Innovative Geothermal pile trial success

May Gurney's latest sustainable construction initiative is a newly developed geothermal pile, which has been successfully trialled on site at Ferrybridge in Yorkshire.

New government regulations, which came into effect in April 2006, have tipped the balance by requiring developers to source a percentage of the energy requirements for new buildings from within the site itself.

Using an environmentally efficient method, geothermal pipes are installed within piles. These piles facilitate water flow to transfer energy from the ground into the building's heating and cooling system. Integral pipe work is installed within the reinforcing cage in the pile foundations, using bored holes.

As a result of the successful trial, May Gurney can provide a service to liaise with geothermal suppliers and construction companies to install geothermal pipe work into pile foundations. This provides the infrastructure for geothermal installations to be built in as part of the building's heating and cooling requirements.

May Gurney strongly believes in sustainable construction. The company has employed various techniques, including the use of recycled tyres to stabilise a section of embankment on the River Witham in Lincolnshire, which won the company the ICE Edmund Hambly Medal.