Union Street, Oldham, Manchester

This timber frame, brick clad building houses approximately eighty apartment units. ECS designed the Mechanical, Electrical and Public Health Systems.

In order to comply with the “Merton Rule” planning condition, requiring 10% of the building energy to be from sustainable sources, ECS worked closely with the project Architects to meet this condition.

ECS advised on fabric insulation targets to allow the use of gas fired heating to reduce the overall energy demand. ECS then considered the use of ground source heat pumps for a number of apartments to meet the 10% energy target. The results were set out in a report and issued to the local Authority Sustainable Development Office. 

Following issue of the report, agreement was reached on the number of apartments heated using the ground source heating. Bore holes were drilled during the installation of the ground floor slab, with geothermal pipework routed to each apartment. ECS liaised with Acoustic Consultants to ensure the heat pumps were acoustically isolated to prevent noise and vibration.