Project 226 utilizes LED technology. The homeowner was given the choice of using conventional Halogen technology at a savings of about 18% on the initial installation but decided to implement the LED system due to the cost benefits of maintenance and operation offered by LED technology. Halogen lamps would need to be replaced about once a year, averaging about $56 per year, totaling $1134 over a twenty year life cycle, provided the homeowner drove to a retail store, bought the lamps and installed them himself. If the homeowner paid service fees once per year, an additional $1500 would be added to the cost of operation.
The electrical power required to run this Halogen system of 370 watts would cost $1620 over 20 years as compared to $202 for the LED system of 46 watts. ($11.47 per month for Halogen versus $0.84 for LED) All things considered, the LED system returns 55-95% of the initial investment over the life of the system based on operational costs.
One of the techniques Softscapes' designer uses to reduce deep shadowing is by utilizing a crosslighting technique. You can see it's effect by focusing on the shadows created by the lantern on the front entry. The gable returns (bird's nest) on modern homes will cause a deep shadow up each side of the gable above them, causing the gable facade to be only partially lit, not displaying it's full effect over the returns.
