(B)lock the doors and close the blinds

The great holiday sale is everywhere. I'm not usually a friend of sale nor shopping but in the past days I have probably spent saved by sale shopping more than I would have earned at the same time by working.

Nonetheless, one can consider shopping trips also as real estate field study. I've faced one questionable jewel of HVAC design in almost all the shopping centers I've visited in the past sale shopping days: blocked sliding doors.



Why do shopping centers block the sliding doors of their main entrance? No, it's not a maintenance break, it's because they don't want the chilly air to blow in. Then why on earth do most of the shopping centers in Finland have such a door system that allows the chilly wind to blow in? Tell me about it. Chilly weather simply cannot come as a surprise in a place like Helsinki!

In professional terms I'm a bit disappointed with Kamppi shopping center. Kamppi is rather modern shopping center, it did win several awards in the building and construction industry - and yet they couldn't come up with any smarter HVAC solution than blocking the sliding doors whenever the temperature drops below +3 C. New innovations needed here, please.