Environmental ambitions for zero air-conditioning in Paris Olympic Village challenged: More than a third of the rooms in the accommodation facilities planned for the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games will be equipped with mobile air-conditioning, at the request of the delegations.
Paris Olympic Village to equip one-third of rooms with AC
The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, set a green goal for the 2024 Paris Olympics two years ago: the Olympic Village will not be air-conditioned, but rather through architectural design and technology to achieve a cooling effect, so as to not only ensure that athletes are not disturbed by the heat wave that may come, but also for the greening of the Olympics to create a far-reaching impact, especially compared to the 2012 London Olympics, Paris Olympic Organizing Committee The Paris Organizing Committee wanted a “green and sustainable” Olympics with a reduced carbon footprint.
But that ambition is being challenged. According to Agence France-Presse, the Olympic Village in Paris, planned without air conditioning, has succumbed to the misgivings and ensuing demands of the athletes and many delegations that many of the rooms in the Village will eventually be equipped with portable mobile air conditioners. Delegations have pointed out that the ecological demands of Paris are likely to jeopardize the comfort of the athletes and their preparation for the sport, and that the Olympics are fleeting and “the Olympic experience, which athletes have dreamed of all their lives, should not be sacrificed for the sake of a short-lived event.”
On Tuesday, July 2, the Olympic Village made this surprising announcement: a series of mobile air conditioners are arriving. They come from the various Olympic delegations that have pressured the Village “to install them in some of their athletes’ rooms”. According to Agence France-Presse, the number of mobile air conditioners arriving in the Village is around 2,500, out of a total of 7,000 rooms.
The head of the Olympic Village explained to AFP, “Our goal is actually to meet this extremely specific need of the athletes, who are competing in the most important games of their lives …… Moreover, their comfort and physical recovery needs make the temperature of the rooms they are in the same as the standard summer temperatures are not the same, and the standard is higher. Therefore… We ordered about 2,500 air conditioners.”
According to Le Figaro, USOC CEO Sarah Hershland said on Friday that the USOC will provide mobile air-conditioning units for athletes. She explained that the American side appreciates the efforts of the Parisian side aimed at sustainability, but “as one can imagine, coordination and predictability are crucial to the performance of the American team in this period”. Sarah Hershland added that air conditioning is “a very important priority” and “equipment that athletes consider essential to their performance”.
For its part, the Australian Olympic Committee has installed air conditioning in each of its rooms. Anna Mills, the head of the Australian delegation, told the Guardian that the move was “designed to facilitate the ability of athletes to get a good night’s sleep, many of whom must rest during the day.”
The president of the Greek Olympic Committee also confirmed to the Washington Post that his country’s delegation would be fitted with air-conditioning units, Le Figaro noted. Italy, Great Britain, Germany, Norway, Canada and Brazil are also considering introducing air conditioning.
Green ambitions challenged by athlete comfort needs
This is enough to undermine the ecological ambitions of the Mayor of Paris, Ann Hidalgo. She is not lacking in confidence on this issue, and even swore in a press interview in February 2023 that the Paris 2024 Olympic Games “don’t need” mobile air conditioning. “I have great respect for the comfort of the athletes, but I’m more worried about the long-term survival of the human race,” she explained.
According to Hidalgo’s arrangement, the Olympic Village building will be guaranteed a six-degree temperature difference from the outside world. For this reason, the Olympic organizers have added a geothermal cooling duct system to help better lower the temperature in the athletes’ rooms. Each room will also have a fan system connected to this geothermal system, for a total of 8,000 fans in the Olympic Village.
However, it is clear that these assurances still do not convince all athletes and their delegations. There is a real possibility of a heatwave, especially between July 26 and August 11, which could occur. Even during the Paralympic Games, which will take place between August 28 and September 8, the possibility of a heat wave hitting Paris cannot be completely ruled out.
Some delegations therefore encouraged the Organizing Committee to provide them with the opportunity to pay for mobile air-conditioning units. Others preferred a more economical solution, whereby delegations could be equipped with their own mobile air-conditioning units if certain criteria were met. For its part, the Olympic Village noted that “we have provided them with guidelines on technical constraints, in particular energy consumption and the A-quality of the equipment, which can help make energy performance more likely to meet the standards”.
The Olympic Village also brought us the latest news that delegations from all over the world are encouraged to have “a maximum of one air conditioner per room” wherever possible, but noted that the Village could not guarantee that this requirement would be fully complied with. However, if the weather in Paris remains overcast during the Games, athletes will ultimately not need air conditioning.
