ABSTRACT
Shopping plazas are major developmental facilities of urban landscape and they provide leisure, entertainment and shopping for users. The amount of energy to run such equipments are excessively high coupled with the inconsistent nature of power supply from the central electricity supply. Buildings that promote good shopping activities can be achieved through passive design. In achieving this, the architectural profession has a leading role to play in adopting passive design principles which are environmentally friendly and cost effective. This research explores passive design principles in enhancing energy efficiency in a hot-humid climate of Lokoja. This was achieved by carrying out an evaluative case study research. Cases were purposively selected from Nigeria. Instruments of data collection used are: interview, visual survey and application of energy efficient architectural checklist. The research results obtained shows that more passive design principles such as: use of atrium, use of cavity walls and use of soft landscape need to be employed and properly maximized in design of shopping plazas in Nigeria. The following are some recommendations: The Nigeria Institute of Architect (NIA) and Architect Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) should organize more symposiums where issues on energy efficiency and passive design will be discussed with the focus of educating practicing architects on recent researches and innovations on these issues.