Beijing’s first eco-friendly shopping center opens

After a four-year delay, and a soft launch last month, the Parkview Green finally opened its doors for business this weekend. With a gross floor area of 200,000 square meters, the space was designed by architects Integrated Design Association and engineered by London-based firm, ARUP. The center is constructed from four mixed-use towers, which are wrapped in an outer skin to create an eco-friendly microclimate, making it one of the region’s most energy-efficient buildings.

These green credentials mean that Parkview Green has achieved the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) – Platinum Certification. The building is designed to take advantage of geothermal energy and hybrid ventilation to cool it in summer and heat it in winter. A refuge from baking Beijing summers, the building offers 60 percent energy saving in summer when compared to a conventional office air conditioning system. Meanwhile, when the city hits its notoriously low winter temperatures, highly insulated collective façades trap heat and give the project nearly 80 percent energy saving compared with standard office designs. Irrigation water is collected off the roof and paved areas whenever it rains, and is then filtered and recycled. Waste water from sinks and showers is also treated and reused for flushing toilets.

As WWD has reported, so far only six stores out of the eighty-eight retail spaces have opened. The real shopping rush will begin just before Chinese New Year, in early February 2013, a key time for families buying luxury gifts. Parkview Green offers the first Chinese locations for Karen Millen, COS (H&M’s higher price point fashion store), and menswear brand Ted Baker. Stella McCartney’s Beijing flagship will also open in the space. Watch and jewelry stores including Swiss watchmaker IWC, Ivanka Trump Jewelry, Chopard, and Breitling will all hope to benefit from the Chinese traditions of gift giving in business.