A PIONEERING green construction firm has won the contract to supply and install the largest solar wall in the world.

CA Group of Evenwood, near West Auckland, County Durham is helping to build a distribution centre in Castle Donnington, Leicestershire for one of the UK's biggest high street retailers.

The deal is the latest high profile contract undertaken by the firm which has become a leading player in the low carbon construction sector.

Amid a tough period for the building trade, CA Group continues to win lucrative business from retailers such as Amazon, Marks and Spencer, and B&Q who want to reduce their carbon footprint and save on energy costs. CA Group recently completed work on a new football stadium for Brighton and Hove Albion, and earlier this year was asked by Warner Bros to help transform the run-down Leavesden film studios in Watford into a state of the art movie-making hub.

The distribution centre will incorporate the world's largest Transpired Solar Collector, or solar wall installation, ever fitted on a single building project. The system absorbs heat from the sun into the fabric of the building and distributes it via a network of warm air ducts. It can help firms to slash their fuel bills and is proving increasingly popular among developers looking for an environmentally-friendly solution.

On its latest project the County Durham company is teaming up with Tata Steel, which employs about 1,400 workers in the North-East, to provide a number of elements including a high reflective liner which increases brightness inside the building during daylight hours, and cuts down on lighting costs.

Andrew Brewster, who leads the renewables design team at CA Group, explained how the firm's expertise in low carbon techniques had boosted its fortunes in recent years.

"We have seen a significant uptake in solar air heating mainly because of the very tangible results which the technology delivers," he said. "For example, CA Group's successful installation of SolarWall at the Jaguar Land Rover technical training academy, in Leamington Spa, will result in savings of more than 80,000kWh in energy per year, which equates to 19 tonnes of CO2. The figures speak for themselves."

The installation at Castle Donnington for First Industrial development will result in a 30 per cent saving in heating requirements for the warehouse.

Mr Brewster added: "We are excited to be embarking on this very significant project. SolarWall truly is an excellent example of the very latest in renewable solutions which really deliver. This installation, for such a trusted and respected brand which is committed to reducing its emissions, represents a real milestone, not just for the technology but also for CA Group."

The main contractor for the development is Winvic Construction.