Low carbon housing in the West Midlands

An important report in the West Midlands’ aim to achieve its carbon reduction targets was launched on 23rd March 2009.

Low Carbon Housing – developing a baseline for refurbishment in the West Midlands (pdf, 1.59mb) was jointly commissioned by the West Midlands Regional Assembly and Advantage West Midlands.

Amongst the report’s findings was the fact that the West Midlands will need to spend an additional £189.1 million per year on installing energy efficiency measures into homes, which equates to an additional 68,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, if it is to meet its CO2 emissions target.

Future of the West Midlands

At the end of January, I attended and spoke at an interesting event to launch a new report The Future of the West Midlands (pdf, 361kb).

The Smith Institute, an independent social and economic research think tank based in London, organised the event.

The report aims to raise the level of debate about the future of the West Midlands and highlight what policy changes are needed to make a real and lasting difference to the region.

With the forthcoming reforms to regional and local government through the sub national review, this debate is very timely and gains an added significance.