Ensuring a shopping centre looks its best at all times is absolutely crucial. Meticulous cleaning and upkeep of a mall may mean the different between a customer returning to one centre, or instead choosing to part with their hard-earned cash at a neighbouring one. In the current climate, not only is cost a concern for cash-strapped centres when purchasing cleaning products and machinery, but more and more centre owners and managers are finding their environmental credentials under increasing scrutiny.

“I think there is genuine concern and genuine interest [in the environment],” says Geoff Grately, account director at facilities management company Europa. “Everybody in the industry is very focused on the opportunity to reduce costs and to be as efficient and productive as possible.”

Steve Blades, facilities manager at factory outlet operator Realm, agrees that there has been a shift in priorities. “I do think the market has changed,” he agreed. “People are being much more sympathetic to the environment.”

However, others argue that the change has come too late. “We should have done it sooner as an industry,” explains Peter Emery, centre manager at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth. “But now it is very much on the agenda,” he adds.

Gunwharf Quays is one centre taking its environmental responsibilities very seriously and was ahead of the curve in terms
of recognising the importance of the green agenda. The centre hired an environmental manager over five years ago, whose responsibilities include trialling and ordering cleaning equipment and machinery, waste management and carrying out environmental workshops with the tenants. For Emery, proving the centre’s commitment to the environment to its public is vital. “I think a shopping centre is part of the community, in fact, in some towns the shopping centre is the centre of the community so it’s got to be out there giving a positive story about the environment.”

THE RIGHT APPROACH

For many centres, the approach to sustainability is multi-pronged. For Grately, the approach depends on what it is you are setting out to achieve. “From a sustainability point of view, if the crux or heart of what you’re looking at is energy conservation then that filters out into all aspects of managing the centre,” he explains. “One tried and tested method of saving energy is trying to reduce the timings of lighting systems and services that are being used although that obviously has a knock-on-effect where cleaning services are done out of hours.” For some centres, reducing the amount of cleaning activity that takes place at night will in turn reduce the amount of energy used. However, for centres such as Gunwharf Quays which operates 24 hours, there is no quick-fix solution.

One area closely monitored by Emery and his environmental manager is the centre’s portfolio of cleaning machines. At present, the collection consists of one large sit-on scrubber-brusher which is gas powered, five smaller battery powered scrubber-brushers and two machines which lift 10 kilograms of chewing gum from Gunwharf Quays’ pathways a month. In addition, a range of specialist cleaning apparatus tackles the tricky job of cleaning the many escalators over the 33-acre site. But as Emery explains, the most environmentally friendly solution is not always the most efficient. “It’s all about the application,” he says. “The sit-on gas machine runs a lot longer and does a harder job. But the electric ones, which have to have a six hour charge and then only a two hour use period, are more energy efficient.”

However, as Stuart Taylor, managing director of cleaning and maintenance machine company Hako, points out, the environmental credentials of a piece of machinery begin to be realised before an operative uses it in the workplace. “It is at the design stage where our work starts because it doesn’t matter how ‘green’ the machine is in the workplace if it hasn’t had the same considerations when it is being designed and manufactured.”

“For example, the B70 and B90 scrubber driers that are frequently used in shopping centres have an ‘assembly conscious’ design, resulting in production time being cut by 30 per cent. This means that significantly less energy is used in the build process. Add that to the considerable reduction in the number of components that require painting and the paint process is completely free of solvents, produces zero harmful emissions and claims to be 100









per cent recyclable. In additional, electric components have been reduced by 40 per cent and, at the end of its life over 50 per cent of these machines can be recycled.”

GOING GREEN

Another shopping centre taking its environmental credentials seriously is the Meadowhall Centre in Sheffield – one of the shopping centres Hako provides machinery for. David Noakes, cleaning manager at the mall, says its success in winning numerous environmental accolades is attributable to the centre management’s attitude towards sustainability and the environment. “As a responsible organisation we are always reviewing our impact on the environment and we welcome more efficient ways of working.”

The machines selected by Meadowhall have additional energy- and water-saving benefits as well as being designed and manufactured with fewer components, most of which are recyclable. The combination of machines chosen by the centre includes the new B45 and B90 pedestrian scrubber dryers and the B910 scrubber dryer with a pre-sweeping function for an all-in-one cleaning solution. This combination offers maximum cleaning efficiency for the 1.5m-sq ft site.

All of the machines in the portfolio have a made-to-measure dosage and filling system as well as speed dependent control of the amount of water and the Hako Aqua Control system, ensuring accurate dosage and preventing wastage, saving up to 50 per cent of water and detergent when cleaning surfaces. The built-in memory allows the operational values to be activated at the touch of a button. Water is retained in the perimeter of the brushes, reducing the dosage even further as well as reducing the need for filling and increasing the performance area.

Having employed the use of efficient cleaning machines, regular maintenance is essential to ensure that they continue operating at the highest possible levels of efficiency. Gunwharf Quays has an outside company come in every week to perform a maintenance check on the machinery. “If any part is struggling it is replaced immediately to keep the machine operating at its optimum,” explains Emery.

COUNTING THE COST

Clearly, all of this comes at a cost. Operating the latest machinery and using the cleanest, greenest chemical-free products is not necessarily conducive to cost-cutting measures currently being undertaken by many of the country’s shopping centres. Yet despite the temptation to bow to current economic pressures, it is vital centres take a long-term view. “It is essential to spend money in the long-term,” says Emery. Gunwharf Quays recently spent over £750,000 on an upgrade to its toilet facilities, a hefty price-tag that could have been avoided if the centre had opted for less than top-notch equipment.

“We installed sensor activated flush mechanisms and Dyson Blade hand dryers which had cost implications but we chose them because they are the most efficient.” However, Emery recognises that Gunwharf is in a fairly privileged position. “We are a centre in constant growth, therefore we are able to reinvest,” he says. “Not all centres can spend money this way as they may be suffering from voids and may be in decline,” he sympathises. “That said, I’m sure if they’ve got it, they’ll spend it.”

Another centre investing in its environmental strategy is Birmingham’s Bullring. With its facilities management partner Europa, Bullring has evolved a system which allows all employees to contribute by minimising impact. The aim is to reduce segregation streams by separating out food waste and then collecting mixed packaging including cardboard, paper, plastics and washed food contrainers. Other specialist items such as roll cages, palets, halogen lamps, metal and wood were then also collected for recycling by Europa. In addition, one-off items such as ‘the beach’ at Bullring are also recycled. In this case, sand was washed and reused and the wood decking was recycled. This expertise has also benefited other centres – using the experienced garnered at Bullring, Europa has helped Highcross bolster recycling from 7 per cent to 60.6 per cent in six months.

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