In Montreal, in hot weather, many high street shops leave their front doors open while running the air conditioning. Environmental organizations believe that Quebec should take inspiration from France, which intends to ban this practice for the sake of energy efficiency.
Strolling down Sainte-Catherine Street in the city center in the middle of July, you can feel the cool air conditioning outside certain stores. In the lot, there are big names like Urban Outfitters, Michael Kors, Aritzia and Garage, as well as smaller local brands. To explain this practice, the employees all cite the same objective: to attract attention and show that they are welcoming.
“If we close the door, the traffic decreases,” says the manager of the accessories, shoes and clothing store WANT Les Essentiels, William Danis. “Without air conditioning, it can easily rise to 30 degrees Celsius” in the store, he adds.
“With the drop in traffic in the city center, the works, etc., retailers have no choice but to put the odds on their side, judges the marketing vice-president of WANT Les Essentiels, Francis Guindon. Extreme heat, however, is a new reality that we must all learn to deal with. When the doors are open, Mr. Guindon however indicated that the instruction is to “reduce the air conditioning accordingly”, “for ecological and economic reasons”.
The supervisor of the WLKN clothing store, for her part, underlines the desire to publicize the recently opened store. By email, the president and CEO of the Quebec channel, Pierre Mercier, agrees.
“Given that after two years of COVID customers are more rare, we want to ensure by opening the door that a maximum of potential customers, during the high season, enter our shop, while controlling the interior temperature”, writes Mr. Mercier.
The discourse is different among those in charge of shops who choose to keep their doors closed. Some point to environmental reasons, others to the desire to keep the precious freshness inside.
“We are already welcoming. Just because my doors are closed doesn’t mean I’m missing out on potential customers,” said Jack & Jones store manager Danny Girard.
Roots says it has “energy conservation” guidelines, including closing doors when using air conditioning.
The French ban
In some cities in France, including Paris, businesses have been at risk of a fine for a few days if they leave their doors open while being air-conditioned. By press release and on Twitterthe mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, described this practice as “aberrant in the current context of climate emergency and energy crisis”.
And this ban will become national, announced last week the Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, in The Sunday newspaper. A decree will be issued to this effect as part of France’s energy sobriety plan. This plan aims to reduce the country’s energy consumption by 10% in two years, compared to 2019, with the aim not only of the environment, but also of reducing the risk of shortages linked to the war in Ukraine.
“It’s useful for the planet, of course, but it’s also useful to be able to get through the winter and do without Russian gas in the years to come,” Minister Pannier-Runacher said of this plan, in video posted on Twitter.
To change things
At Équiterre and the Montreal Regional Council for the Environment, we believe that it will be necessary to regulate what is considered energy waste by stores.
“Right now, we are in an era of surplus electricity from Hydro-Québec, but these surpluses are coming to an end, and our demand will increase with the electrification of the economy and transportation. We will then have problems similar to those in Europe today, warns Émile Boisseau-Bouvier, climate policy analyst at Équiterre. We’re going to have to use the right energy in the right place. Air-conditioning rue Sainte-Catherine outside is not the best use of our energy. »
According to Mr. Boisseau-Bouvier, we need to address this problem now, whether through regulations, through awareness-raising efforts or by reviewing electricity rates.
Hydro-Québec, for its part, encourages users to use electricity in moderation. “Air conditioning with the windows or doors open is not optimal in terms of energy efficiency,” admitted one of the spokespersons for the state-owned company, Cendrix Bouchard.
Even though air conditioning represents only 5% of Quebecers’ annual consumption, Hydro-Québec gives several tips for reducing its use, such as pairing it with a fan and closing the curtains to prevent the sun from heating up the rooms.
As of this writing, it has not been possible to obtain comments from the City of Montreal or Quebec’s Minister of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change.