The Bug Parc Goes Green: New Ground Source Heat Pump Keeps Creepy Crawlies Cozy Year-Round!

Project Snapshot

Client: The Bug Parc

Sector: Visitor Attraction / Leisure

Building Type: Multi-building zoo and visitor site

Project Scope: Year-round heating across animal habitats and visitor facilities

Funding Route: Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)

Our Role: End-to-end design and delivery of ground source heat pump system

Technologies Used: Ground source heat pumps and site-wide heat network

The Decarbonisation Challenge

The Bug Parc is a specialist zoo in Norfolk, home to more species of insects and bugs than almost anywhere else in the world.

Many of the rare species on site require their environments to be maintained at a constant temperature of between 25–30°C, 24 hours a day, all year round.

In addition to the animal habitats, the wider site includes multiple buildings housing a café, offices and ticketing areas – all of which also required reliable, year-round heating.

The site has no access to mains gas, meaning traditional alternatives would have relied on oil or LPG. The challenge was to design a heating solution that could deliver absolute temperature reliability, operate continuously, and support future expansion without excessive running costs.

Key Delivery Considerations

From the outset, there were several factors we needed to account for:

– Very tight temperature control for sensitive animal environments

– A site made up of multiple separate buildings

– Heating demand running 24/7, year-round

– Limited tolerance for disruption during construction

– The need to allow for future expansion of the attraction

The solution needed to be robust, scalable and practical to install within a live construction programme.

Our Role

We designed and delivered a ground source heat pump system capable of meeting the critical temperature requirements of the animal habitats, while also providing spare capacity for future expansion.

To minimise disruption during the construction phase, we built a fully containerised plant room at our HQ. Once the main build programme was ready, we coordinated delivery of the packaged plant room to site, where it was lifted directly onto a pre-prepared concrete base.

This approach significantly reduced the amount of time required on site and allowed the wider construction works to continue with minimal interruption.

The Solution

We specified and installed a pair of 40kW ground source heat pumps, connected to over 2,000 metres of horizontal ground collector.

The system operates as a small-scale heat network, with heat generated centrally and distributed to multiple buildings via highly insulated underground pipework.

Within each building, we designed and installed the heating distribution system, using high-level fan coil units to deliver consistent warm air heating suited to the spaces and their occupants.

The system was designed with spare capacity, allowing additional buildings – including future attractions to be connected without the need for major rework.

Delivery & Outcomes

The completed system now provides reliable, consistent heating across the entire site, maintaining the required temperatures for animal habitats while also serving visitor and operational buildings.

Key outcomes include:

– Continuous, year-round heating at 25–30°C where required

– Minimal disruption during installation due to off-site plant room construction

– A future-proofed system with capacity to support expansion

– Significantly lower running costs compared to oil or LPG alternatives

– Eligibility for the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive, providing quarterly payments for 20 years

The success of the system has directly supported the development of a new Butterfly Zone, housed within a large polytunnel and heated using the existing ground source heat pump infrastructure.

Estimated carbon savings to date are approximately 65 tonnes of CO₂ – equivalent to removing around 58 flights from London to New York.

The Client’s Voice

Martin French, Owner of The Bug Parc, said:

“Long term it’s a massive saving on money with the grant system, allowing us to enjoy savings for 20 years. On that basis, it’s been a cheaper heating alternative for us.

The system maintains the heat exactly as we expected it to. There are a lot of big buildings here and the heating runs 24/7, so it’s working hard — and it’s working well.

We’re now expanding with a new butterfly park, and the reason we’re doing that is because the system has worked so successfully.”