The 177 Bothwell Street development, which is set next autumn to become Glasgow’s largest single office building, is to be 100%-powered by renewable electricity, with zero carbon emissions.

HFD Property Group announced these energy plans to coincide with the week the UN’s COP26 climate change conference had been due to get under way in Glasgow, before the coronavirus pandemic led to its postponement until next year.

It said the electrification represented “a further 14% reduction in annual energy use”.

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HFD said: “Building on what was already an extremely energy efficient development, the move to fully electric has significantly reduced the estimated consumption, from 18.1 to 15.6 kilowatt-hours per square metre, per year.

A large section of 177 Bothwell Street has been pre-let to Virgin Money for its new headquarters, while HFD Group’s serviced offices business will occupy 65,000 sq ft of the building. HFD said an independent economic impact assessment had concluded that the 313,000 sq ft development will generate £2.8 billion of gross value-added to the Scottish economy over 25 years.

Stephen Lewis, managing director of HFD Property Group, said: “We are setting very high standards for the environmental performance and sustainability of 177 Bothwell Street. The starting point was reducing energy demand, making the building as lean as possible in energy consumption terms, so that there are no carbon emissions that need to be offset through other means.

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“We then carefully selected the right combination of technology and materials, including recycled high-performance glazing and an intelligent building management system, to ensure the building is as energy efficient as possible. Electrification is an emerging trend in property around the world, but we have taken it one step further at 177, with all power coming from renewable sources."