"Showing that we create wealth while respecting ecology and social issues": Paris La Défense Arena goes green before the Olympics

Since its opening to the public on October 19, 2017 with a concert by the Rolling Stones, Paris La Défense Arena has become a benchmark among venues capable of hosting major musical and sporting events. Located in the Hauts-de-Seine department, this hybrid venue - both concert hall and stadium - is fully modular and can accommodate 10,000 to 40,000 people.

In the heart of the city, in the heart of Europe's leading business district, Paris La Défense Arena is the resident stadium for the Racing 92 rugby players. In 2024, after the performances of Michel Sardou (March), the Black Eyed Peas (April) and Taylor Swift (May), it will be an Olympic and Paralympic site for the swimming and waterpolo events during the Paris Games. Extensive program.

"The constraints of the specifications for the Olympic Games, notes Bathilde Lorenzetti, General Manager, are structural: sorting of waste, management of fluids... We are now going beyond that at Paris La Défense Arena. We are going further in terms of CSR...”

Aware of societal changes and the challenges that are looming in the coming years, the hall wants to be identified as a "responsible venue" by 2025, as shown in its "Memorable Together" program. A virtuous approach with ambitious objectives, which are part of a sustainable and responsible DNA. “The ecological concern affects everyone, continues the forty-something boss of Paris La Défense Arena. We integrate it into our objectives. Energy saving and social policy are essential. This becomes a civic duty, both important in a personal dimension but also for our group, private and family. It can be shown that they have created wealth by respecting ecology and social issues. One is not the enemy of the other, far from it. »

According to Havas Group's Meaningful Brands 2021 study, 73% of consumers say brands must act now for the good of society and the planet. However, the events sector is directly affected by this change: 75% of spectators consider that the environmental commitment of shows is important. Energy sobriety is therefore today one of the major challenges for performance venues. A no-brainer for the largest indoor venue in Europe and its employees.

“We have a fairly young team, recalls Bathilde Lorenzetti. Information flows very easily during meetings. This generation is more seasoned and aware of the question of ecology than mine. The 25-35 year olds are born with it. It's almost harder for the leader that I am to adapt to the new constraints. And then there is my father (Jacky Lorenzetti, president of Racing 92, editor's note). Our rugby players had their little plastic bottles to drink during matches. We wanted to go to the gourd. My dad put the empty bottles in a bag every day outside the head office until a CSR solution was found for him! With us, we do things. Sometimes small things on a daily basis, but which are repeated. It is learning. Selective sorting, turning off the lights, individual cups instead of disposable cups, etc. We rehash and move on. »

From 2019, the hunt for waste was carried out on a larger scale, on the initiative of the former sports minister Jean-François Lamour, recruited from Ovalto, the holding company which oversees Paris La Défense Arena. Developed by Alexandre Mauremont, Director of Buildings, Safety, Security and CSR, with the support of Pierre Sallé, CSR Manager, this proactive policy has made it possible to achieve 40% energy savings at the end of 2021, largely encouraged by the period of complete closure. related to Covid-19.

“Our commitment, explains the first, is based on three pillars: economic, social and environmental. We want to place our activity in a sustainable and responsible economic model, to place social commitment at the heart of our activity and to make our environmental commitment a benchmark in Europe. »

Following the announcement by the President of the Republic of the launch of an energy sobriety plan in 2022, the government launched working groups to which Paris La Défense Arena contributed. Last October, Amélie Oudéa-Castera, Minister of Sports for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, observed during a visit to Paris La Défense Arena that the site was logically committed to the matter, thanks to a location at the heart of a network of public transport, allowing 75% of its spectators to get to the hall by this means.

“Today, our partners want to join a quality economic and sporting project, but also a CSR project, notes Laurent Dupont, director of communication at PLDA. And if our partners have this desire, it is because their customers, our spectators, also demand this. »

Paris La Défense Arena maintains a process of continuous improvement, rewarded by obtaining ISO 20121 certification in June 2022. The enclosure thus benefits from high-performance thermo-acoustic insulation which ensures an optimal temperature while limiting sound losses, and a rainwater recovery system to supply the watering of the land. As a result of many other actions (stopping heating and air conditioning in the stadium between 16 and 26°C, lighting management, etc.), the reductions represent a financial saving of €435k over the 2021-2022 financial year. “You also have to take into account that we have experienced an increase in the cost of energy between these two periods,” recalls Pierre Sallé.

Will the CSR ground swell cause Paris La Défense Arena's operating account to evolve more and more in the coming years? “Yes and no,” concludes Bathilde Lorenzetti. Our operating account is the economy. We have very heavy loads on a building like ours. One of the most important positions concerns the fluids, that is to say the energies. It costs us 1 million euros per month. We have already reduced our consumption by 30%, which allows us to make financial savings. It is in our interest to continue to reduce our consumption as much as possible. It also means less waste, less collection, and further cost reductions. This is a double benefit, for the planet and for our accounts. »