Situated in the capital city of Windhoek, Maerua Mall is Namibia’s largest shopping mall and in addition to its many shops and restaurants it is also the only mall in Namibia that incorporates a cinema and gym. Since 2006, the mall has expanded to over 582,000sq ft, more than double its original size, due to its popularity.
SE Controls Africa has provided a solution for the mall’s natural ventilation requirements, allowing indoor and outdoor temperatures and CO2 levels to be monitored using external temperature sensors which interface with the smoke ventilation system extract fans, enabling warm air to be vented from the building leaving a cooler environment for occupants without the need for expensive air conditioning.
The natural buoyancy of hot air allows it to be vented at high level, the so-called “stack effect”. This is used to great effect in the central atrium of shopping malls to reduce the need to mechanically cool the air using energy intensive air conditioning units. Instead hot air exits through vents at high level and fresh cooler air is introduced at low level. This also increases air movement which provides an additional cooling effect increasing comfort levels for shoppers and retail staff.
Russell Cramb, Business Development Manager for SE Controls Africa explained: “We worked with Sagger Air Cool and Windhoek Consulting Engineers (WCE) to find the right natural ventilation solution for the client. WCE was able to complete an analytical design of the building, and the system installed was perfect for cooling the building.”
SE Controls specialises in the design and supply of advanced smoke ventilation and natural ventilation solutions to meet the needs of architects, contractors, building services engineers and facilities managers worldwide.