CHICAGO (Reuters) - The tallest building in the Western Hemisphere will undergo a $350 million “green” retrofit that its owners said on Wednesday will make the 110-story office tower a beacon for environmentally sound space.

The Sears Tower is shown in this aerial view of Chicago July 6, 2006. REUTERS/Jason Reed

Plans call for the 1,450-foot Sears Tower to reduce its electricity consumption by 80 percent and water usage by 40 percent. It will be renamed the Willis tower later this summer in a deal with new tenant global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings.

To achieve the savings, owner American Landmark Properties and its partners plan to:

- Replace the 1973 tower’s 16,000 tinted single-pane windows and create a “thermal break” between Chicago’s frigid winters and hot summers and the interior.

- Install gas boilers equipped with fuel cells, which generate electricity, heat and cooling.

- Revamp the tower’s 104 elevators and 15 escalators to cut their electricity usage by 40 percent.

- Conserve 24 million gallons of water with new restroom fixtures and “condensation capture.”

- “Harvest daylight” by installing systems that automatically dim lighting based on available natural light.

- Install solar panels to heat water.

- Erect wind turbines on building setbacks, if possible.

- Plant green roofs that will be among the highest in the world to reduce storm runoff and the urban heat island effect.

- Replace granite plazas and walls surrounding the tower with terraced park space, trees, glass storefronts and an interactive digital display.

“We hope to set a benchmark for how high-rise buildings throughout the world can limit their impact on the environment,” said architect Adrian Smith in a statement.

Beyond that, the consortium that owns the tower proposed constructing an adjacent hotel that would qualify for the federal LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) designation.