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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 - 50 of 234

2011 EnergyValue Housing Award Report

Author(s)
Del Bianco Marie,
Sagan D,
Wood Amber
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
National Association of Home Builders Research Center,
NAHBRC,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Report assessing the energy performance of the 2011 EVHA winners and to align the EVHA program with the BA program.

A Business Case for Home Performance Contracting

Author(s)
Baechler Michael C,
Antonopoulos Chrissi A,
Sevigny M,
Gilbride Theresa L,
Hefty Marye G
Organization(s)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL
Publication Date
Report discussing opportunities and trends in the U.S. home performance contracting industry, along with market drivers such as consumer demand; federal, state, and local programs; and utility and non-governmental programs.

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.

A Plug-and-Play Duct System Evaluation

Author(s)
Beach Robert,
Grisolia Anthony,
Dickson Bruce,
Poerschke Andrew,
Rapport Ari
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS
Publication Date
Report describing an air distribution system composed of a series of uniformly-sized ducts that terminate in rooms throughout the home and return to a central manifold, similar in fashion to a “home-run” cross-linked polyethylene plumbing system.

A Realistic Hot Water Draw Specification for Rating Solar Water Heaters

Author(s)
Burch Jay,
Thornton Jeff
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
Thermal Energy System Specialists,
TESS
Publication Date
Document outlining the current and the proposed draws and estimates typical ratings changes from draw specification changes for typical systems in four cities.

Achieving Very High Efficiency and Net Zero Energy in an Existing Home in a Hot-Humid Climate: Long-Term Utility and Monitoring Data

Author(s)
Parker Danny S,
Sherwin John S
Organization(s)
Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction,
BA-PIRC,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Research study describing how envelope modifications in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, and domestic hot water and renewable resources can result in considerable energy reductions, using the first full year of detailed data collected about a single-family home that experienced a series...

Advanced Extended Plate and Beam Wall System in a Cold-Climate House

Author(s)
Wiehagen Joseph,
Kochkin Vladimir,
Mallay David
Organization(s)
Home Innovation Research Labs,
HIRL,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Report on the design and evaluation of extended plate and beam.

Air Distribution Retrofit Strategies for Affordable Housing

Author(s)
Dentz Jordan,
Conlin Francis,
Holloway Parker,
Podorson David,
Varshney Kapil
Organization(s)
Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions,
ARIES,
Levy Partnership,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Report describing two retrofit duct sealing techniques - manually-applied sealants and injecting a spray sealant, that were implemented in several low-rise multi-unit buildings in North Carolina.

Air Leakage Testing and Air Sealing in Existing Multifamily Units

Author(s)
Dentz Jordan,
Conlin Francis
Organization(s)
Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions,
ARIES,
Levy Partnership,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Study identifying common air leakage pathways in one type of low-rise multifamily building common in mixed-humid climates.

Analysis of Illinois Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Measure Packages

Author(s)
Baker Julie D,
Brand Larry,
Yee Shannon
Organization(s)
Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit,
PARR,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance,
MEEA
Publication Date
Report that collected field data from a whole-home program in Illinois are utilized to compare marketplace-installed measures to the energy saving optimal packages previously developed for 15 housing types.

Analysis of Pre-Retrofit Building and Utility Data

Author(s)
Prahl Duncan,
Beach Robert
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS
Publication Date
Report outlining workflow and results of regression models on monthly and daily utility data (meter readings of electricity consumption), outlining a process for screening and gathering useful results from inverse models.

Assessing the Energy Savings of Tankless Water Heater Retrofits in Public Housing

Author(s)
Dwiantoro Deny,
Walters R,
Ries R
Organization(s)
Building Energy Efficient Homes for America,
BEEHA,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Report describing methodology, analysis, and findings from a case study of a 110-unit retrofit of gas tankless water heaters in a hot/humid climate in Alachua County, Florida.

Assessment of the U.S. Department of Energy's Home Energy Scoring Tool

Author(s)
Roberts David,
Merket Noel,
Heaney Mike,
Casey Sean,
Robertson Joseph,
Polly Benjamin
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Report assessing the accuracy of HEST as it was being developed and to provide information useful to DOE program managers and HEST development team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Attic Retrofits Using Nail-Base Insulated Panels

Author(s)
Mallay David,
Kochkin Vladimir
Organization(s)
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE,
Home Innovation Research Labs,
HIRL
Publication Date
This report outlines research activities that are expected to facilitate the adoption of energy retrofits by remodeling contractors and roofing contractors using retrofit panels which applicable to many existing house designs in most climates and markets.

Building America Expert Meeting: Combustion Safety

Author(s)
Brand Larry
Organization(s)
Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit,
PARR,
Gas Technology Institute,
GTI Energy,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
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 Performance Analysis Procedures for Existing Homes

Author(s)
Hendron Robert
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
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 B,
Eastment Mark,
Norton Paul,
Reeves Paul,
Hancock Ed
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
Partnership for Resource Conservation,
Mountain Energy Partnership,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
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-to-Market Plan

Author(s)
Werling Eric
Organization(s)
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Report presenting the building america research to market plan.

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.

Central Fan Integrated Ventilation Systems, Info-610

Author(s)
Building Science Corporation
Organization(s)
BSC
Publication Date
Report describing ventilation system design, including a 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.

Climate-Specific Passive Building Standards

Author(s)
Wright Graham S,
Klingenberg Katrin
Organization(s)
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Report on improving passive design adoption rates.

Cold Climate Building Enclosure Solutions

Author(s)
Fallahi Ali,
Shukla Nitin,
Kosny Jan
Organization(s)
Fraunhofer CSE,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
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.

Combustion Safety Simplified Test Protocol Field Study

Author(s)
Brand Larry,
Shen L,
Gloss S,
Bohac Dave,
Francisco Paul W.,
Cautley Dan
Organization(s)
Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit,
PARR,
NothernSTAR,
NSTAR,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
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.

Community-Scale Evaluation Results, BA-0405

Author(s)
Building Science Corporation
Organization(s)
BSC
Publication Date
Report investigating the nature, strength, and durability of connections between high performance dwellings and developments.

Community-Wide Zero Energy Ready Home Standard

Author(s)
Herk Anastasia,
Beggs Timothy
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
Report outlining the steps developers can take to create high-performance standards on a community-wide scale.

Comparison of Advanced Residential Water Heating Technologies in the United States

Author(s)
Fang Xia,
Maguire Jeff,
Wilson Eric
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Research report providing a comparison of the most common residential water heating technologies to determine energy-efficient and cost-effective water heating technologies are when subjected to a variety of typical operating conditions.

Condensing Hybrid Water Heater Monitoring Field Evaluation

Author(s)
Maguire Jeff,
Earle Lieko,
Booten Chuck,
Hancock C E
Organization(s)
Mountain Energy Partnership,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
Publication Date
Report about a hybrid condensing water heater (thermal efficiency = 0.973, energy factor = 0.95) installed in an occupied home in Sacramento, California, and monitored for one year to determine the actual in situ efficiency.

Construction Guide - Next Generation High Performance Walls Climate Zones 3-5 Part I: 2x6 Walls

Author(s)
Kochkin Vladimir,
Wiehagen Joseph
Organization(s)
Home Innovation Research Labs,
HIRL
Publication Date
Part I of the Guide addresses walls constructed with 2x6 wood frame studs, wood structural panel (WSP) sheathing as exterior sheathing, gypsum board as interior sheathing, and a cladding system installed over WSP sheathing in low-rise residential buildings up to three stories in height. Walls with...

Construction Guide - Next Generation High Performance Walls in Climate Zones 3-5 Part 2: 2x4 Walls with 1” to 1.5” Exterior Insulative Sheathing

Author(s)
Kochkin Vladimir,
Wiehagen Joseph
Organization(s)
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
The Guide addresses walls constructed with 2x4 wood frame studs, wood structural panel sheathing (WSP) as wall bracing and added backing for foam sheathing, a layer of rigid foam sheathing insulation up to 1.5 inches thick over the WSP, and a cladding system installed over the foam sheathing in low...