Case Study: Air Purification in a Shopping Centre with 85,000 Monthly Visitors

A 52,000 m² shopping centre in the metropolitan belt of Milan receives an average of 85,000 visitors per month. The covered gallery and underground car park — with 1,800 spaces — showed PM2.5 concentrations of between 120 and 170 µg/m³ during peak hours. Management had received complaints from employees and some tenants about air conditions.

The Decision: ESG, Compliance and Customer Experience

The shopping centre chain had set public ESG targets that included improving air quality in managed spaces by 2025. The E-Bufaga installation was consistent with this objective and allowed results to be documented with certified data for inclusion in the annual sustainability report.

A second driver was customer experience: internal surveys had found that 23% of visitors spontaneously mentioned air quality as a negative aspect of their visit. Management wanted an intervention visible to visitors, not just a technical system hidden in ducts.

Installation Configuration

Eighteen E-Bufaga devices were installed: 8 in the underground car park (level −1, approximately 9,000 m²) and 10 in the covered gallery across the two main levels. The totems in the gallery were customised in the shopping centre's brand colours and positioned in the highest-traffic areas, near entrances and food court zones.

Results: Certified Data

Six months after installation, air quality in the monitored areas had improved significantly:

— Covered gallery: average PM2.5 from 125 µg/m³ to 46 µg/m³ (−63%)

— Underground car park: average PM2.5 from 168 µg/m³ to 62 µg/m³ (−63%)

Total PM removed over 6 months was 1,240 kg. Data was certified by Bureau Veritas and included in the group's ESG report.

Impact on Customer Experience

The post-installation survey (N=1,200, CAWI method) recorded an increase of 8 points in the shopping centre's overall NPS. 67% of respondents who had noticed the totems viewed them as a positive signal of management's attention to visitor wellbeing.

The shopping centre's marketing manager stated: 'The Bufaga totems have become a communication feature that visitors photograph and share. We did not expect this social media effect.'

Economic Sustainability of the Project

The 18 displays generate approximately 1.5 million impressions per month. ADV revenue covers 65% of the monthly device rental fee. Taking into account the benefits from reduced staff absenteeism (estimated at −15% in the weeks following installation) and the NPS increase, management considers the overall ROI to be strongly positive.