USA GSA Pilot: TIGI Collectors for Government Buildings

A USA GSA pilot program testing the feasibility of using TIGI honeycomb collectors for government buildings successfully finalized. Performance, outperforming other flat collectors in line with expectations

The General Service Administration (GSA) USA, in charge of 9,600 government buildings reported completion of evaluation of TIGI’s innovative renewable technologies. The energy efficiency pilots were initiated by the US government within its Green Proving Ground (GPG) program and monitored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and completed successfully.

The report, released by the GSA summarized the results from two test-bed locations, the Major General Emmett J. Bean Federal Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the GSA Regional Headquarters Building in Auburn, Washington.

Among the main conclusions of the pilot:

Measured efficiencies matched expectations and were within 2% of predictions
TIGI’s collectors were found to have superior performance over other flat plate collectors. When used with a system design, “in which heat is added to an already-existing hot-water recirculation loop (as was the case in Auburn), HSTC should outperform other flat-plate collectors due to its efficiency at high inlet temperatures. This advantage will be greatest in cold climates.”
TIGI’s integrated Overheating Prevention Device (OPD) worked as expected.

I addition, the pilot demonstrated that water heating in government buildings is economically viable in multiple scenarios and in many climates. It was concluded that systems should be initially installed where water is currently heated by electricity (~25% of the GSA buildings) and especially in places of constant high daily demand.

TIGI reported that it has no indication yet regarding any implementation of a deployment plan by the GSA, yet it is optimistic about participating in such plan when it materializes.

TIGI’s CEO, Zvi Klier commented: “we are very happy to have completed this successful pilot program with The USA government. The results of this comprehensive study monitored by NREL prove once again the potential in TIGI’s high efficiency solar thermal collectors and the superiority of other aspects of our technology like the overheating prevention. The completion of the pilot comes in very good timing for us, as we recently completed our SRCC certification process, which enables participation in sponsored government plans, and eligibility for federal and state support programs for renewable energy in the United States.

We look forward for future cooperation with the USA government, which presents for TIGI a huge opportunity for a unique foothold in the US market in General.

In addition to the activities with the GSA, TIGI is currently participating in a BIRD funded project, jointly with a USA-based company, for the development and supply of heating systems for the US dairy farm market segment. Our solution will provide heated water at ~190^OF (90^OC) for line washing to eliminate illness-causing bacteria in the dairy process”.

https://www.gsa.gov/cdnstatic/GPG_027-HSTC.pdf

About TIGI:

TIGI developed the world’s most efficient solar/thermal collector and the first to provide a commercially viable solution for cold and temperate climates based on transparent insulation honeycomb technology. TIGI’s Honeycomb Collector can produce year-round heat energy at lower costs than any other known alternatives, including electricity and fossil fuels in domestic, commercial and industrial applications.

About GPG:

The Green Proving Ground program leverages GSA’s real estate portfolio to test innovative building technologies and provide recommendations on their deployment. The program helps GSA meet its sustainability goals with actionable data that informs investment decisions targeted at reducing energy- and water-use.