Sustainable

Sustainability is a product of smarter working methods, alongside effective and efficient building design. As the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, The West Midlands has a proud heritage in driving change and, in a new century, has set out the Birmingham Climate Challenge to support its high-level targets for future sustainable development.

To maximise the opportunities available to the city, partnership working has been placed at the heart of Birmingham’s strategy to reduce CO2 emissions by 60% come 2026 – far beyond those set by the UK government target of 34%.

The city is already ahead of its CO2 reduction targets, having saved 103,039 tonnes of CO2 between 2008 and 2009.  Birmingham is one of only three places in England to be awarded a Green Flag by the Audit Commission for work on climate change. 

Birmingham Energy Savers (BES) is a project set up by Birmingham City Council and will undertake £1.5 billion of green retrofit work for nearly 200,000 buildings in Birmingham and across the West Midlands over the next 15 years. It is also expected to create and safeguard 60,000 ‘green’ jobs, from installation engineers to designers. The programme will help local businesses take forward new technologies and engage in the ‘Green Deal’ scheme. In December 2011 Birmingham’s dedication to a sustainable future was recognised when it received the Urban Retrofit Award presented by the World Green Building Council during the 2011 UN Climate Change Conference.

In addition, a new five year partnership has been launched between Birmingham City Council, CISCO and MIT under the Clinton Global Climate Change Initiative. Birmingham will be the lead global city to develop smarter living, smart homes.

Birmingham District Energy Company provides low-carbon heat, electricity and chilled water to a range of buildings across the city. District Energy Schemes enable the integration of different types of technologies to generate energy, such as combined heat and power (CHP). Since the first phase of the Birmingham District Energy Scheme became operational in 2009, it has reduced the city’s carbon emissions by some 17,000,000 kg and is now delivering savings in excess of 300,000 kg per annum.

Other key projects include:

• Birmingham was a pilot city in Cabled, the largest trial of electric vehicles in the UK.
• The University of Birmingham unveiled England’s first hydrogen fuelling station, which is part of its research into the hydrogen economy
• Aston University is home to the European Bio Energy Research Institute, a major centre for biomass energy research

Birmingham is one of Britain’s greenest cities, with 8,000 acres of parks and open spaces, including Sutton Park – the largest urban nature reserve in Europe. Eastside City Park will be the first major new city centre park in Birmingham for more than 125 years.

For more information on Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country’s strengths in the low carbon sector, please contact Martyn Mangan, investment manager.

E: martyn.mangan@marketingbirmingham.com T: 0121 202 5022