Building 'green' features into new shopping centres on the mainland is becoming standard practice for developers seeking a selling edge in the highly competitive market, consultants say.
Among the drawcards of such environmentally sensitive projects is a big reduction in energy bills, achieved by using special glazing that controls heat transfer through windows, as well as improved insulation methods.
'In dollar terms, we will achieve savings of about 10 million yuan (HK$11.57 million) on electricity bills at the Olympia 66 development in Dalian,' said Vincent Tse, managing director of buildings for China at Parsons Brinckerhoff, which is a consultant to the project.
Hang Lung Properties appointed Parsons Brinckerhoff as a consultant on its mega shopping centre in Dalian, Liaoning, to help it qualify for gold-level certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (Leed) scheme.
The international benchmark for sustainable architecture is issued by the US Green Building Council. A gold-level certification assures tenants and property portfolio managers that the building uses resources more efficiently when compared to conventional buildings and may also provide healthier work and living environments, which contributes to higher productivity and improved employee health and comfort.
Olympia 66 would be equipped with ground-source water heat pumps that extract and dissipate heat from the building into the ground in summer and vice versa in winter, Tse said.
'As Dalian is a port city, temperatures often drop below zero in winter. Using ground-source water [heat pumps] will help consume less energy,' he said. The seven-storey, 221,900 square metre Olympia 66 will be completed in 2015.