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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 1 - 46 of 46

2012 IMC - International Mechanical Code

Author(s)
International Code Council
Organization(s)
ICC
Publication Date
2012 edition of code establishing minimum regulations for mechanical systems, including heating, cooling, ventilation, exhaust, ducts, fireplaces, combustion and hydronic systems, using prescriptive and performance-related provisions.

2018 IMC - International Mechanical Code

Author(s)
International Code Council
Organization(s)
ICC
Publication Date
2018 edition of code establishing minimum regulations for mechanical systems, including heating, cooling, ventilation, exhaust, ducts, fireplaces, combustion and hydronic systems, using prescriptive and performance-related provisions.

A Feasibility Study: Ductless Hydronic Distribution systems with Fan Coil Delivery

Author(s)
Springer David,
Dakin Bill,
Backman Christine
Organization(s)
Alliance for Residential Building Innovation,
ARBI,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
Davis Energy Group
Publication Date
Research study estimating potential energy savings relative to conventional ducted air distribution, and identifying equipment requirements, costs, and barriers.

ACCA Manual RS - Comfort, Air Quality, and Efficiency by Design

Author(s)
Rutkowski
Organization(s)
Air Conditioning Contractors of America
Publication Date
The manual covers residential zoning issues - multiple, single-zone, and central multi-zone systems - and includes advice on working with homeowners to adapt the heating or cooling system design to meet modern home design features.

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 52.2-2017 - Method of Testing General Ventilation Air-Cleaning Devices for Removal Efficiency by Particle Size

Author(s)
American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers
Organization(s)
ASHRAE,
American National Standards Institute,
ANSI
Publication Date
Standard establishing a test procedure for evaluating the performance of air-cleaning devices as a function of particle size. This is the current version of the standard, which was published in the year 2017, and is available for preview and purchase at the reference link. The ASHRAE bookstore also...

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2022 –Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality

Author(s)
American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers
Organization(s)
ASHRAE,
American National Standards Institute,
ANSI
Publication Date
Standard that provides procedures and methods for meeting minimum ventilation and indoor air quality requirements to engineers, design professionals, owners, and jurisdictional authorities where model codes have been adopted. This is the current version of the standard, which was published in the...

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.2-2010 - Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings

Author(s)
American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers
Organization(s)
ASHRAE,
American National Standards Institute,
ANSI
Publication Date
Standard that defines the roles of and minimum requirements for mechanical and natural ventilation systems and the building envelope intended to provide acceptable indoor air quality in low-rise residential buildings. This version of the standard was published in the year 2010, and is available for...

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.2-2013 - Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings

Author(s)
American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers
Organization(s)
ASHRAE,
American National Standards Institute,
ANSI
Publication Date
Standard that defines the roles of and minimum requirements for mechanical and natural ventilation systems and the building envelope intended to provide acceptable indoor air quality in low-rise residential buildings. This version of the standard was published in the year 2013, and is available for...

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.2-2016 - Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings

Author(s)
American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers
Organization(s)
ASHRAE
Publication Date
Standard that defines the roles of and minimum requirements for mechanical and natural ventilation systems and the building envelope intended to provide acceptable indoor air quality in low-rise residential buildings. This version of the standard was published in the year 2016, and is available for...

ASTM E3087-18: Standard Test Method for Measuring Capture Efficiency of Domestic Range Hoods

Author(s)
ASTM International
Organization(s)
ASTM
Publication Date
Test method that measures the capture efficiency of wall-mounted domestic range hoods under controlled conditions in a test chamber. The current version of this standard is available for preview and purchase at the link and was published in the year 2018. A previous version of this standard is...

Certified Home Ventilating Products Directory

Author(s)
Home Ventilating Institute
Organization(s)
HVI
Publication Date
Website providing an online directory of more than 3,600 residential ventilation products lisiting flowrates, sones, watts, and other performance metrics; all listed products have been tested by the Home Ventilating Institute.

Code Notes: Residential Fan Efficiency

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Organization(s)
DOE
Publication Date
IECC code note explaining new fan efficacy requirements, along with how to determine which fans are affected by the new fan requirements.

ECM Motors: An Energy Saving Opportunity

Author(s)
National Institute of Health Division of Technical Resources
Organization(s)
National Institute of Health
Publication Date
Bulletin describing the components of ECM motors and comparing their efficiency with PSC motors.

Evaluation of Northern Illinois Residential Retrofit Delivery Practices

Author(s)
Rowley P,
Kerr R,
Brand Larry
Organization(s)
Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit,
PARR,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
Gas Technology Institute,
GTI Energy,
Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance,
MEEA,
CNT Energy,
Elevate Energy,
Future Energy Enterprises
Publication Date
Document reviewing four cold-climate northern Illinois energy efficiency retrofit programs to identify practices, tools, and approaches to streamline and reduce costs of comprehensive retrofits, and to improve the consistency of audit and retrofit delivery practices across different programs.

Evaluation of Retrofit Variable-Speed Furnace Fan Motors

Author(s)
Aldrich Robb,
Williamson Jim
Organization(s)
Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,
CARB,
Steven Winter Associates,
SWA,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
Publication Date
Report detailing the effects of replacing PSC motors with more efficient, variable-speed motors.

Fans, Ventilating for Consumers

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Organization(s)
DOE,
EPA
Publication Date
Information sheet about the benefits of purchasing and installing ENERGY STAR rated fans and ventilation products.

Field and Laboratory Testing of Approaches to Smart Whole-House Mechanical Ventilation Control

Author(s)
Martin,
Fenaughty,
Parker
Organization(s)
BA-PIRC,
Florida Solar Energy Center,
FSEC
Publication Date
Report outlining how Smart ventilation controls (SVC) balance energy consumption, comfort, and IAQ by optimizing mechanical ventilation operation to reduce the heating and/or cooling loads, improve management of indoor moisture, and maintain IAQ equivalence according to ASHRAE 62.2.

Field Test of Room-to-Room Uniformity of Ventilation Air Distribution in Two New Houses, RR-0602

Author(s)
Hendron Robert,
Rudd Armin,
Anderson Ren,
Barley Dennis,
Hancock Ed,
Townsend Aaron
Organization(s)
Building Science Corporation,
BSC,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
Mountain Energy Partnership
Publication Date
Report about field testing that characterizes the uniformity of room-to-room ventilation air distribution under various operating conditions by examining multi-zone tracer gas decay curves and calculating local age-of-air.

Field Validation of a Smart Energy Recovery Ventilation System Using Low-Cost Indoor Air Quality Sensors

Author(s)
Hains Bryant,
Abi Saab Rawad,
Giddings Tylesha,
Magande Hugh,
Grygier Jenna,
Liang Donghai,
Gao Han,
Sarnat Jeremy,
Horner Elliott
Organization(s)
Southface,
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Publication Date
Technical report on a field validation study that utilizes low-cost indoor air quality sensors to assess a smart ventilation system's effectiveness in maintaining acceptable indoor humidity in low-load homes in humid environments, revealing that while the smart ventilation algorithm demonstrated...

Filtration and Disinfection FAQ

Author(s)
American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating,
and Air-conditioning Engineers
Organization(s)
ASHRAE
Publication Date
ASHRAE Q&A addressing HVAC filtration and disinfection for reducing the spread of COVID-19.

Flexible Residential Test Facility: Impact of Infiltration and Ventilation on Measured Heating Season Energy and Moisture Levels

Author(s)
Vieira,
Parker,
Fairey III,
Sherwin,
Withers,
Hoak
Organization(s)
BA-PIRC,
Florida Solar Energy Center,
FSEC
Publication Date
Research study outlining savings from reducing air infiltration, with and without the addition of mechanical ventilation, using two identical laboratory homes designed to model existing Florida building stock.

Home Ventilating Institute

Author(s)
Home Ventilating Institute
Organization(s)
Home Ventilating Institute
Publication Date
Website providing certified rating programs to help manufacturers, builders, contractors and homeowners compare performance of ventilation products for air flow, sound, and other performance characteristics.

Integrated Ventilation System Increases Energy Efficiency and Ease of Installations

Author(s)
NREL
Organization(s)
NREL,
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Publication Date
Fact sheet describing the newly developed Ventilation-Integrated Comfort System (VICS) that reduces space requirements and eliminates costly ductwork for separate heating, cooling, and ventilation systems, all while enhancing performance, addressing the demand for energy-efficient homes, and...

Measure Guideline: Passive Vents

Author(s)
Berger David,
Neri Robin
Organization(s)
Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,
CARB,
Steven Winter Associates,
SWA
Publication Date
Report describing the use of passive vents as a source of outdoor air in multifamily buildings.

Measure Guideline: Selecting Ventilation Systems for Existing Homes

Author(s)
Aldrich Robb
Organization(s)
Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,
CARB,
Steven Winter Associates,
SWA
Publication Date
This document addresses adding—or improving—mechanical ventilation systems to existing homes. The purpose of ventilation is to remove contaminants from homes either directly or by dilution. This report discusses where, when, and how much ventilation is appropriate in a home, including some...

Measure Guideline: Ventilation Cooling

Author(s)
Springer David,
Dakin Bill,
German Alea
Organization(s)
Alliance for Residential Building Innovation,
ARBI,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
Davis Energy Group
Publication Date
Guideline that provides information on properly applying, designing, and installing mechanical ventilation cooling systems for homes located in located in hot-dry and cold-dry climates, as well as a means of understanding the benefits, costs, and tradeoffs of these systems.

Research and Development of a Ventilation-Integrated Comfort System

Author(s)
Puttagunta Srikanth,
Aldrich Robb,
Cleary Barnett
Organization(s)
Steven Winter Associates,
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Publication Date
Technical report describing the research and development of the Ventilation-Integrated Comfort System (VICS) which is a specifically designed, energy-efficient solution that seamlessly integrates with low-capacity, ducted heating, and cooling systems, offering controllable, balanced energy recovery...

Review of Residential Ventilation Technologies

Author(s)
Russell,
Sherman,
Rudd
Organization(s)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Publication Date
Document reviewing current and potential ventilation technologies for residential buildings with particular emphasis on North American climates and construction.

The Performance Check Between Whole Building Thermal Performance Criteria and Exterior Wall Measured Clear Wall R-Value, Thermal Bridging, thermal mass and airtightness

Author(s)
Kosny Jan,
Christian Jeffrey E,
Desjarlais Andre O,
Kossecka Elisabeth,
Berrenberg Lance
Organization(s)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
ORNL,
Polish Academy of Sciences,
PAN,
American Polysteel Forms
Publication Date
Paper that illustrates a performance check between the thermal performance of a Massive Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) wall system mocked up and Whole Building Performance criteria such as total space heating and cooling loads (thermal comfort).

Ventilating Your Home

Author(s)
Puttagunta
Organization(s)
CARB,
Steven Winter Associates,
SWA
Publication Date
Information sheet about proper ventilation and air sealing.

Whole House Fan Technology Fact Sheet

Author(s)
Southface Energy Institute,
ORNL
Organization(s)
DOE
Publication Date
Brochure about how to install and use a whole-house fan.

Whole House Mechanical Ventilation: A South Chicago Case Study

Author(s)
Aldrich Robb
Organization(s)
Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,
CARB,
Steven Winter Associates,
SWA
Publication Date
Report summarizing results from a case study about whole-house mechanical ventilation systems in Chicago.

Wisdom Way Solar Village

Author(s)
Aldrich Robb
Organization(s)
Home Energy Magazine
Publication Date
Article describing sustainable community development of near zero energy homes in Greenfield, Massachusetts.