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Library

This library contains research reports produced by the Building America program and other building science resources used to support this Solution Center. The materials cover both new construction and existing homes. Use the search box and/or the filters to explore hundreds of residential building resources. Access to some references not produced by Building America may require purchase from the publisher. Documents are listed alphabetically. While we continually update our database, links may have changed since posting. Please contact our webmaster if you find broken links.

Showing results 201 - 250 of 254

Author(s)
Building Science Corporation
Organization(s)
BSC
Publication Date
Description
Information sheet about soil gas control strategies for foundations.
Author(s)
Choi Jayne,
Ludwig Peter,
Brand Larry
Organization(s)
Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit,
PARR,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
Gas Technology Institute,
GTI Energy,
CNT Energy,
Elevate Energy
Publication Date
Description
Report addressing barriers to information, contractor resources and cost savings associated with steam balancing multifamily buildings.
Author(s)
Burdick Arlan
Organization(s)
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
Publication Date
Description
Report about the impact on the loads when common safety factors are applied to the load calculation process using two houses that meet the 2009 IECC prescriptive path modeled as the accurate baseline.
Author(s)
Mallay David,
Del Bianco Marie
Organization(s)
Partnership for Home Innovation,
PHI,
Home Innovation Research Labs
Publication Date
Description
Report following the evolution of the construction quality process from its development for new homes to its application construction of a HPH with enhanced specifications, and its application in a crawlspace renovation.
Author(s)
Burdick Arlan
Organization(s)
IBACOS
Publication Date
Description
Document covering the pros and cons of compact air distribution systems and the decision criteria that must be considered early in the whole-house design process.
Author(s)
Savage,
Hunt
Organization(s)
BARA,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
Building Media
Publication Date
Description
Report intending to provide useful information as the DOE/BA develops and implements comprehensive communications and outreach strategies for demonstration homes.
Author(s)
Holton
Organization(s)
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Publication Date
Description
Document offering methods to greatly reduce lighting energy use through the application of high quality fluorescent and light emitting diode (LED) technologies.
Author(s)
Burdick Arlan
Organization(s)
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Publication Date
Description
Report describing the equipment selection of a split system air conditioner and furnace for an example house in Chicago, Illinois, as well as a heat pump system for an example house in Orlando, Florida.
Author(s)
Berman Mark,
Smith Pepper,
Porse Erik
Organization(s)
Alliance for Residential Building Innovation,
ARBI,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
Davis Energy Group
Publication Date
Description
Document targeting retrofit program managers, retrofit contractors, policy makers, academic researchers, and non-governmental organizations that work to realize energy savings from home energy upgrades (HEUs).
Author(s)
Prahl
Organization(s)
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Publication Date
Description
Document serving as a starting point that features initial tools and resources for teams to start collaborating to continually improve the energy efficiency and durability of new houses.
Author(s)
Hoeschele,
Springer,
German,
Staller,
Zhang
Organization(s)
ARBI,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
Davis Energy Group
Publication Date
Description
Report about proper water heater selection developed to provide step-by-step procedures for evaluating preferred cost-effective options for energy efficient water heater alternatives based on local utility rates, climate, and anticipated loads.
Author(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Organization(s)
NREL
Publication Date
Description
Document on the development of two simple in-home efficiency test methods that can be used by technicians, researchers, or interested homeowners to verify the correct operation and energy efficiency of a homes air conditioning and heating equipment.
Author(s)
Aldrich Robb,
Zuluaga Mark
Organization(s)
Home Energy Magazine,
Steven Winter Associates,
SWA,
Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,
CARB
Publication Date
Description
Article describing a research study exploring how effective interior insulation systems are at keeping basements dry and warm.
Author(s)
McIlvaine Janet E R,
Saunders S,
Bordelon E,
Baden S,
Elam L,
Martin Eric
Organization(s)
BA-PIRC,
Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction,
Florida Solar Energy Center,
FSEC,
TexEnergy Solutions,
Residential Energy Services Network,
RESNET
Publication Date
Description
Report providing a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis inherent to different models as a way of thinking about the transition from traditional business models into a viable model for delivering deep energy retrofits.
Author(s)
Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings
Organization(s)
CARB,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
Steven Winter Associates,
SWA
Publication Date
Description
Report developed for Habitat for Humanity about lessons learned from demonstration retrofit projects undertaken by Habitat for Humanity affiliates in New York, Maryland, and Pennsylvania; with building systems consulting and technical assistance provided by Steven Winter Associates.
Author(s)
Doyle
Organization(s)
BIRA,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Publication Date
Description
Research study identifying barriers, industry status, critical obstacles to documenting added value from energy efficiency improvements, current opportunities to support reporting about energy efficiency, and next steps toward enabling energy efficiency financing market transformation.
Author(s)
Christensen Dane
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
Publication Date
Description
Research study investigating the thermal efficiency of fasteners, namely drywall screws and siding nails, in high-performance wood-framed walls.
Author(s)
Dentz Jordan,
Ansanelli Eric
Organization(s)
Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions Collaborative,
ARIES,
Levy Partnership
Publication Date
Description
Report on a project conducted to better understand the current usage of thermostatic radiator valves by key market players in steam and hot water heating and to conduct limited experiments on the effectiveness of new and old thermostatic radiator valves as a means of controlling space temperatures...
Author(s)
Lukachko Alex,
Lstiburek Joseph
Organization(s)
Building Science Corporation,
BSC
Publication Date
Description
Report discussing Building America whole house systems research within the broad effort to reduce or eliminate the environmental impact of building and provides specific recommendations for future Building America research based on Building Science Corporations experience with several recent...
Author(s)
VonThoma E,
Mosiman Garrett
Organization(s)
NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership,
NorthernSTAR,
University of Minnesota
Publication Date
Description
Report documenting the process and outcomes involved in achieving the U.S. Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program certification standards while helping homebuilders in Climate Zones 5 and 6 in the Upper Midwest achieve ZERH certification.
Author(s)
Backman Christine,
Hoeschele Marc
Organization(s)
ARBI,
Alliance for Residential Building Innovation,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
Davis Energy Group
Publication Date
Description
Research study comparing TRNSYS Type 604 pipe model against laboratory pipe heat loss test data and detailed field monitoring data.
Author(s)
Building Science Corporation
Organization(s)
BSC
Publication Date
Description
Information sheet providing recommendations on the installation of vapor control layers.
Author(s)
Building Science Corporation
Organization(s)
BSC
Publication Date
Description
Information sheet providing information about vapor management in building assemblies.
Author(s)
Building Science Corporation
Organization(s)
BSC
Publication Date
Description
Information sheet providing details on the vapor permeance of different types of materials used in building assemblies.
Author(s)
Roberts,
Lay
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
EnerNOC
Publication Date
Description
Report discussing the measured variability in indoor space temperatures in a set of 60 homes located in Florida, New York, Oregon, and Washington.
Author(s)
Puttagunta
Organization(s)
CARB,
Steven Winter Associates,
SWA
Publication Date
Description
Information sheet about proper ventilation and air sealing.
Author(s)
Herderson,
Dentz,
Doty
Organization(s)
ARIES,
Levy Partnership
Publication Date
Description
Research study developed and verified a fuel oil flow field measurement protocol that is cost effective and can be performed with little training for use by the BB program as well as other weatherization programs and building science researchers.
Author(s)
Smegal,
Lstiburek
Organization(s)
Building Science Corporation
Publication Date
Description
Report summarizing current research, summarizes issues that have been experienced with current best practices, and recommends ways in which the best practices can be improved for water managing sheathings.