'Green' flats unveiled

Solar panels will be used to heat water for the residents

A new environmentally-friendly tower block has been unveiled in the Midlands.

Braybrooke House, on the Lyng Estate in West Bromwich, has been refurbished at a cost of £2.5m.

Among the block's green features are solar panels on the roof to heat the water for all 70 elderly residents and toilets which flush using re-cycled bathwater.

The features are part of a range of improvements to the eight-storey block which also include new brickwork and insulation, heat-saving glass and fitted bathrooms and kitchens.

The improvements we have made are more economical and should save the tenants money

Geraldine Roberts, Sandwell Borough Council

Outside the 30-year-old block a tinted glazed tower runs the length of the building at the front, over the solar roof and down the rear.

Sandwell Borough Council, which carried out the facelift in partnership with Mansell Midlands Ltd, says the improvements will save tenants money.

Geraldine Roberts, project manager for Sandwell Borough Council, said: "It has been quite a challenge.

"But the improvements we have made are more economical and should save the tenants money."

Research project

Councillor Mahboob Hussain added: "Our use of new technology in Braybrooke House has provided elderly residents with comfort and energy efficiency."

Braybrooke House has also been chosen by Sandwell to take part in the Sureuro project.

The four-year research project will look at the sustainable refurbishment of Europe's 80,000 post-war residential areas.

The performance of many of Braybrooke House's new features will be monitored so that other countries taking part in Sureuro can be kept informed.