The complex of about 40 low-rise apartment towers is expected to host around 10,000 Olympians and 5,000 Paralympians during the Olympics. To save energy, the Village’s 7,000 rooms will access a geothermal cooling system—which pumps cold water from aquifers—keeping indoor temperatures at least 6 degrees Celsius cooler than outdoors.

Though the organisers of the Paris Olympics had originally aimed to be air conditioner-free, heat waves in Paris in the last few years had many teams worried about this plan. Ultimately, organisers decided to allow teams to order portable AC units at their own expense—around 2,500 units have been ordered.

From breakfast to dinner, the Paris Olympics expects to serve over 13 million meals to athletes, volunteers, spectators and the media. Showcasing French gastronomy but also taking the opportunity to think sustainably, 60 per cent of the meals will be plant-based and made from 80 per cent French-origin products, 25 per cent from within 250km of the venues and 30 per cent organic products.

In addition, the organisers have committed to halving the amount of single-use plastics compared to the London 2012 Olympic Games and donating, composting or using leftover food to produce renewable gas.

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Refining interior design approaches, the organisers were also able to save on the amount of furniture needed across all venues from an estimated 800,000 to 600,000. The flooring for events such as volleyball, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball and boccia contains an average of 35 per cent recycled materials and can be entirely recyclable. Bed frames at the Olympic Village are lined with reinforced cardboard, while mattresses are made from recycled fishing nets. The lighting systems at existing stadiums and temporary venues have been upgraded to more energy-efficient LEDs. The Paris Olympic Aquatic Centre was also built with sustainability principles in mind. Its concave roof reduces the indoor space needed to be heated by 30 per cent while solar panels installed on it cover 20 per cent of the building’s energy needs.

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Rather than building new tournament venues, 95 per cent of the 2024 Paris Olympics’ venues will either be pre-existing or built temporarily for the event—including the iconic Stade de France or the Vélodrome de Saint-Quentin. Temporary structures and buildings can be easily dismantled, the materials being reused elsewhere after the event.

The newly built Paris Olympic Aquatic Centre is designed not just to host some aquatic events but also to provide for the community in Seine-Saint-Denis, the northern Paris suburb, long after the Games. Concerning food, all 100,000 plates used to serve meals at the Olympic Village will be reused by catering company Sodexo for its future events.

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