As product developers and local & national retailers in many areas are working to develop sustainability policies and better greener products the focus is starting to shift to the places the products are sold.
Many products sold in the U.S. are sold in shopping malls. The malls are often owned and operated by a development/management company. Mall developers handle the day to day operations in the facility as well as marketing and branding for their mall. Increasingly malls are beginning to realize the social and business benefits of being greener.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran a story in Sunday's paper looking at how malls is the Pittsburgh area are beginning to factor ecological issues into their planning, marketing and development.
The movement in the Steel City is fueled by the non profit group Sustainable Pittsburgh who works to bring sustainable solutions to communities and businesses in the Pittsburgh region.
Historically, the retail development industry has been better known for its tendency to lay down acres of asphalt where farm fields once were than for efforts to produce sustainable projects. Meanwhile, some people questioned Sustainable Pittsburgh's decision to focus on a place where teens buy jeans rather than, say, a manufacturer churning out heavy equipment or some other product.
Retailers sure use a lot of cardboard. Every month, the compactors at the Mall at Robinson collect 6.5 tons of recyclable cardboard that came into the shopping center carrying jeans, candles, food, shoes or other merchandise. It all used to go out with the trash and into a landfill somewhere.
"We were just throwing it all away," said Beth Edwards, general manager of the shopping center.
Not any more. The cardboard compactors are new in the last two years. As are the green cleaning products the mall's contractor has begun using and the energy management system that turns the lights off when nobody's using them.
Management even considered installing a green roof with plants to absorb sun and carbon dioxide but decided that wouldn't be a feasible option until the existing 20-year roof warranty expires.
Improving the sustainability of their facilities not only allows shopping mall developers to reduce waste and cut costs it also offering them a powerful marketing tool, one that remains largely untapped.
Developers in Chicago have figured out the marketing benefits of a greener shopping experience. Next year Baum Development hopes its Green Exchange will be ready to open its doors.
The Green Exchange will be an eco-mall in every sense. The mall will occupy a four-story 250,000 square foot building that used to house the Fredrick Cooper Lamp Company factory. The space is being converted into retail, showroom, office space with many common areas. The conversion is based on LEED standards and will feature restaurants, retail, priority parking for hybrids, showers for bicyclists and roof grown vegetables.
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