The Littlefield Beaver Dam School's HVAC and domestic water heating system is an innovative ground-coupled, geothermal heat pump system. The water used to operate this environmentally safe system is circulated through polyethylene pipes descending 300' into the ground before returning to the building heat pump system. The design carefully balanced the energy exchange with the soil, resulting in negligible influence to the subterranean soil temperature. The system is remarkably energy efficient. Compared to conventional gas heating/DX cooling systems, the geothermal system achieves 50% cooling and 20% heating energy savings. Completing the picture, the system is essentially maintenance free. This project won the 2000 Grand Award for Engineering Excellence.