2024 Paris Olympics Planning On Keeping Athletes Cool Without Air Conditioning
According to reports, the Paris Olympics is currently trying to plan a way to keep the athletes of the 2024 Games cool without the use of air conditioning.
According to organizers, as reported by AP, the current plan is to use a water-cooling system under the Athletes Village. They compared it to the current system used for the Louvre Museum, which helped keep the space cool during record-breaking heat waves last year.
Organizers are working to make an air conditioner-less cooling system work as a means of cutting the carbon footprint of the Paris Games overall. The current goal is to cut the carbon footprint by half and put on the most sustainable Olympic Games in history.
By installing special technology that utilizes natural resources to keep everyone cool, even if a heat wave occurs, is how organizers plan to accomplish this goal.
“I want the Paris Games to be exemplary from an environmental point of view,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
Outside of the Olympics, Mayor Hidalgo has had the plan to tackle climate change through multiple action plans that will, ideally, reduce Paris’ greenhouse gas emissions and become carbon neutral by 2050.
“Compared to a conventional project, the carbon impact will be reduced by 45% for the Athletes Village during the construction phase and over the entire Olympic cycle,” she said.
Between July to September 2024, the Athletes Village in Paris will host around 15,600 athletes and sports officials, as well as 9,000 athletes and teams during the Paralympics.
Organizers have been studying heatwave patterns block by block in the Athletes Village to prepare for next years Games. Their methods include simulations where heatwave conditions are recreated to see how successful their cooling system will be at combating high levels of heat.
“The geothermal energy system will ensure that the temperature in the athlete apartments in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb does not rise above 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit) at night, including during a potential a heat wave,” said Laurent Michaud, the director of the Olympic and Paralympic Villages.
He continued to explain that “organizers have conducted tests in rooms that are located on the highest floors of the residences and are facing south and exposed to direct sun on two sides. [We’ve] also considered directions of winds in the region and the water temperature in the Seine. [We also] have worked closely with France’s national weather agency to develop temperature forecasts.”
“Despite outdoor temperatures reaching 41 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit), we had temperatures at 28 degrees (82 degrees Fahrenheit) in most of these rooms. In other rooms, we clearly had lower temperatures,” Michaud told The Associated Press.
“In addition to the underfloor cooling, the insulation built into the buildings will enable residents to keep the cold obtained during the night throughout the day,” Michaud said.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
