McKenney’s leveraged in-house design, BIM, prefabrication and turnkey project management to turn over a sophisticated, fully operational Central Utility Plant (CUP) with automated controls.

1. Every minute mattered for the McKenney’s
team as they worked to design, build, test
and guarantee 24/7 operation of a 30,000-
square-foot central utility plant for one of
the world’s largest manufacturers of carbon
fibers. This large complex project, located
on 600 acres in Moore, South Carolina had
a tight 18-month completion schedule in
order to support the owner’s production
The team completed the detailed system
design in 3D space and also assisted with
the design of the automated process control
and metering system. This automation sys-
tem allows plant operators to continuously
monitor and control the energy delivery of all
five utilities—all in real time.
The team ­partnered with well-established
general contractor Brasfield & Gorrie to
build the 30,000-
square-foot facility
that would house
the required
­process
equipment.
However, due to
the density of piping required and the tight
timeline, there was only one path to success.
The McKenney’s team leveraged in-house
virtual construction (VC) resources to con-
struct BIM models and ­prefabricate nearly
100 percent of the plant piping which allowed
the systems to be ­constructed concurrently
with the construction of the plant, saving
­significant time and labor on the jobsite.
Prefabrication of the piping including over
50,000 diameter inches of welds in five
­different metal alloys was done at the pipe
shop on the Atlanta campus. The attention
to design, quality and pipe shop efficiency
allowed the team to build the plant in 3D
space and then ship it to the jobsite in South
Carolina just in time for installation.
P R O J E C T H I G H L I G H T S
Leveraging BIM, Prefab to
Achieve Turnkey Success
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The Challenge
žž Build a central utility plant (CUP)
from the ground up in 18 months
while managing complexities
with scope and subcontractors
žž Complete the detailed mechanical
design and assist in the design of
automated controls for complete
process control and metering
The Solution
žž Acted as prime contractor and
partnered with a well-established
GC for building construction
žž Applied virtual construction
processes to create accurate
BIM models
žž Leveraged BIM to prefabricate
nearly all piping in the Atlanta
pipe shop
žž Shipped fabricated piping to CUP
in South Carolina just in time
The Results
žž Completed project on time
and on budget
žž Delivered a sophisticated CUP
with automated controls
Specializations
žž Building Information Modeling
(BIM)
žž Design/Assist
žž Pipe Shop Prefab
By leveraging “in-house” BIM, prefabrication
and turnkey project management, the team
was able to turn over a sophisticated, fully
operational CUP with automated controls—
on time and on budget.
schedule. As prime contractor, McKenney’s
leveraged in-house design, building informa-
tion ­modeling (BIM) and prefabrication capa-
bilities to develop a turnkey solution that met
the requirements of this fast paced, multi-­
faceted project.
The scope for the McKenney’s team
included site work, plant facility construction,
hardscape and landscape, HVAC, plumbing,
­process piping, and plant-wide controls.
The completed plant supplies: 85,000
pounds per hour high-pressure steam,
280 GPM reverse osmosis water, 1750 GPM
process condenser water, 2250 GPM pro-
cess chilled water and 5600 SCFM com-
pressed air to the new state of the art
manufacturing facility.