel—by
far the lightest Olympic Stadium
Populous, the architects behind the ever built. In comparison, the
stadium, designed the venue for this 91,000-seat Beijing National
stated “legacy need.” During the Stadium (the Bird’s Nest) for the
Games, the Stadium seated 80,000 2008 Summer Games covered a 64-
spectators. After the Olympics, the acre footprint and used 100,000
upper tier of the Stadium will be metric tons (110,231 tons).”
removed – the whole stadium is built
to be deconstructable. The Stadium
will transform into a smaller venue
(seating 20,000) for regular use by
the people of London.
London aimed to be the
“first zero-waste games.”
photo credit: Pavegen Systems Ltd.
99% of waste from the
construction of the “A pioneering walkway leading
Olympic Park was to the Olympic Park…lit round-
reclaimed. the-clock by the footsteps of
spectators.” –Earth911.com
London 2012 Sustainability
Summary Report,
www.london2012.com

6. Sustainable Games, Sustainable Fabric
For Dow, Rainier, and Cooley, this eco- Sustainability in manufacturing means
conscious mission means using considering “lifecycle” – where materials
sustainable production (materials and come from, how they are used… and
processes) to make the Stadium wrap: where will they go. The Wrap will be
repurposed.
• The wrap includes resins made by Dow’s
Performance Plastics Division and Dow has partnered with leading UK
required fewer raw materials to building and development charity Article
manufacture.
25 and recycling company Axion
• The wrap includes polyester fabric with a
Recycling to reuse the Wrap. The panels
low-density Polyethylene coating.
• The wrap is up to 35 percent lighter and are slated for shelter and shade solutions
photo credit: iStock user Johnny Greig
has a 20 percent lower carbon footprint for at-risk children in Rio and Uganda. In
when compared to conventional Brazil, Dow and Article 25 are exploring
materials, according to Cooley Group. working with the Bola Pra Frente
• UV-curable inks replaced conventional Institute, which helps children and
inks to reduce emissions during the teenagers from underprivileged
printing process and eliminated volatile communities through social programs. In
LOCOG encouraged spectators to
organic compounds (VOC).
Uganda, the wrap will be used as part of ride bikes, walk, & use public
That last part—the UV-curable inks—is Article 25’s work with Jubilee Action at a transportation to get to the Games.
daily practice here at Rainier. We only center for former child soldiers.
use UV cured water soluble inks in our The panels will remain as much in their
printers. current shape as possible, keeping the
look of the Games that has inspired
athletes and spectators around the world.
Axion Recycling will reuse or recycle
portions of the wrap for additional
projects in the UK. The hardware used to
hang the wrap will be recycled in Europe.
We’re grateful that LOCOG made
sustainability a focus of the Games this
year, and we hope it’ll become expected
practice for future Olympics.
photo credit: Rainier
More about Rainier’s Sustainability Initiative and
daily practices is available on our website.

7. THE PROCESS: Problem-Solving & Partnership
How Rainier Got the Job
In February 2011, Dow Rainier said yes, it can be
began to consider putting in done. We suggested Dow go
an open tender to wrap the to Cooley Group to find a
stadium as part of their fabric that would work. That
Olympic sponsorship. A was the team: Dow, Rainier,
mutual friend (who had and Cooley. Three
worked with us for the 2002 companies highly invested in
Salt Lake City Games) sustainable materials and
suggested Dow consult with processes. Dow, whose
Bruce Dickinson, our VP of team is all over the world.
Sales. Cooley, in Rhode Island and
South Carolina. Rainier,
We have experience with based in Seattle, WA.
Olympic venues (we did
projects in Salt Lake City and Dow submitted their bid in
photo credit above: thestarphoenix.com Vancouver) and we regularly April 2011, and by May,
do work on sports stadiums Rainier had a contract to
across the USA – and we’ve print, cut, and sew the panels
worked with fabric since our for the wrap. Cooley would
start in 1896. engineer and produce the
fabric.
Dow’s initial conversation
with Rainier was about the And then the question was –
feasibility of such a big
project – with such special How do we take
constraints. what’s essentially a
What would it take to wrap a
very cool picture and
stadium of this size? Could it make it into reality in
be done using polyethylene less than a year?
materials, so that the
process and materials would
be sustainable? Could the
results be repurposed?

8. Getting Down to Work
Dow is an international leader in A very over-simplified explanation of
Elastomers. Rainier is an fabric: pellets are pushed through an
international manufacturer of extruder, resulting in material that’s
innovative fabric and display thin, wide, and flexible. Extruders like
products. Cooley Group is an fabric that’s roughly 90% liquid and
industry leader of engineered fabrics, 10% solid. But in order to meet the
focused on using sustainable British Standards, the fabric had to
chemistry. be about 10% liquid and 90% solid.
That’s approximately the make-up of
All three companies provide roofing membranes.
solutions. And it’s a good thing,
because wrapping the Olympic Our first challenge and the hardest
Stadium was one big exercise in one we faced: to take technology
problem-solving. used for horizontal surfaces (roofs)
and apply it to vertical textiles
The panels had to be strong, flexible, (banners rising in helixes over 80 feet
beautiful – they were an integral part high, from the ground concourse to
of the architects’ vision for the the upper tier of the stadium,
stadium. They weren’t an “add-on” or supported by tensioning cables).
a “decoration.”
It was like pushing mud through the
They were an architectural element, extruder. The material was too stiff, it
a crucial part of the aesthetic and didn’t spread, it wouldn’t print.
functional design. Rainier doesn’t engineer the
chemical composition of fabric – we
What Rainier, Dow, and Cooley make things with fabric – so we
quickly found after starting to work listened in while Dow and Cooley
together was that the existing fabric tackled the hard science.
we’d planned to use wouldn’t work –
it meets the USA fire standards, but They went back to the design board –
not the British Standards. That and created an entirely new
eliminated the initial material – then formulation of infrastructure
several others. membranes.

9. Producing the Fabric
Cooley Group produced the fabric for
the Olympic Stadium Wrap.
When a sample of new material would
arrive at the Rainier facilities, we’d test
it on our printers. We lost 3 printer
heads in the process, and several
valuable months.
When we thought we were close,
Rainier’s Display Division Manager
Charlie Rueb flew down to Cooley’s
plant in South Carolina.
As the fabric rolled off the extruder,
Charlie deemed it fit to try – again – on
our printers.
A look at the process:
 To make fabric, you have to run a
minimum of 1,000 yards.
 The process takes 8 hours - if
there are no problems. And you
don’t know anything about the
quality of the material until you’re
done.
 Plus, the fabric passes through the
extruder three times, multiplying
the potential for failure:
This is what the raw material of
polyethylene looks like before it’s o Pass 1. Apply the black-out layer.
melted & run through the extruder – o Pass 2. 1st coating of white.
it comes in pellets. o Pass 3. Flip it, 2nd coating of white.

10. Producing the Fabric
3. Once we got a smooth sheet, we put
1. Raw material coming through the the material through the extruder for
extruder. As you can see, it’s not pass #1 – applying the black-out
coming through smoothly, as one layer. As you can see in this picture,
sheet. the black is shredding off the scrim.
5. …but during pass #2, the material
goes in front of the light-box & it’s
2. A different try – better, but not good 4. We re-formulate the pellets & try clear the black has not evenly
enough. again. It appears to work… applied. Try again.

11. Producing the Fabric
Fabric is extremely heat sensitive.
Because this is so thick, the heat from
the extruder isn’t applying evenly, and
the white can’t spread properly across
the entire surface.
6. This time we get all the way to pass
#2 – the black-out has been applied,
the extruder is layering white on, and
7. We get a full, clean sheet of fabric
now we can see holes in the white.
through all 3 passes of the extruder
(Those aren’t black dots – they’re
(black-out, white, & white again). But
holes showing the black layer 8. Finally! A smooth white stretch of
the fabric puckers & bunches in the
beneath.) fabric.
middle. Back to the beginning.

12. Making the Panels How the Olympic Wrap panels were made in 9 steps
Keep in mind that this was And it is representative of
an unusual project, with Rainier. Because everything
unusual requirements – and we make here is custom, this
an untested, unproven is operations as usual – in
fabric. that nothing is usual!
This is the process of We call ourselves solution
Rainier making the Olympic providers, because we solve
Stadium panels, including problems.
retries and final successes.
STEP ONE: Color tests and print trials
We run the fabric through our printer to see how it does with
color.

13. At this time, we have 6 months
Making the Panels STEP TWO: Testing a mock-up panel to test it, print it, cut it, sew it,
pack it, ship it, and install it.
We print a panel, cut it, and hang it. The fabric doesn’t work. See all that texture across the red
(right)? The fabric is puckering. Because the fabric is puckering, we have to raise the printer
head. As a result, we end up with another problem: banding, those vertical streaks of lighter and
darker ink. The gap between the head and the media is too large – so the ink is too spread out.
We redesign the fabric (which means going back through that entire fabric production process)
and try again. Until it works.

14. Making the Panels
When we finally get the fabric right… rolls of
it arrive on the Rainier production floor.
Once we have new fabric, we mock up a new
panel. Look at that smooth expanse of blue.
That’s what we are after, and now that we
have it, production can begin in earnest.

15. Making the Panels
STEP THREE: Printing the panels
Working with this new
fabric was like working
with cardboard.
Every single step of the
process –
from printing to
installation – presented
new challenges.
The Rainier team came
up with new solutions
and solved each problem
as it arose.

16. Making the Panels STEP FOUR: Cutting the panels
Rainier uses state-of-the-art automated
cutting machines. As with every other step of
this project, cutting the fabric presented
unique challenges.
Because of its stiff, thick composition, we cut
all 306 panels by hand– extremely unusual
on our shop floor.
We get the job done, no matter what it takes.
Rainier owner Scott Campbell takes a turn at
cutting the panels while VP of Sales Bruce
Dickinson gives him a (rather far-off) helping
hand.

17. Making the Panels STEP FIVE: Sewing the pockets
Employees work their way along the length of
the panel to sew the second layer of the
pockets. Every pocket is given double layers
of fabric to protect against abrasion from the
cable.
Every panel has “pockets” running their
lengths – like seams on garments. The
pockets hold the cables that eventually twist
to create the helixes.
Remember, every panel is over 80 feet long!

18. Making the Panels STEP SIX: Laying out the panels for finishing touches
The rope you see here is a drawstring, used
to pull the cable up the length of the pocket.
What look like white dots at the bottom of the
panel are essentially punched holes. In the
installation, the panels are bolted to a clamp
bar at the bottom and top.

19. We build special shipping crates to
Making the Panels STEP SEVEN: Packing the panels house the fabric bolts.
Because of the fabric stiffness and the In this picture, you can see the before (left) –
thickness of the double-layer pockets, the white rolls of fabric – and the after (right) –
fabric is folded and wrapped around bolts, bolts of finished panels packed away in
rather than “rolled.” individual cubbyholes.

20. Making the Panels STEP NINE: The Rainier
team celebrates and waves
good-bye as the wrap
STEP EIGHT: Loading & leaves Seattle, WA, bound
shipping for London

21. Installing the Wrap
To install the panels, Rainier partnered with
FabriTec, a division of ShadeUSA based in
Dallas, Texas.
The original plan allowed three months for
installation, starting in December 2011 – but
that was before all the challenges making
the fabric.
In the first week of April 2012, FabriTec did
their test install of a set of panels.
The results were not good – it took 5 days to
do 3 panels. At that rate, it was a 2 year
installation job to put up 306 panels.
Changes were made to the templates to
allow for faster installation – and install
methods were re-engineered to meet the
condensed timeframe.
Installation of all 306 panels began on June
11, 2012.
It was finished July 20 – the last day any
work was allowed on the stadium.
That’s right – FabriTec installed all 306
panels, each 80 feet long, in just over a
month. Instead of 12 weeks, they did the
installation in 5.

22. Installing the Wrap

23. Installing the Wrap

24. Installing the Wrap
We had 6 teams of
6 people for
installation.
Their goal was to
get 2 panels up per
day.
The teams doubled
that rate and hit an
impressive rate of 4
per day.

25. Installing the Wrap

26. Installing the Wrap

27. BEFORE AFTER

28. THANKS TO THE TEAM
The most unusual aspect of They were a partner. They
this project was also the offered their own resources
most crucial to its success – and expertise whenever
the partnership between possible. Dow leadership
Dow, Rainier, and Cooley. and scientists provided
support, encouragement, &
This was a giant camaraderie at every turn.
undertaking. From
conception to finish, Besides the hundreds of
everything about the conference calls and emails,
Olympic Stadium Wrap there were visits: Dow came
required innovation, to Seattle to see Rainier.
Render from the Populous 2012 Stadium website dedication, and Rainier and Dow met Cooley
determination. The teams at at their plant in South
“What’s most
all 3 companies had to Carolina. And Rainier went
remarkable about this
problem-solve at every step to London – 4 separate
project is how these of the process. The unique times!
three very different material of the wrap, the
companies worked short timeline, & the high- We count ourselves lucky to
together – in this profile nature of the project have had such great
compressed timeline – made this a high-pressure partners. The Wrap couldn’t
to get this done. situation. have been made any other
Everyone rallied way. Each of the 3
together.” Throughout the process, companies contributed
Dow had an unusual role. distinctive skill sets &
Traditionally, we suppose capabilities – and each
–Charlie Rueb, Rainier
Display Division Manager
you could say they were the brought exceptional
“customer” – they wanted a personalities to the table.
wrap for the Olympic
Stadium made, and they Thanks, Dow & Cooley:
asked Rainier and Cooley to it’s been great working
make it for them. In reality, with you. We’re so
Dow was so much more that. proud of what we’ve
done, and also how we
got it done – together.