News that work is set to begin this week on Birmingham City Council's new office building at Woodcock Street in Aston is a huge boost to the jobs market and the environment.

The new office is a key element of the authority's plans to deliver over £200m of gross savings by streamlining its office portfolio through the Working for the Future Business Transformation programme.

When complete, the new office building will be a base for over 2,000 staff, replacing more expensive leased buildings in the city centre. It will also set the standard for new ways of working for its employees with the aim of delivering first-class services to the citizens of Birmingham.

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Planning permission was secured in February 2009 and since then the proposals have been closely examined to ensure that best value for money is being achieved. This building project will also see the Council delivering on its promise to reduce CO2 emissions. The building has been designed with the aim of achieving an "excellent" BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) rating.

This means the building will contain a number of innovative low carbon technologies including solar hot water heating, passive ventilation, rainwater harvesting and the use of 'living' brown roofs to create a habitat for urban wildlife.

Additionally, the building will be connected to the Aston University district combined heat and power (CHP) network giving further substantial reductions in CO2 emissions.

Thomas Vale were appointed as contractor for the works early in the design and planning stage through the Birmingham Construction Partnership, working closely with, Birmingham Property Services – identifying and adding considerable value for money benefits to the project. The building is due to be completed in August 2011.

(CD/BMcc)