Paris Olympics 2024: Olympic Village not offering AC to promote sustainability, U.S. will bring its own units

The United States will be one of the countries providing portable air conditioning for its athletes at the Olympic Village this summer. With the 2024 Paris Olympic Games tipping off in a month, preparations are ramping up. 

U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee chief executive officer Sarah Hirshland said that although they greatly respect the efforts the Paris Organizing Committee is putting into sustainability, bringing AC units is the most beneficial decision for Team USA athletes.

“As you can imagine, this is a period of time in which consistency and predictability is critical for Team USA’s performance,” Hirshland said. “In our conversations with athletes, this was a very high priority and something that the athletes felt was a critical component in their performance capability, and the predictability and consistency of what they’re accustomed to.”

The Paris Agreement has a goal to reduce local emissions by 100% by 2050. In alignment with that, the Paris Olympics organizers are aiming to cut the greenhouse gas emissions from previous Summer Games by half and offset any residual emissions to achieve carbon neutrality.

Yann Krysinski, who oversees the delivery of venues and infrastructure for Paris 2024, told Reuters earlier this year about the committee’s plan when it comes to keeping athletes cool in the Olympic Village.

“We designed these buildings so that they would be comfortable places to live in in the summer, in 2024 and later on,” Krysinski said. “We don’t need air conditioning in these buildings because we oriented the facades so that they wouldn’t get too much sun during the summer, and the facades, the insulation is really efficient.”

The concern is potential heatwaves during the Games. According to CBS News, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics were the hottest in history, and there is a report warning that the Paris Olympics could be even hotter. The last time Paris served as the Olympic host was in 1924, when the average temperature was about 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit lower than it is now. 

According to the Washington Post, other Olympic delegations providing AC units for their athletes include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, Greece and Italy.