When the word “sustainable” comes up, these are other words that don’t usually come to mind next: “shopping mall,” “food court” and “ice rink.”

One California shopping mall owner, though, has seemingly brought all those phrases onto the same page with the unveiling of a solar-powered ice rink and food court at the University Towne Center in San Diego.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Newsblog, the solar installation is a first for an area mall, and is expected to cut the facility’s annual carbon dioxide emissions by some 250,000 pounds.

The Westfield Group says it eventually plans to install additional solar panels on new parking garages at the mall as part of a go-green initiative.

There we go again: “parking garages” and “sustainability?” Noted “Suburbia is dead” commentator James Howard Kunstler would probably have a few choice words in response.

Tags: shopping malls, solar power, suburbia, Sustainability