Shopping centres are important energy consumers. The air-conditioning often runs in 'overdrive' in order to avoid a greenhouse effect, resulting in excessive CO2 emission and a lofty energy bill. Alternatives such as screening or obscuration create a dark space perception and additionally generate extra energy costs due to extra artificial lighting. Natural light is still important, but at the same time the thermal comfort for the visitor has to remain ideal at approximately 21°C, for a pleasantly fresh feeling in the summer and a sufficiently warm environment in the winter. So it comes down to finding a sun blocking, insulating and energy saving solution that pays of the whole year round.
Glass foil against greenhouse effect
With a surface of 45.000 m², the Waasland Shopping Center in Sint-Niklaas is the largest ground floor shopping centre in Europe, welcoming some 6.6 million visitors in its 140 shops every year. It is also an architectural tour de force with Zen concept, which results in a pleasant shopping environment bathing in calm, natural light and space. At the end of 2007, Waasland Shopping Center decided to apply Luxasolar® glass foil by Luxafoil NV from Sint-Niklaas on the inside of some 1,400 m² of windows. Other shopping centres followed the example f Waasland since 2007. For instance, also the Westland Shopping Center (Anderlecht), Shopping center City 2 (Brussels) and Galeria Saint-Lambert (Liege) had their windows covered with Luxasolar®.
Already in conformance with the EU2020 environmental target.
By now, the energy efficient results are known. Waasland Shopping Center, through its managing body Devimo Consult NV, had a detailed monitoring carried out for the electricity and heating consumption between early 2007 and late 2008, in order to measure a comparable period over 2 years. This showed a significant saving of 28.7% on heating (gas) and 18.2% on cooling (electricity). The total financial saving on energy costs amounts to 61.506 €. There is also a spectacular CO2 reduction of 242,202 kg. And, not less important, the return on investment (ROI) was already achieved after 1.62 years. Katrien Giebens, manager at the Waasland Shopping Center: "By means of this investment, we do not only provide thermal comfort for our thousands of shop visitors and 140 tenants, but also a lower carbon footprint and a lower passing-on of the energy costs. We already comply with a recent European regulation that establishes that buildings are to reduce their energy use by 20% and their CO2 emission by 20 to 30%".
Also European MEP Kathleen Van Brempt was present during the presentation of the results. She hopes that also in the future Flanders will make an innovative contribution to the solution of the climate problem. Both the EU2020 target and the directive concerning the energy performance of buildings are European opportunities Flemish companies can take advantage of.
A Waasland innovation
Under its commercial brand name Luxasolar®, manufacturer Luxafoil NV from Sint-Niklaas has been the European market leader in the field of energy saving glass foil for quite some time. So it offers us an innovative and ecofriendly solution for thermal and building management. Luc Michiels, president: "The Luxasolar® Optimus glass foils are spectrally selective glass foils with spectacular sun shielding properties and also a very good insulating effect during winter. The revolutionary technology results in highly heat reflecting glass foils with a superior optical clarity and very low heat absorption. During winter, the inside heath (which is normally lost through vast glass expanses) is reflected into the room, which results in an average saving of up to 30% on heating costs, depending on the glass type. Also UV radiation can be blocked for 99%, which avoids discolouration of carpets, furniture and artwork. This intelligent foil is always applied on the inside of the glazing and is suitable for any type of glass, even slanted glazing".
In 2007, Luxafoil NV received full acknowledgement when it got to cover 2,300 m² of windows in the building of the European Commission-Environment DG in Brussels, where the Climate Change and Kyoto department is accommodated. In 2009, the European Parliament dome-shaped building followed. Also, Luxafoil NV in collaboration with the federal energy services company FEDESCO (www.fedesco.be) recently refurbished quite some government buildings with a Luxasolar® touch. The passed few years, over 500 projects have been carried out in office and residential buildings, shopping centres, hospitals, rest homes… all over Europe. But Luxafoil NV also aims at the private market.
Info: www.devimo.be and www.luxasolar.be