Everyone loves to go to a shopping mall, but have you ever wondered how much electricity an entire shopping mall uses every day?

The lighting, lifts, cinema projectors, air conditioning, automatic doors and many other components on a shopping mall can really add up to create an energy hungry building. A recent study shows that on an average a single shopping mall consumes around 550kWh per square meter each year. Compare this to the total number of malls in your city, and you will know where more than half of your city’s generated electricity is being diverted.

If you are interested to know how you can cut down your mall's energy consumption, here are 7 ways to get started -

1. Say goodbye Incandescent bulbs

The main problem today is that people are not aware of the technological improvements in lighting over the last decade. The initial investment to buy an incandescent bulb might be half the cost of an LED bulb, but they consume around seven times more electricity while in use. This adds up over time, increasing your electricity bill and energy consumption. Replace your lighting with the latest LED tubes or bulbs.

2. Benchmark your building

Nowadays, it is imperative that all building and enterprise owners get their buildings audited by an energy auditing firm. This will show you where you stand in terms of energy usage and inform you on how you should improve your energy efficiency.

3. Energy Capacity scheduling

Another reason why your mall might be underperforming compared to others in terms of energy savings is energy capacity scheduling. Evaluate and monitor the number of hours a day the systems are left on. If your mall is open for about 12 hours a day, you should not be consuming energy for more than 12 hours a day.

4. Motion Sensors in lifts, restrooms, and corridors

Having motion sensor to turn on the lighting when a person walks by or enters the area could have a huge impact on how much energy you consume. Instead of keeping lift lights, restrooms lights and corridors lights turned on all the time, install motion sensors at entrances and key areas to detect the presence of a person and turn on the lights for a minute or so.

5. Upgrade the HVAC system

Invest in energy efficient HVAC systems to replace the existing system. This would have a huge impact on the energy savings of the entire building. Additionally, if you have a relatively new HVAC system, you can do a systematic and regular cleaning of ducts, filters, and vents to improve airflow and reduce the load on the system.

6. Renewable Energy

With the increasing popularity in Solar and Wind technology, it is ideal to set up a rooftop solar (photovoltaic) system or wind turbines atop the shopping mall. These systems can offset your energy demand by more than 50% and reduce your operating costs immensely.

7. Natural Lighting

Having a skylight or many glass panels to allow sunlight to come into the mall will allow for lesser usage of artificial lighting and will give that space a vibrant, open look.

8. Invest in an energy management system

An energy management system will help you actively monitor and manage energy consumption of each component of your building. The system will not only provide you with the energy consumption data for your entire facility, but give segmented data as well. Knowing exactly where your energy is being used can help identify inefficiencies, and you can work on correcting them.

MinionLabs' Minion is a plug & play device that collects the data and sends it to the cloud. The algorithms in the cloud detect the appliances, and provide valuable insights which help the users save electricity costs. So, get started today!