Reduced heating, reduced lighting, virtuous gestures, renovations… Performance halls are working to reduce their energy consumption by 10%.
Lower the heating, reduce the lighting, change the uses: the three shots have sounded for energy sobriety in theaters and cinemas, in order to reduce consumption by 10%, according to government instructions. From the Zénith to the Opéra de Paris, almost all the halls have already changed, or are in the process of changing, their conventional bulbs to LED. The Opéra-Comique and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées will accelerate the replacement of their energy-intensive halogen stage projectors with LED projectors.
The case is a little more complex on the cinema side: the new generation of projectors, equipped with laser light which consumes 4 to 7 times less electricity, has a prohibitive price (about 40,000 euros per projector, for a fleet of 6,200 ). The basic gesture of turning off the lights will also be reinforced. “We decided to cut the lights, including the general lighting at midnight and whenever there is no activity“, told AFP Thibaud de Camas, deputy director general of the Philharmonie. In the majority of theaters, including the six Parisian theaters of Jean-Marc Dumontet, instructions have been given to encourage employees to virtuous gestures.
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How to “heat the room”?
The rooms will apply the government’s directive to lower the temperature to 19 degrees in offices and public spaces. In large spaces such as the Pierre Boulez room (2,400 seats) at the Philharmonie de Paris, Mr. de Camas nuances, however, that the temperature is not homogeneous, “with 19 degrees on the floor and a little more on the last balcony, because the heat is rising“. The Philharmonie will perhaps switch to recycled air to reduce the supply of new air, which consumes more energy. This had been increased during the Covid period to avoid contamination. On the other hand, no drop in the bill: since the spring, there has been a 40% increase at the Philharmonie (400,000 euros in additional expenses in 2022).
Other exceptions: “In dancers’ rehearsal studios, for example, it may be necessary to ensure a temperature adapted to the nature of their activity, i.e. above 21 degrees“, told AFP Martin Ajdari, deputy director general. With its two halls (the Palais Garnier and the Opéra Bastille, i.e. 185,000 m2), the Opera consumes “electricity like a city of 8000 inhabitants“, according to him. Consumption has already been reduced by 15% from 2010 to 2020. “Smart Impulse” detectors which monitor energy consumption have been installed at Garnier and currently at Bastille.
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At the Théâtre de Chaillot, a thermal renovation has already been carried out in the Salle Gémier in recent years; with the works of the Salle Jean Vilar which will begin in January (until 2025) in order to modernize the equipment, free up spaces and replace dilapidated air units, “there will be an energy gain of more than 55%“, according to Réda Soufi, general administrator.
Invest to reduce
Eventually, several theaters hope to invest in other projects to further reduce consumption. Thus at the Opera the question of “thermal colanderslike the glass facade of the Opéra Bastille, designed in the 1980s, its roofs or the poorly insulated windows of the Palais Garnier which will require specific treatment since it is a listed monument. “The energy bill has more than doubled, all our charges are increasing with inflation, our public has not yet fully returned, so there is a difficult scissor effect that we will have to control while being responsible“, according to Mr. Ajdari.
At the Comédie-Française, and in particular in its set workshops in Sarcelles, subsidies had been obtained to insulate the buildings, but others will be necessary to install solar panels and above all, for the energy renovation of the historic hall of Richelieu. which would cost several million euros (insulation of windows, roofs, etc.). For some, the question is considered according to the typology of shows like Paris La Défense Arena (up to 40,000 people, neither heating nor air conditioning between 16° and 26°). “A concert of rapper Ninho with people moving and dancing, it raises the temperature by four degrees“, we explain.