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.

GSA's Proving Ground evaluated honeycomb solar thermal collectors. A honeycomb insulating layer allows solar energy to enter the collector while reducing heat loss from he energy collecting surface. In solar hot water systems without a storage, honeycomb systems should outperform other flat plates, particularly in cold climates. It is critical to have a trained installer, however, to address unique featuers of solar hot water systems. The honeycomb technology is up to 8% more efficient than flat-plate collectors. Payback depends on how cold the climate is, the price of natural gas, and the fraction of the total hot water energy load that is displace by the solar hot water system, among other factors.

Guiding Principles

Contributes to meeting The Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings

• 2 - Optimize Energy Performance

Additional Guidance

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
  • Optimize Energy Production

* 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.