At Sello shopping center, digitalization saves costs and enables new revenue models
Shopping centers are in the merge of reinventing themselves. From being a place to shop goods, the role is changing more into service providers. Real estate plays an important role in providing great customer experience. In perfect places, there are never too warm or cold. The conditions are perfect.
In addition to adjusting right temperature and lighting, digitalization of buildings minimizes the energy consumption. The Sello shopping center in Espoo, Finland partnered with Siemens in order to benefit from digitalization. The data is gathered and evaluated from 1,500 energy and HVAC data points by Navigator – the cloud-based energy and sustainability platform. Using smart data visualization and automated reporting, the collected data is used as efficiently as possible. As a result, Sello’ s maintenance and operational costs have grown less than 10 percent since 2010 when in average the growth is 20 percent.
“ Sello has always been a responsible operator. Environmentally friendly solutions have been taken into account since the very
beginning,” says Sello shopping center manager Marjo Kankaanranta.“ This progressive project will lead the way how shopping centers can be involved in climate economies, and can work for the good of the environment and society as a whole.”
Digitalization is a key factor in finding new revenue models. In Sello, data is not only used to enable perfect conditions and cut down energy costs but making it possible to participate in the electricity reserve market. Sello will be the first significant property complex in Finland to be part of the electricity reserve market by having its own power plant. The energy consumption of the property is automatically regulated by purchasing, storing and consuming energy.
“ When there is oversupply of electricity, Sello adds its energy consumption or stores it and conversely it adjusts electricity consumption if there is too much consumption on the national level. By participating in the electricity reserve market, Sello has another revenue model to the more traditional services”, explains Head of Sales Mikko Aalto from Siemens Osakeyhtiö.
Sello is a game changer in the market but the solution can be used also in other facilities. Fingrids’ electricity reserve market in Finland enables Sello’ s new role. When this solution becomes more widespread, it will bring considerable savings to society by reducing the need to invest in backup power.
“ The role of shopping centers is changing in environmental matters and we want to work with world class pioneers like Siemens. This cooperation is a great example of a new kind of cooperation, which also requires professional shopping center management,” says Vice President Juha Tiuraniemi from Realprojekti, Ovenia Group. Realprojekti is the leading shopping center manager in Finland.
Participation to the electricity reserve market can change earning logics in the real estate market. When the building itself is a source of income, the rent could be lowered or tied to the energy consumption of the tenant. The real estates’ role changes and they are becoming a significant part of electricity reserve market in the future. l
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