Legal Requirements Lists federal requirements related to the purchase of this item, including applicable Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requirements

• FAR Subpart 23.2 Energy and Water Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• FAR Subpart 23.1 Sustainable Acquisition Policy

Life Cycle Cost Savings

Life Cycle Costing (LCC) aims to quantify the financial impact of a product over its entire life cycle to assist consumers in making decisions that will save them money over the long term.

Water heating products certifying for ENERGY STAR under the Version 2.0 specification will offer consumers a savings of more than 15 percent. If all applicable commercial water heaters sold in the United States were ENERGY STAR certified, the energy cost savings would grow to nearly $890 million and more than 17 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions would be prevented.

For most applications, energy-efficient commercial gas water heaters have the lowest life-cycle cost. For example, FEMP has estimated that a water heater meeting FEMP minimum efficiency requirements can save a typical federal user $2,285 in energy costs over the life of the unit, while a "best available" model could save even more: $2,940.

An efficient product is cost effective when the utility costs saved over the life of the product exceed the additional upfront cost (if any) of the more efficient model. Federal purchasers may assume that Energy Star-qualified products and products meeting FEMP-designated efficiency requirements are life-cycle cost effective.

Guiding Principles

Contributes to meeting The Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings

• 2 - Optimize Energy Performance

Additional Guidance

Version 2.0 requirements for Commercial Water Heaters will become effective on October 1, 2018. Commercial heat pump water heaters which meet the minimum coefficient of heating performance of 3.0 may be certified as ENERGY STAR under Version 2.0. Also, storage-type instantaneous water heaters must meet minimum standby loss criteria to ensure efficient operation when there is no call for hot water.

The following products are not eligible for certification under this V 2.0 specification:

• Products that are covered under other ENERGY STAR product specifications, including gasfired storage residential-duty commercial water heaters, as defined in the ENERGY STAR Residential Water Heaters specification. The list of specifications currently in effect can be found at www.energystar.gov/specifications.
• Oil fired water heaters.
• Combined heating/cooling and hot water systems.
• Storage water heaters with greater than 140 gallons of capacity. Heat pump water heaters designed to operate in conjunction with tanks or storage type water heaters are exempt from this exclusion. 

Compliant products not listed in GSA Advantage! may be available for federal purchase under GSA Schedule 51 V SINs 105 001 & 105 002 by visiting approved hardware stores in person or purchasing through the product catalogs of approved vendors. 

In June of 2016, the Federal Energy Management Program updated its guidance for purchasing energy-efficient commercial gas water heaters.

Potential LEED Contributions

This product may contribute* toward points in multiple LEED v4 rating systems, including areas required for LEED v4 building certification. Primarily, the credits will apply in the Building Design and Construction (BD+C) and Building Operations and Maintenance (O+M) categories. This includes the specialty areas of: New Construction and Major Renovation, Existing Buildings, Core & Shell, Schools, Retail, Data Centers, Warehouse and Distribution Centers, Hospitality, and Healthcare. Specific credits are:

• Energy & Atmosphere - Optimize Energy Performance

* It is important to note that no products, individually or collectively, can guarantee a specific number of points for LEED Category credit. Each credit will need to be matched to the product by a certified professional.