HSBC yesterday took the wraps off its award-winning green Harbourview Centre.

The bank — which last week celebrated becoming the first Bermuda firm to earn a prestige gold environmental award for an entire building from a US-based organisation — showed off the changes that had earned the prize.

The seven-floor $80 million Harbourview Centre, which houses 820 of the bank’s employees on Front Street, won the award from the US Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

And staff said the green emphasis in the new building not only cut power use and waste, it encouraged them to take to take the philosophy home and apply it there as well.

HSBC project manager Peter Richens added: “A lot of what we’re doing is carrying over into family homes — we’ve got battery bins and people bring their batteries from home in.”

HSBC executive secretary Diana Antonition — who won the 2013 employee of the year award from Bermuda environmental charity Greenrock — said: “It’s a good benchmark for other companies to look at as well.

“Some of the points are simple and easy to implement — like putting up planters.”

The Harbourview building has abolished trash cans at desks, opting for centralised “villages” on each floor which feature bins for different kinds of waste, printers and a kitchen and meeting area.

Ms Antonition said: “People are thinking about what they print — they’re not just printing everything because they know they will have to get up and go and get it.

“People have also started bringing recyclable containers for lunch instead of plastic containers. The volume of trash has also gone down — we did have a little bit of resistance at first, but it’s become the norm now.”

Ms Antonition has also taken advantage of a global HSBC scheme to allow employees to take part in environmental work, working in forested areas of Maryland to tag trees in order to measure the effects of climate change.

She said: “It’s very much an eye opener about climate change and what we can do to slow it down and bring some of these good practices home.”

Mr Richens added: “We’re saving on hundreds of trash bags a day. We did have some complaints at first — it’s a different way of operating and people were used to looking for trash cans.

“Now some people collect it at the end of the day and others bring their trash when they go for a cup of coffee. It’s a question of readjusting the routine.”

And he said that even the appliances in the kitchens were picked on energy efficiency, while lighting is provided by LED bulbs or compact fluorescent bulbs.

The lighting system can also sense the brightness of natural light and dims or increases output depending on the conditions.

He said: “Our lamps are also recyclable as well. They’re not just disposed of.”

The building is also insulated to the highest standards — even under paving on outdoor terrace areas, while the use of hi-tech heat exchangers on air conditioning and an energy recovery ventilation system helps cut power use.

The firm even looked at carpets, chair coverings and door finishes to ensure they meet green standards and as much as possible can eventually be recycled, while the paint chosen is water-based and without harmful chemicals.

In the main entrance hall — next to the plaque from LEED — HSBC has installed a “green screen” which gives staff and public information on green initiatives and which allows them to check energy use in the building.

But Justin Baillie, the bank’s deputy head of compliance, said the firm was not resting on its laurels.

He added: “We are looking at introducing a separate composting bin — approximately half the trash we throw out could be composted.”

Mr Baillie said: “Separating recyclable trash from normal trash seems a big deal, but it becomes easier by making it more available and accessible — what we tried to sell were the benefits.”

He added: “We are also trying to get paperless cups — we asked people to bring their own cups and cutlery and we don’t have styrofoam cups any more.”

And Mr Baillie said: “Central points also brings the staff together — they’re communicating better now. Everybody has to come back to a central village for their lunch, water or printing. As a result, there’s more communication and socialising between staff, which is good.”

The firm originally aimed for a silver award — but found themselves only two points off the gold standard and decided to go for that instead.

Mr Richens said: “It doesn’t take a lot to make the transition in certification from silver to gold. There was a lot of work, but it wasn’t a huge cost.”