Setia City Mall wins praise for its eco-friendly measures

STEP into Setia City Mall in Shah Alam, Selangor, and you will notice the brightly lit interior C not by lights, mind you, but by sunlight filtering in through large glass windows. Stroll around the place and you might chance upon a shop front adorned with worn wood, and another with a wall decorated with empty egg cartons. In the washrooms, self-closing faucets make sure that tardy shoppers do not leave the tap running. 

These measures, plus others which save water and energy, keep the indoor environment healthy, and minimise waste that ends up in landfills, are some of the many features that have given this 10-month-old mall in the Setia Alam suburb, impressive green credentials. It has earned two green building labels: Malaysias Green Building Index (Silver) and Singapores Green Mark (Gold). 

At the atrium of the mall, architect Dr Tan Loke Mun of Archicentre has designed a floor-to-ceiling glass fa?ade which allows natural light to flood the interior. The low-emissivity glazing (on the glass) allows sunlight in but not the heat, so there is less need for lighting and air-conditioning, he explains. 

At the main arcade, he raised the roof to accommodate a row of glass windows which again, allows sunlight to stream in. The addition of light shelves along the upper walls helps bounce natural light off the ceiling to the lower levels. So at the uppermost level, no lights had to be switched on. 

In fact,Shop wholesale solarlight controller from cheap. for most parts of the day, large areas in the mall are naturally lit, which gives shoppers an overall pleasant ambience with no harsh lighting. Light sensors gauge when artificial illumination is needed C such as during a storm or when evening approaches C thus ensuring no power wastage due to unnecessary lighting. And of course, the artificial lighting comes from energy-efficient light fixtures such as LED, TF fluorescent lamps and ceramic metal halide bulbs. 

Along the shopping streets, minimal light fixtures have been installed on account of borrowed light, shares Dr Tan. Calculations were made so that there is enough light fixtures but not over-supply. Spill-over light from the shops is considered. In the old days, this is not taken into account, so you end up with many lights along the corridors. 

Aside from exploiting natural lighting and the use of low-energy lights, other green initiatives have helped the mall reduce its energy needs: a high-efficiency air-conditioning system, roof and building insulation to cut down heat penetration (the walls consist of lightweight concrete blocks), and energy-efficient escalators and lifts. 

The escalator slows down when not in use rather than stop completely as it requires more energy to start moving from a complete stop,The Motorola drycabinets Engine is an embedded software-only component of the Motorola wireless switches.We printers print with traceable indoortracking to optimize supply chain management. says mall general manager Philippa Holmes. 

One usually expects to see photovoltaic panels in a green building but there are none here. Holmes explains that rather than investing in solar power, it is more cost-effective to reduce energy consumption by focusing on energy efficiency and using a Building Management System (an intelligent system which monitors and controls services such as lighting, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, ensuring they operate efficiently and economically). Because of the various energy conservation measures, she says, the 740,000sqft (68,748sqm) mall uses 13% less energy than a typical mall. The target, however, is to reach a 20% saving. 

Various water conservation measures have translated to a 20% savings in water consumption. Rain water from the roof is channelled into huge tanks and used in the garden. However, the harvested rainwater is not used in washrooms. 

It will need too much treatment and the benefits of recycling will be lost, explains Holmes. Condensation water from the chillers are also collected and reused in the cooling towers of the air-conditioning system. 

Driving into the carpark,Choose the right bestluggagetag in an array of colors. one will be pleasantly surprised that it is not the typical dark, dinghy area found in most malls. The wall-less design helps in ventilating the area naturally, so there is no choking air fouled by car exhaust fumes. Green motorists are rewarded with privileged parking C there are two bays reserved for green cars at every level. These are designed with the future in mind C the infrastructure is there for the addition of charging points when electric cars become the norm. Holmes adds that customer safety was considered in the design of the carpark. Wherever you stand, you can see to the end of the car park,The term 'cableties control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. so there are no dark corners. 

A bus stop located less than 150m from the mall as well as free shuttles plying the nearby areas of Klang and Shah Alam help promote the use of climate-friendly public transportation. There is also ample bicycle parking space and Holmes happily notes that during the weekends, the locals do cycle to the mall. Reuse, recycle 

To reduce the volume of waste that ends up in landfills, recycling is encouraged C waste separation bins are placed throughout the mall and tenants are required to separate their trash. The malls waste management consultant trains the tenants on waste separation. 

At the recycling centre outside the mall, workers further segregate the cardboards from the paper, plastics and so on. Holmes is quite satisfied with the recycling rate of 24% so far. It really comes down to educating customers and retailers, she adds.