Planned without air conditioning, the Olympic village, which is to host more than 10,000 athletes during the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, will be equipped with mobile air conditioners, with delegations having ordered nearly 2,500 units for the 7,000 rooms that will be used, the village’s deputy director assured on Tuesday.
“The goal was really to meet this extremely specific need for athletes who are playing the match or competition of their lives (…) and who may have comfort and recovery requirements that are higher than a standard summer. And so (…) we had about 2,500 air conditioners that were ordered.”assured the deputy director of the village, Augustin Van Tran Chau, during a press visit.
Two years ago, Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris and president of Solideo, the company responsible for building the village, had nevertheless ruled out the possibility of using mobile air conditioners in the village. “There will be no need for it (…) I have a lot of respect for the comfort of the athletes, but I think much more about the survival of humanity”she assured on France Info in February 2023.
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The buildings of the Olympic Village built by Solideo guarantee a difference of -6 degrees compared to the outside temperature. To improve this performance, the organizers added a geothermal system that helps cool the rooms, combined with fans installed in each room.
However, some delegations have nevertheless expressed their concern in the event of a heatwave, prompting the organising committee to offer them the opportunity to purchase mobile air conditioning units for a fee, through the catalogue of options for equipping the village rooms.
Delegations also have the possibility to come with their mobile air conditioners: “We gave them guides on technical constraints, particularly for energy consumption and the level A quality of their equipment, to have material that is up to date”said Augustin Van Tran Chau. The deputy director assures that he encouraged the delegations to take “one air conditioner per dwelling” maximum, but there is no guarantee that this advice will be followed.
