Venue collection Viparis has unveiled its first solar advertising tarpaulin, installed on the Paris Nord Villepinte gallery’s glass façade. The company says Paris Nord Villepinte is the world’s first exhibition complex to test such a system, designed to reduce the ecological footprint.
This pilot project, created in collaboration with ENGIE Entreprises & Collectivités, is part of Viparis’ commitment to its CSR initiative, Better Events Viparis 2030, launched in 2018.
The organic tarpaulin measures 770cm x 970cm. The tarp is thin, flexible and lightweight and can be adapted to fit pretty much any type of structure. It took just three days to fit the installation.
The renewable energy the tarp generates is fed into the grid, allowing visitors to charge their mobile phones and run their laptops.
Exhibition venues demonstrate the practical benefits of using solar tarpaulins, their vast vertical surfaces being ideal for harvesting solar energy for on-site consumption.
This technology can be installed not only on facades, as at Paris Nord Villepinte, but also on roofs.
Viparis chose the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition complex for the pilot, partly because it is set in the heart of a green landscape.
The site includes an HQE (High Environmental Quality) certified space (Hall 7) with an 18,000sqm green roof.
Viparis has plans to deploy solar tarpaulins all along the glass roof of the reception gallery, which links together the seven main halls, and also serves as a hub for professional meetings and events.
“As the operator of the 10 largest venues in the Greater Paris region, Viparis is committed to working with the entire events industry to reduce its environmental impact,” says Catherine Phin, Head of Sustainable Development, Viparis.
The venue welcomed nearly two million visitors in 2018.
Viparis says it is also looking at deploying tarpaulins at other Viparis sites.
