Investigation of Passive Cooling Strategies in Selected Shopping Malls, Southwestern Nigeria

There is a growing concern about shopping malls' energy consumption, and this has stimulated responses to the demand for passive features in their design from the building industry. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems was the main focus of this study. The study investigated the compliance level of selected shopping malls in southwestern, Nigeria to passive cooling design strategies. Shopping malls that were built in the last 10 years were selected for the study. Data for this study was gathered through observation guide and case studies. It was observed that the selected shopping malls did not fully adopt passive cooling design strategies as it was observed that most of them still depends on HVAC system. This indicates that passive cooling design strategies was not considered when the malls were at the design stage. The study recommends that different passive cooling strategies should be considered when designing future shopping malls so as to optimize energy efficiency. Furthermore, regulatory authorities and allied professionals should see to compliance of future shopping malls design at design, planning and approval stage.