Two large wooden structures filled with ice will appear in St Enoch Square this weekend.

Shoppers and workers in the city centre may be wondering why they have been installed in the busy square and why they are filled with ice.

It is not however, to help people cool down in the summer heatwave but instead is part of an initiative to improve energy efficiency of homes and to promote ways of tackling climate change.

READ MORE: COP26 programme to start with two day world leader summit in Glasgow

The two small shed like ‘iceboxes’ designed to two different specific housebuilding standards are to demonstrate the impact of how improving the building standards of homes can help reduce the amount of energy needed and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

One box is built to the energy efficiency Scottish Housebuilding Standard and the other to the Passivhaus standard. Both are 1m sqaur and will hold 917kg of ice at the start of the challenge.

To achieve Passivhaus standards in the UK homes need high levels of insulation, extremely high performance windows with insulated frames, airtight building fabric.

The iceboxes will be in the square for two weeks and at the end of the week the ice that is left in each box will be weighed to measure how much heat has been able to penetrate the box.

READ MORE: Glasgow asked to think of 'small changes' to battle climate crisis ahead of COP26

The Passivhaus Icebox challenge has been held in cities around the world and is in Glasgow before the city hosts the UN COP 26 climate change summit.

Yogini Patel, of Passivhaus Trust said: “Efficiency is crucial to meet net zero targets. The Icebox Challenge has travelled the globe and this year comes to Glasgow in the run up to COP 26.

Student design competitions like this offer valuable opportunities for our next generation of architects and designers to get inspired by the climate action they can engage within.

“We anticipate the public installation will capture people’s attention, facilitate vital discussion and raise awareness of the impact of simple solutions such as Passivhaus.”

Councillor Ruairi Kelly, Chair of the Neighbourhoods, Housing and Public Realm Committee at Glasgow City Council, said: “The Passivhaus system has great economic, environmental and social credentials, as it significantly reduces both energy bills and carbon emissions.

“The Ice Box Challenge is a fantastic and fun way to illustrate the system in action, and I would encourage a visit to the St Enoch Centre to see this innovative method in Glasgow, where Passivhaus homes have already been built.”

The Passivhaus Icebox Challenge will be in St Enoch Square from July 23 to August 6.

A ‘guess the remaining ice level’ competition, will be held and the winner will receive a weekend in a UK Passive House B&B, courtesy of Housing Associations sponsoring the event.