We're talking about a new 32-story tower, located at the Angel of Independence on México City’s main avenue Paseo de la Reforma. One of the massive world banks, HSBC, has built one of the first green office building in México.

Although the company pays a flat fee for water and doesn’t save money by reducing consumption, it nevertheless put in place a treatment plant to capture rainwater and drainage from bathroom sinks for reuse in its air conditioners. They even considered a system for treating sewage.

This will be the first office building in Latin America to receive the certification of the U.S. Green Building Council. The certification covers not just the building but also the behavior of the 2,200 employees who use it, which has led to HSBC introducing changes in the work environment.

Some have been straightforward, such as using stylish, comfortable chairs made of recycled materials. Others take more time to get used to, such as waterless urinals and motion sensors that turn off the lights in the conference
rooms (requiring people to periodically flap their arms to remind the room’s sensors that someone’s inside). The general reaction among employees has been one of cooperation and pride. The building’s 180 parking spots reserved for carpoolers (defined as three people per vehicle) are always full. And yet the contrast of having a green building in a city noted for a lack of environmental consciousness is apparent, as in the garage where a
single bike was locked up in an area designed for hundreds.