Washington mall and its tenants turn to energy efficiency to reduce costs.
By Tianna Byrtus & Emma Karlsson
The Landing is a popular outdoor shopping mall in Renton, Washington. With a mix of 70 retailers and restaurants, Washingtonians come to The Landing year round to enjoy a mix of food, entertainment and shopping. And while business was bright, the 614,000-square-foot mall identified an opportunity that would make it even brighter for the building as well as its tenants.
Nationally, malls and retail stores use 18% of the energy consumed by all commercial buildings. To showcase that energy efficiency can be a powerful tool to save money, The Landing’s property manager, JSH Properties, embarked on a partnership with Puget Sound Energy (PSE), the local energy company, to launch a campaign that would help businesses save thousands of dollars on energy bills every year. Meanwhile, The Landing underwent a lighting project in the common areas of the mall, an effort that would reduce its energy consumption by 78%, saving the property $36,300 annually.
Increasing Energy Efficiency Awareness
The Landing served as the pilot site for the Brighter Business campaign, an effort to raise awareness of how energy efficiency can help businesses save money. The shopping center was selected for its diverse range of retail and restaurant tenants at the property and for its commitment to reducing the overall energy use at the mall. The participation of the small business owners at The Landing was also key to the Brighter Business campaign’s success.
The first step was to put together a Brighter Business toolkit. The toolkit served as a springboard to get business owners thinking about how energy efficiency can help them save money on their electricity and natural gas bills. It contained information on how simple behavioral changes can save money, including tips on how to accurately program a thermostat and the best way to install energy-efficient products such as lighting, HVAC and kitchen equipment.
PSE’s team hand-delivered the toolkits, and took the time to speak with business owners and managers; a way to establish personal relationships and build trust, while encouraging a closer-knit business community within The Landing. When receiving the toolkit, the businesses were encouraged to fill out a survey to be entered to win additional funding toward making larger, energy-efficient upgrades.
Sixty percent of the businesses completed the survey. While energy efficiency can be an overwhelming topic for many business owners, the survey revealed that the tenants of The Landing were interested in learning more.
In addition to reducing the energy consumption of the small business owners at The Landing, JSH Properties replaced the exterior lighting with LEDs in the open parking lot, garage and common areas of the mall. Just within the first year, The Landing expects to save 415,300 kWh (equivalent to $36,300) or the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from 25 single-family homes. To measure progress, the shopping mall is using the International Council of Shopping Centers’ Property Efficiency Scorecard, a web-based application used by more than 900 shopping centers around the nation as an industry sustainability benchmarking tool.
As property managers, JSH Properties wanted to lead the way. By making the energy-efficient upgrades, JSH Properties also hoped to inspire the business owners at The Landing. Partnering with a local energy company proved to be a powerful combination — energy companies have an array of tools and rebates available to help business customers install energy-efficient products, in addition to knowing how to communicate the benefits of energy efficiency to business owners.
Installations of Energy-Efficient Upgrades
Five businesses at The Landing were selected to receive a financial contribution for making larger, energy-efficient upgrades, serving as a catalyst for other tenants to take action. PSE conducted a thorough energy assessment of each business to determine what upgrades — whether a new, efficient deep fryer, a new dishwasher or an upgraded HVAC system — would have the most cost-saving impact for the businesses.
Moussa Elmoussa, owner of Gyros House that recently moved to a new location within The Landing, is one of the business owners who made the energy-efficient upgrades. By replacing his lighting with LED technology, installing low-flow sink aerators in his restrooms and choosing an efficient ENERGY STAR dishwasher in his kitchen, he anticipates an annual savings of nearly $1,500. Cost-savings aside, he has already received positive feedback by choosing to be more energy-efficient.
“When you own a restaurant, it becomes very important to have a comfortable work environment for your employees and guests,” says Elmoussa.
Combined, the five businesses — Gyros House, Top Pot Doughnuts, Cacie Nails, Mucho Burrito and Renton Modern Dentistry — will save up to $12,000 a year on their water and energy bills after making the recommended upgrades. For example, Mucho Burrito has already installed a new ENERGY STAR qualified fryer using the financial contribution, which will not only save the restaurant more than $600 a year in energy costs, but also more than $2,000 a year in fryer oil costs.
During the culmination of the program, PSE brought a team of energy efficiency experts to The Landing to program thermostats and install energy-efficient lighting and aerators at the five businesses. During the retrofit, it was discovered that several of the participating businesses had programmable thermostats that were not programmed correctly. As a result, the businesses were heating more than 6,000 square feet during hours when the businesses were closed, wasting thousands of kilowatt hours of energy, which quickly translates to hundreds of wasted dollars. The energy efficiency team helped the businesses program their thermostats, a quick and easy fix to immediately start saving money and energy. After Cacie Nails had its thermostat programmed, the business instantly saved more than 25 hours per week of unnecessarily heated space, adding up to $100 saved per year. Top Pot Doughnuts also had its thermostat programmed, saving the shop more than 10 hours per week and $65 per year. And these energy savings took mere minutes to complete!
Even Small Upgrades Can Have Big Impacts
The Brighter Business campaign demonstrates that even small upgrades can make a big impact on energy savings. Lighting represents the largest source of electricity consumption in U.S. commercial buildings, at an estimated cost of $38 billion a year. Regardless of the size of a business, PSE estimates that energy-efficient lighting can help save 20% to 40% of businesses’ energy bills.
In addition, energy-efficient lighting not only reduce businesses’ energy bills, but also has a positive impact on the physical workplace for the businesses and their employees. LEDs and T8 lamps feature newer technology, improved color quality and produce less heat, which means better productivity and a safer, more comfortable workplace.
For other property managers and utility companies looking at endeavors similar to the Brighter Business campaign, PSE and JSH recommend focusing on finding a diverse set of businesses within a small geographic area, such as the downtown core of a small city or a mall. At The Landing, for example, there are both large and small businesses, including restaurants and retail. That diversity enables the program initiators to show that energy efficiency can help all types of businesses.
— Tianna Byrtus is a program manager at Puget Sound Energy, Washington state’s oldest local energy company. Based in the city of Bothell, she specializes in energy efficiency for the hospitality industry. Email [email protected].
— As the director of sustainability at the property management company JSH Properties, Emma Karlsson is based in Bellevue, Washington. She is responsible for reducing energy consumption, setting high performance maintenance and operation targets across JSH’s portfolio. Email [email protected].