Geothermal system heats and cools shopping centre

Underneath the financial district’s so-called One New Change shopping centre, 60km of pipework — enough to wrap around the London Eye 140 times — will warm and cool the building by transferring heat to and from the ground itself and two water wells 150m below the surface.

Coventry-based Geothermal International worked closely with Land Securities and its building partners to design and install the ground-source heating system in the three-year project.

Patrick Sherriff, marketing director at Geothermal International, said: ’The foundations of the building where geothermal pipes have been inserted in the piles as well as water from a natural aquifer provide a heating and cooling source for the building. An intelligent controls package enables the system to heat and cool different parts of the building throughout the year.’

The technology helps One New Change meet its renewable energy targets while serving its different occupiers, both retail and office workers. The centre covers 550,000ft² over eight floors, with 60 shops and restaurants operating over 220,000ft², and when fully let will house around 3,000 office workers in over 333,000ft².