Library | Building America Solution Center

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 - 20 of 20

Brainy Membrane

Author(s)

Zuluaga

Organization(s)

Home Energy

Publication Date

July, 2006

Document explaining why a vapor retarder that changes permeability with changing relative humidity provides added protection against moisture problems in exterior walls.

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

August, 2005

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.

Byggmeister Test Home: Cold Climate Multifamily Masonry Building Condition Assessment and Retrofit Analysis

Author(s)

Wytrykowska,

Ueno,

Van Straaten

Organization(s)

Building Science Corporation,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Publication Date

September, 2012

Report describing findings from a multifamily test home focusing on the combination of energy measures that are feasible, affordable and suitable for multifamily construction in cold climates.

Chamberlain Heights Redevelopment: A Large Scale, Cold Climate Study of Affordable Housing Retrofits

Author(s)

Donnelly,

Mahle

Organization(s)

CARB,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

Steven Winter Associates,

SWA

Publication Date

March, 2012

Report about City of Meriden Housing Authority's (MHA) collaboration with Jonathon Rose Companies to complete a gut renovation of 126 residential units in the Chamberlain Heights retrofit project.

Conway Street Apartments: A Multifamily Deep Energy Retrofit

Author(s)

Aldrich Robb,

Williamson Jim

Organization(s)

Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,

CARB,

Steven Winter Associates,

SWA

Publication Date

November, 2014

Research report anayzing the results of a large retrofit project, turining an old school into near zero energy consumption apartments in Greenfield MA.

Evaluation of CNT Energy Savers Retrofit Packages Implemented in Multifamily Buildings

Author(s)

Farley,

Ruch

Organization(s)

PARR,

CNT Energy

Publication Date

September, 2013

Report exploring feasibility of designing prescriptive retrofit measure packages for typical Chicago region multifamily buildings in order to achieve 25% source energy savings.

Field Energy Performance of an Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) Wall

Author(s)

Maref Wahid,

Armstrong Marianne Margaret,

Saber Hamed,

Rousseau M,

Ganapathy G,

Nicholis M,

Swinton Michael C

Organization(s)

National Research Council Canada,

NRC

Publication Date

March, 2012

Research study evaluating the dynamic heat transmission characteristics through two identical Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) wall assemblies in Ottawa, Canada.

Fort Devens: Cold Climate, Energy-Efficient, Market-Rate Townhomes

Author(s)

Zoeller,

Slattery,

Grab

Organization(s)

CARB,

Steven Winter Associates,

SWA

Publication Date

August, 2013

Report about development of effective strategies to reduce the overall building energy use in line with Building America goals in this modestly priced market rate project.

High-R Walls for Remodeling: Wall Cavity Moisture Monitoring

Author(s)

Wiehagen,

Kochkin

Organization(s)

NAHB Research Center,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Publication Date

December, 2012

Research study presenting results of an existing home monitoring project designed to measure wall cavity moisture characteristics.

Hybrid Wall Evaluation for Ten New Construction Homes in Wyandotte, Michigan

Author(s)

Lukachko Alex,

Grin Aaron,

Bergey Daniel

Organization(s)

Building Science Corporation,

BSC

Publication Date

January, 2013

Report detailing the design and construction of 10 new houses under the Wyandotte Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2.

Moisture Research - Optimizing Wall Assemblies

Author(s)

Arena Lois,

Mantha Pallavi

Organization(s)

Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,

CARB,

Steven Winter Associates,

SWA,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL

Publication Date

May, 2013

Report describing evaluation of several configurations of wall assemblies to determine the accuracy of moisture modeling and make recommendations to ensure durable, efficient assemblies.

Practical Residential Wall Systems: R-30 and Beyond

Author(s)

Aldrich Robb,

Arena Lois,

Zoeller William

Organization(s)

Steven Winter Associates,

SWA,

U.S. Department of Energy,

DOE

Publication Date

March, 2010

Document with information about the most practical methods to achieve whole-wall performance of R-30 or above.

Predicted Versus Actual Savings for a Low-Rise Multifamily Retrofit in Boulder, Colorado

Author(s)

Arena Lois,

Williamson Jim

Organization(s)

Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,

CARB,

Steven Winter Associates,

SWA,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL

Publication Date

November, 2013

Report documenting actual energy savings of a retrofit project in Boulder, CO.

Preventing Ice Dams Fact Sheet

Author(s)

Wisconsin Focus on Energy

Organization(s)

Wisconsin Focus on Energy

Publication Date

January, 2007

Ice dam fact sheet from Wisconsin Focus on Energy explaining how to prevent future ice dams on homes by learning about their formation and mitigation of contributing factors.

Protect Your Home from Ice Dams

Author(s)

IBHS DisasterSafety

Organization(s)

IBHS

Publication Date

September, 2021

List of recommendations from IBHS on how to protect homes from ice dam formation.

Reduce Ice Dam and Icicle Damage

Author(s)

Kenneth Hellevang

Organization(s)

NDSU

Publication Date

February, 2013

Webpage explaining how to mitigate heat loss through roofs for ice dam prevention.

Strategy Guideline: Energy Retrofits for Low-Rise Multifamily Buildings in Cold Climates

Author(s)

Brozyna Kevin,

Badger Leslie

Organization(s)

IBACOS,

Vermont Energy Investment Corporation,

VEIC

Publication Date

April, 2013

Document explaining the benefits of evaluating and identifying energy efficiency retrofit measures that could be made during renovation and maintenance of multifamily buildings.

Van Geet Off-Grid Home: An Integrated Approach to Energy Savings

Author(s)

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Organization(s)

NREL

Publication Date

August, 2004

Report about a project with successful integration of numerous energy-conservation and renewable-energy features into a beautiful, comfortable, and very energy-efficient off-grid home.

Wisdom Way Solar Village

Author(s)

Aldrich Robb

Organization(s)

Home Energy Magazine

Publication Date

March, 2009

Article describing sustainable community development of near zero energy homes in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

Wisdom Way Solar Village: Design, Construction, and Analysis of a Low Energy Community

Author(s)

Aldrich Robb

Organization(s)

Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,

CARB,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL,

Steven Winter Associates,

SWA

Publication Date

August, 2012

Report describing the design and construction of a highly energy efficient community of ten duplexes in Greenfield, Massachusetts.