Visiting the Olympic Village: Paris Olympics will be "sustainable" to the end

The 2024 Paris Olympics is about to usher in a 50-day countdown, and the construction of the Olympic Village has attracted much attention from the outside world. As the host of the 1924 Summer Olympics, France became the birthplace of the first Olympic Village in history. A hundred years later, the Olympic Village, which once again settled in the "Romantic Capital", will be remembered by people for "why"? Recently, with this curiosity, the reporter visited the Olympic Village in the northern suburbs of Paris.

At the end of February this year, the "key" to the Paris Olympic Village was symbolically handed over to the Paris Olympic Organizing Committee, and the athletes '"temporary accommodation" has since entered the internal "hardcover" stage. "Currently, the installation progress of furniture facilities is close to 90%, and it is expected that the first batch of athletes will officially welcome on July 18." Laurent Michaud, mayor of the Olympic Village and Paralympic Village in Paris, said in an interview with reporters on the 4th.

On the same day, the reporter walked into the 52-hectare Olympic Village. Nearly 80 buildings had fresh color colors and unique shapes, which made people couldn't help but "like" French aesthetics and made people wait to explore its "core" in depth.

"A hundred years ago, the Olympic Village built in France was very simple and was demolished after the game. Today's concept is just the opposite. It is not only much more complex, but also a 'century-old plan'. We hope to leave a 'lasting legacy' to the local area." Georgina Grennon, director of environmental excellence for the 2024 Paris Olympics, told reporters,"We have made 'sustainability' the core of the project from the beginning and made unprecedented commitments, such as reducing carbon emissions by 50% compared to previous Olympics."

How to achieve this ambition? Glennon's first answer was simple: if you don't build a house, you will have no carbon footprint. Therefore, the Paris Olympic Village makes full use of the existing local building facilities: transforming the film and television base into an oversized restaurant with a capacity of 3200 seats, transforming the film studio into an athlete training room, and using the resources of local medical schools to form a comprehensive clinic... Despite this, laundry rooms, nurseries, post offices, hair and nail salons, alcohol-free bars and other facilities are still available. After the game, the Olympic Village will also get rid of the fate of "disposable". The ground floor of the building will be replaced by shops, the accommodation area will be rented and sold out, and the surrounding facilities will be converted into office buildings and schools. It is expected to become a real community in 2025.

The second driving point is recyclable building materials. The reporter visited one of the nearly 3000 apartments in the "village", with wooden stairs connecting the floors. Two single beds made of cardboard are placed in each athlete's bedroom. The bedding is lifted and three mattresses made of fishing nets are neatly stacked. In addition, there are only clothes hangers, bedside tables, electric fans, wooden floors and white walls in the house, with the word "simplicity" being the main theme. In the living room, trash cans and foldable benches, also made of cardboard, also cater to this concept.

"A lot of wood was used in the construction of the apartment, and the bedframes and mattresses will be recycled after the game to get a 'second life'." Michaud said that the standard cardboard bed is 2 meters long and 0.9 meters wide. It can be extended for an additional 0.4 meters as needed. The maximum weight can reach 250 kilograms. Mattresses are available in different hardness. "The cardboard bed was used during the Tokyo Olympics and was well received, so we made improvements while using it to make it easier to adjust based on personal circumstances. We want to provide comfortable conditions for athletes in a more sustainable way."

The third way is to "abandon air conditioning" to save energy and reduce emissions. According to forecasts from the French Meteorological Office, summer temperatures in France in 2024 will be higher than seasonal normal levels. When the heat wave threatened to meet the French people's obsession not to install air conditioners,"how to cool down" became a learning. In this regard, Michaud gave a series of countermeasures: light-colored floor tiles laid outdoors can enhance light reflection and avoid the heat island effect; the geographical location adjacent to the Seine River can enhance air circulation; use a geothermal cooling system to pump cold water into the apartment, allowing indoor and outdoor To achieve a temperature difference of "6 to 10 degrees Celsius"; of course, athletes can also cool down themselves,"such as closing curtains during the day to keep the room cool."

"It's also important: One-third of buildings have photovoltaic panels on their roofs, and another third have roof gardens because plants can help cool buildings in the summer." Grenon added that in fact, more than 8000 new trees have been planted in the Olympic Village. When the reporter mentioned the request of some delegations to "bring their own air conditioners in", she replied: "If someone really needs them, they can rent them from us. But we believe there is no need for this."

After the visit, Michaud accompanied the reporter to a row of mushroom-shaped air purification devices. He told reporters that because the Olympic Village is close to the highway, this set of test devices will filter particles in the air during the Olympics and take this opportunity to verify its effectiveness. "The Olympic Village is a laboratory of the future, and like the particulate filters and apartment cooling systems under test, it is expected to be rolled out to a wider range of towns and residents in the future. I hope the Olympic Village in Paris will become a new milestone, because the Olympics are not just a competition, but should also convey sports values and make a difference in life."