Retail Stores, Shopping Malls, and Entertainment Complexes

Business Challenge

Retail stores, shopping malls, and entertainment complexes are major energy consumers. In fact, in the U.S. alone, the retail industry spends roughly $13 billion annually on energy, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Malls, "big box" mega-stores, and retail outlets are not usually considered energy intensive on a square foot basis, but because of their large size and long hours of operation, they often run up sizable energy bills.

Value of Energy Management

Estimates of energy cost savings are as much as 25% of the total annual energy consumption, or $3 billion a year in the U.S. retail sector alone, if proven energy efficiency strategies and technologies are implemented. Energy use is driven by lighting, space heating and cooling, and refrigeration.

• Lighting usually represents 30 to 50 percent of energy use and is usually the best opportunity to improve energy efficiency in most facilities. Electrical energy consumption for lighting can typically be reduced by 40 to 80 percent by installing more efficient lighting fixtures, improved lighting controls, and taking advantage of daylight where available. Rapid financial paybacks for lighting projects are achieved because of the stores' long hours of operation--much of it during peak generation periods.
  
  
• The importance of climate control is dependent on the particular geographic region. Whole-system engineering aimed at minimizing the need for mechanical cooling is the key to efficient climate control. This can be achieved by reducing unwanted heat gain, harnessing natural ventilation, expanding the occupants’ comfort envelope, and properly sizing and controlling the installed heating and cooling equipment.
  
  
• Refrigeration is unique to facilities that sell food and beverages; perishable products must be maintained at cold or freezing temperatures. As "big box" retailers increasingly provide cold chain merchandise, and as supermarkets become more like "big box" retailers, refrigeration becomes increasingly important. The refrigeration load can be reduced with more efficient refrigeration equipment and improved controls.

In addition to energy cost savings, improvements in lighting and climate control can also increase sales revenues and customer satisfaction. Lighting levels are normally high in order to attract customers to the products. Good quality lighting is highly desirable, especially a high color rendition index (CRI) light source that brings out colors. Customer comfort is also important so effective heating, cooling and ventilating systems are critical.

Implementing energy efficiency improvements may be a more cost effective way to increase store productivity than any other potential investment. Unfortunately, many businesses are unaware of the remarkable gains they can achieve from energy efficient technologies and practices.

NHI's Solutions for Retail and Shopping Malls Can Help

NHI offers energy management solutions for shopping centers and retail outlets. Our industry-specific solution offering includes:

• Reducing interior lighting and lighting retrofits; installing energy efficient low-mercury fluorescent lamps and electronic ballasts
• Use daylighting where possible. Consider skylights in the ceiling and glazing with light shelves around the perimeter
• Limit outside air entering the facility during cold and hot weather. Consider installing demand controlled ventilation that adjusts outside air according to the number of customers and employees, rather than assumed occupancy, which is how most HVAC systems are designed. This often results in over-ventilation, wasting both money and energy.
• Install variable speed drives on pumps and fans with long run hours and variable loads
• Install more energy efficient heating equipment
• Install more efficient cooling equipment. Use enthalpy-based economizer cooling whenever possible. In dry regions consider evaporative cooling
• Install advanced energy monitoring systems for scheduling and controlling HVAC and lighting. Be sure it has remote access capability