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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 51 - 100 of 511

Building America Best Practices Series Volume 13: Energy Performance Techniques and Technologies: Preserving Historic Homes

Author(s)
Britt Michelle,
Baechler Michael C,
Gilbride Theresa L,
Hefty Marye G,
Makela Erin,
Schneider Elaine,
Kaufman Ned
Organization(s)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL,
Kaufman Heritage Conservation
Publication Date
Document providing a resource to help contractors renovate historic houses, while addressing issues such as building durability, indoor air quality, and occupant health, safety, and comfort.

Building America Best Practices Series Volume 14: HVAC: A Guide for Contractors to Share with Homeowners

Author(s)
Gilbride Theresa L,
Baechler Michael C,
Hefty Marye G,
Hand James R,
Love Pat M
Organization(s)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
ORNL
Publication Date
Report providing information about energy-efficient heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) equipment options to help homeowners cut their energy use, reduce their carbon footprint, and increase their homes comfort, health, and safety.

Building America Best Practices Series Volume 15: 40% Whole-House Energy Savings in the Hot-Humid Climate

Author(s)
Baechler Michael C,
Gilbride Theresa L,
Hefty Marye G,
Cole Pam C,
Adams Karen T,
Noonan Chrissy F,
Love Pat M
Organization(s)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
ORNL
Publication Date
A guidebook helping builders design and construct homes that are among the most energy efficient available, while addressing issues such as building durability, indoor air quality, and occupant health, safety, and comfort. Measures described in this guide can help builders in the hot-humid climate...

Building America Best Practices Series Volume 17: Insulation, A Guide for Contractors to Share with Homeowners

Author(s)
Baechler Michael C,
Adams Karen T,
Hefty Marye G,
Gilbride Theresa L,
Love Pat M
Organization(s)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
ORNL
Publication Date
Document providing descriptions of the many insulation options available to homeowners, along with guidance on where, when, and how to install insulation throughout your house.

Building America Best Practices Series Volume 9: 40% Whole-House Energy Savings in the Hot-Dry and Mixed-Dry Climates

Author(s)
Baechler Michael C,
Gilbride Theresa L,
Hefty Marye G,
Williamson Jennifer,
Ruiz Kathi,
Bartlett Rosemarie,
Love Pat M
Organization(s)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
ORNL
Publication Date
Report providing builders in the hot-dry and mixed-dry climates with guidance for building homes that have whole-house energy savings of 40% over the Building America benchmark with no added overall costs for consumers.

Building America Best Practices Series, Volume 10: Retrofit Techniques and Technologies: Air Sealing

Author(s)
Baechler Michael C,
Gilbride Theresa L,
Hefty Marye G,
Cole Pam C,
Williamson Jennifer,
Love Pat M
Organization(s)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
ORNL
Publication Date
Report identifying the steps to take, with the help of a qualified home performance contractor, to seal unwanted air leaks while ensuring healthy levels of ventilation and avoiding sources of indoor air pollution.

Building America Best Practices Series: Volume 2; Builders and Buyers Handbook for Improving New Home Efficiency, Comfort, and Durability in the Hot-Dry and Mixed-Dry Climates

Author(s)
Baechler Michael C,
Taylor Z Todd,
Bartlett Rosemarie,
Gilbride Theresa L,
Hefty Marye G,
Love Pat M
Organization(s)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
ORNL
Publication Date
Document providing a resource to help builders large and small build high-quality, energy-efficient homes that achieve 30% energy savings in space conditioning and water heating in the hot-dry and mixed-dry climates.

Building America Best Practices Series: Volume 3; Builders and Buyers Handbook for Improving New Home Efficiency, Comfort, and Durability in the Cold and Very Cold Climates

Author(s)
Baechler Michael C,
Taylor Z Todd,
Bartlett Rosemarie,
Gilbride Theresa L,
Hefty Marye G,
Steward Heidi,
Love Pat M
Organization(s)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
ORNL
Publication Date
Document providing a resource to help builders large and small build high-quality, energy-efficient homes that achieve 30% energy savings in space conditioning and water heating in the cold and very cold climates.

Building America Best Practices Series: Volume 4; Builders and Buyers Handbook for Improving New Home Efficiency, Comfort, and Durability in the Mixed-Humid Climate

Author(s)
Baechler Michael C,
Taylor Z Todd,
Bartlett Rosemarie,
Gilbride Theresa L,
Hefty Marye G,
Steward Heidi,
Love Pat M,
Palmer Jennifer A
Organization(s)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
ORNL
Publication Date
Document providing a resource to help builders large and small build high-quality, energy-efficient homes that achieve 30% energy savings in space conditioning and water heating in the mixed-humid climate.

Building America Best Practices Series: Volume 5; Builders and Buyers Handbook for Improving New Home Efficiency, Comfort, and Durability in the Marine Climate

Author(s)
Baechler Michael C,
Taylor Z Todd,
Bartlett Rosemarie,
Gilbride Theresa L,
Hefty Marye G,
Steward Heidi,
Love Pat M,
Palmer Jennifer A
Organization(s)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
ORNL
Publication Date
Document providing a resource to help builders large and small build high-quality, energy-efficient homes that achieve 30% energy savings in space conditioning and water heating in the marine climate.

Building America Expert Meeting: Combustion Safety

Author(s)
Brand Larry
Organization(s)
Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit,
PARR,
Gas Technology Institute,
GTI Energy
Publication Date
Expert meeting focusing on identifying gaps and barriers in combustion safety that need to be addressed by future research, and to develop data-driven technical recommendations for code updates so that a common approach for combustion safety can be adopted by all members of the building energy...

Building America Guidance for Identifying and Overcoming Code, Standard, and Rating Method Barriers

Author(s)
Cole Pam C,
Halverson Mark A
Organization(s)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL
Publication Date
Guidance document providing BA research teams and partners with specific information and approaches to identifying and overcoming potential barriers to Building America (BA) innovations arising in and/or stemming from codes, standards, and rating methods.

Building America House Simulation Protocols - Revised October 2010

Author(s)
Hendron,
Engebrecht
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Publication Date
Report summarizing the guidelines for developing and reporting analytical results in a consistent and meaningful manner for all home energy uses.

Building America Performance Analysis Procedures for Existing Homes

Author(s)
Hendron
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Publication Date
Report provides a proposed set of guidelines for estimating the energy savings achieved by a package of retrofits or an extensive rehabilitation of an existing home.

Building America Performance Analysis Procedures: Revision 1

Author(s)
Hendron Robert,
Anderson Ren,
Judkoff Ron,
Christensen Craig,
Eastment Mark,
Norton Paul,
Reeves Paul,
Hancock Ed
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
Partnership for Resource Conservation,
Mountain Energy Partnership
Publication Date
Document illustrating some analysis concepts that are proven to be effective and reliable in analyzing the transient energy usage of advanced energy systems as well as of entire houses.

Building America Research is Leading the Way to Zero Energy Homes

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Organization(s)
DOE
Publication Date
Document testing feasibility of constructing a new single-family home engineered to reduce the home's energy loads to an absolute minimum so that most needs could be met by solar systems.

Building America Residential System Research Results: Achieving 30% Whole House Energy Savings Level in Hot-Dry and Mixed-Dry Climates

Author(s)
Building Industry Research Alliance,
Building Science Consortium,
Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,
Davis Energy Group,
Florida Solar Energy Center,
IBACOS,
National Association of Home Builders Research Center,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Organization(s)
BIRA,
BSC,
CARB,
DEG,
FSEC,
NAHBRC,
NREL
Publication Date
Report summarizing research results for the 30% energy savings level and demonstrates that lead builders can successfully provide 30% homes in the Hot-Dry / Mixed-Dry Climate Region on a cost-neutral basis.

Building America Residential System Research Results: Achieving 30% Whole House Energy Savings Level in Marine Climates; January 2006 - December 2006

Author(s)
Building America Industrialized Housing Partnership,
Building Industry Research Alliance,
Building Science Consortium,
Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,
Davis Energy Group,
IBACOS,
National Association of Home Builders Research Center,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Organization(s)
BAIHP,
BIRA,
BSC,
CARB,
DEG,
NAHBRC,
NREL
Publication Date
Report summarizing research results for the 30% energy savings level and demonstrates that lead builders can successfully provide 30% homes in the Marine Climate Region on a cost-neutral basis.

Building America Residential System Research Results: Achieving 30% Whole House Energy Savings Level in Mixed-Humid Climates; January 2006 - December 2006

Author(s)
Building America Industrialized Housing Partnership,
Building Industry Research Alliance,
Building Science Consortium,
Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,
Davis Energy Group,
IBACOS,
National Association of Home Builders Research Center,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Organization(s)
BAIHP,
BIRA,
BSC,
CARB,
DEG,
NAHBRC,
NREL
Publication Date
Report summarizing research results for the 30% energy savings level and demonstrates that lead builders can successfully provide 30% homes in the Mixed-Humid Region on a cost-neutral basis.

Building America System Research Results: Innovations for High Performance Homes

Author(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Organization(s)
NREL
Publication Date
Report providing a summary of key lessons learned from the first ten years of the Building America program and also included a summary of the future challenges that must be met to reach the programs long term performance goals.

Building Materials Property Table, Info-500

Author(s)
Building Science Corporation
Organization(s)
BSC
Publication Date
Document presenting some of the key technical properties of many of the most common building materials.

Building Science Corporation's Building America Quality Control Checklist

Author(s)
Building Science Corporation
Organization(s)
BSC
Publication Date
Document with the Quality Control Checklist developed as both a guide to assist in the transition to high performance home building, and as a simplified tool to be used as part of any builder's on-site quality control procedures.

Building with SIPs: Need to Know

Author(s)
Structural Insulated Panel Association
Organization(s)
Structural Insulated Panel Association
Publication Date
Guide informing builders and developers about efficient building practice for constructing homes with structural insulated panels.

Central Fan Integrated Ventilation Systems, Info-610

Author(s)
Building Science Corporation
Organization(s)
BSC
Publication Date
Report about ventilation system design, including central fan integrated supply (CFIS) system, made up of a 6-inch outdoor air intake duct connected to the return side of the air handler with a fan cycling control to make sure the fan runs a programmed minimum amount of time.

Chicagoland Single-Family Housing Characterization

Author(s)
Spanier J,
Scheu R,
Brand Larry,
Yang J
Organization(s)
Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit,
PARR,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
Gas Technology Institute,
GTI Energy
Publication Date
Report identifying housing characteristics and energy use for fifteen single-family housing types and specifies measure packages that provide an optimum level of energy savings based on a BEopt analysis.

Cladding Attachment Over Thick Exterior Insulated Sheathing

Author(s)
Baker Peter,
Eng P,
Lepage R
Organization(s)
Building Science Corporation,
BSC
Publication Date
Report on the stability of furring strips as a means for cladding attachment over walls with thick exterior rigid insulation.

Cold Climate Building Enclosure Solutions

Author(s)
Kosny,
Fallahi,
Shukla
Organization(s)
Fraunhofer CSE,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Publication Date
Research study investigating the energy performance and cost effectiveness of several state-of-the-art retrofit strategies that could be used in residential houses in the Boston and New England area.

Cold Climate Foundation Retrofit Energy Savings: The Simulated Energy and Experimental Hygrothermal Performance of Cold Climate Foundation Wall Insulation Retrofit Measures -- Phase I, Energy Simulation

Author(s)
Goldberg,
Steigauf
Organization(s)
NorthernSTAR,
NSTAR,
University of Minnesota
Publication Date
Research study describing an experimental and theoretical investigation of the energy and hygrothermal performance of retrofit foundation insulation systems in climate zones 6 and 7.

Combined Space and Water Heating: Next Steps to Improved Performance

Author(s)
Schoenbauer B,
Bohac D,
Huelman Patrick
Organization(s)
NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership,
NorthernSTAR,
University of Minnesota
Publication Date
Report describing combined space- and water-heating (combi) systems using a high-efficiency direct-vent burner.

Combustion Safety Simplified Test Protocol Field Study

Author(s)
Brand Larry,
Cautley D,
Bohac D,
Francisco P,
Shen L,
Gloss S
Organization(s)
Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit,
PARR,
NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership,
NorthernSTAR,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
Publication Date
Report on a simplified test procedure for combustion safety that is easier to implement and should produce fewer false positives than the previous procedure.

Comfort, Indoor Air Quality, and Energy Consumption in Low Energy Homes

Author(s)
Engelmann,
Roth,
Tiefenbeck
Organization(s)
Fraunhofer CSE,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Publication Date
Report documenting the results of an in-depth evaluation of thermal comfort for two potential net zero-energy homes (NZEHs) in Massachusetts.

Common Advanced Framing Details

Author(s)
Building Science Corporation
Organization(s)
BSC
Publication Date
Brochure explaining the essential basis for advanced framing and some of the more common advanced framing details.

Common Flashing Details

Author(s)
Building Science Corporation
Organization(s)
BSC
Publication Date
Brochure providing information about flashing.