Threadneedle Low Carbon Workplace Trust (LCW) has targeted commercial buildings outside London as its next phase of expansion after the green property investment fund opens its first fully energy managed low-carbon office today.

Real estate investor the Townsend Group made an equity commitment reported to be £35m in LCW last month, taking its total over the £100m mark since it was set up by the Carbon Trust, the developer Stanhope plc and asset manager Threadneedle Investments in March 2010.

Katharine Deas, managing director of LCW, told BusinessGreen the investment has enabled the company to push on with the refit of the Billings, a 160-year-old former printing press in Guildford, that opens its doors today.

LCW's Premier House project in Twickenham could open as early as the second quarter of this year, Deas added, while work should begin shortly on two more properties in Wimbledon and Hammersmith.

'We've raised a reasonable sum, so we can complete these projects,' Deas said, adding that future projects were already in the pipeline.

Although she declined to disclose details, Deas admitted LCW was looking to expand beyond the capital. 'We've never envisaged it as London-centric,' she said.

LCW's remit is to develop and manage affordable energy efficient office buildings, but also to provide energy and carbon savings advice to tenants through Low Carbon Workplace Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Carbon Trust.

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