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18 + WATEKLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday. August 1. 200 Am of things have changed since Conestoga Mall first opened its doors almost 30 years ago. It‘s gone from being a centre with 60 shops to one with more than 100, with latest additions including a standalone CIBC and an Old Navy store. And it‘s currently under conâ€" struction for further expansion that could add up to 40 new stores in the spring of 2009. But the mall has done more than just grow in its size and offerâ€" ings. It‘s also altered its approach to the environment. Beginning in 2002, the mall started replacing its interior fluoâ€" rescent light bulbs with energy effiâ€" cient ones, said Sandra Stone, the mall‘s general manager. That was followed by replacing the indoor pot lights, along with all the outdoor ones on this pesticideâ€" free property, at 550 King St. N. "The exterior lighting is an interesting story because even though we increased the wattage to make it a brighter, safer parking lot, we decreased consumption canâ€" siderably by just changing the type of fixture we use," she said. The outdoor lighting was also reprogrammed, so only two of each light fixture‘s four heads go on from dusk to dark. When it gets dark, the four lights come on. Lots of money has been put towards building automation that gives administrators better control over the mall‘s lighting and temâ€" perature. "So we can minimize lighting on days when it‘s really hot," said Craig Walsh, the mall‘s operations manager. Before, if the floors were being waxed, for instance, all the lights had to be on. Thanks to this automation, the mall is now dividâ€" ed into zones, and lights in one area can be on without the others. In addition to these and many other improvements, the mall has upgraded almost every heat ventiâ€" lation airâ€"conditioning unit on the roof with newer ones that are more energy efficient, along with stepâ€" ping up their maintenance proâ€" "It‘s the same with your furnace at home," Stone said. "If you don‘t change the filter ... it has to work harder. Conestoga Mall is doing its part So we make sure all the units By Jennirer ORMSTON Chronicte Staff _ here are maintained properly." Plus, most of the stores have "economizers," which have dampers that pull cool air from the outside in. Conestoga Mail‘s operations manager Craig Walsh and general manager employed by the mail in their own homes. "Where we really see the effiâ€" ciency of those is in the spring and fall when it‘s still cool outside, but the light loads of the retailers may need cooling," Stane said. When meteoralogists are calling for hot weather, they use the econâ€" omizer during the night to preâ€"cool the facility for the following day. "So, as it heats up outside, the building is already at a cooler state before the units need to work, so they don‘t work as hard," Walsh The mall also has natural lightâ€" ing thanks to its large skylights. And that means they can grow live indoor plants, which help improve air quality, as do the fountains. Initially, it was dollars and cents that inspired the mall to make these changes. BUSINESS "We understood the future, that energy was a precious commodity and prices were only going to go up," Stone said. "We were ... trying to increase our efficiency and decrease our costs." And that‘s just what they‘ve done. The mall‘s saved about 45,000 watts of energy with its new lightâ€" ing since 2002, Walsh said. _ Some of the retailers â€" includâ€" ing A Garden of Treasures and That Game Store â€" have jumped on the bandwagon and converted their The floodlights in the stores can heat up to 200â€"300 degrees, so changing the fixtures should save money, according to Walsh. The retailers pay their own hydro bills, so it‘s to their advanâ€" tage to make these changes, Stone added. Even though their ecoâ€"friendly approach started as a business Sandra Stone both incorporate the environmentally friendly initiatives decision, its impact has been farâ€" reaching, with the environment and the retailers benefiting as well. "The fact is, we are a large propâ€" erty, we are a large contributor, so if we can do our part to reduce emisâ€" sions and different things, why not," Walsh said. "We can make a difference here." Taking their commitment to green policies one step further, Conestoga Mall‘s corporate office, Ivanhoe Cambridge, has agreed to purchase up to 25 per cent of the power it uses in its 13 malls from Bullfrog Power. Bullfrog, Ontario‘s only allâ€" green electricity retailer, gets its energy from wind and lowâ€"impact hydro power producers. Recycling in the common areas and promoting the practice with retailers is also important for Conâ€" estoga Mall‘s administrators. Their efforts have paid off in this area as well. The Ministry of the Environâ€" ment did surprise audits on Ontario properties this year â€" out of the 260 audited, only 19 passed, and Conestoga Mall was one of them. "We actually got a letter from them commending us on how comprehensive our program is and how good it is at diverting waste from the landfill," Stone said. To get the local community involved with their "green" initiaâ€" tives, Conestoga Mall recently held a denim drive; the jeans collected will be recycled into insulation, which will be donated to Habitat for Humanity. Used denim was collected from June 23 to July 13 with the hope of bringing in 1,000 pairs, a figure they doubled. M "It was exciting watching the parents and the children come in and the children handing in their jeans," Walsh said. "Everyone was into it, it was great." IENNMFER ORMSTON PHOTO