McKenney’s helped AdvancED— the world’s largest school accrediting agency—earn LEED® Gold certification with an innovative rainwater and condensate collection system that harvests water for irrigation and cools the air conditioning system’s coils.

THE CHALLENGE

Though irrigation is typically the first consideration for rainwater use, energy conservation was also a top priority for AdvancED as it pursued LEED certification for its new 60,000-square-foot global headquarters.

THE SOLUTION

The McKenney’s team recommended and installed packaged rooftop air conditioning systems that use evaporative cooling on the condenser coils. Rainwater from the cistern was filtered and pumped to the rooftop units. McKenney’s modified the rooftop units to use the water by spraying it on the condenser coils, which significantly reduced energy use.

THE RESULTS

Using spray coils—versus a traditional HVAC installation—helped bump AdvancED to LEED Gold certification while redirecting $200,000 to other project aspects. AdvancED is now in an elite league of only three Georgia facilities with this type of rainwater harvesting system.