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 - 15 of 15

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,

U.S. Department of Energy,

DOE

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.

Energy Efficient Crawlspace Foundation Retrofit: Mixed Humid Climate

Author(s)

Del Bianco Marie,

Wiehagen Joseph,

Wood Amber

Organization(s)

NAHB Research Center,

Home Innovation Research Labs,

HIRL,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL

Publication Date

January, 2013

Report outlining the steps of translating a new home construction scope of work (SOW) to SOW for retrofit.

Cost Analysis of Simple Phase Change Material-Enhanced Building Envelopes in Southern U.S. Climates

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

January, 2013

Report focusing on building envelopes that have been enhanced with phase change materials (PCMs), which can simultaneously reduce total cooling loads and shift peak-hour loads.

Short-Term Test Results: Multifamily Home Energy Efficiency Retrofit

Author(s)

Lyons James

Organization(s)

Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction,

BA-PIRC,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL

Publication Date

January, 2013

Report summarizing commissioning, short-term testing, and analysis that occurred before, during, and just after the actual retrofit of the Bay Ridge project.

High-R Walls for Remodeling: Wall Cavity Moisture Monitoring

Author(s)

Wiehagen Joseph,

Kochkin Vladimir

Organization(s)

NAHB Research Center,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL

Publication Date

December, 2012

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

Fort Benning Indianhead Townhome Renovations

Author(s)

Stephenson R,

Roberts S,

Butler Tom,

Kim E

Organization(s)

NAHB Research Center,

Home Innovation Research Labs,

HIRL,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL,

Southface Energy Institute,

SEI

Publication Date

December, 2012

Report outlining the energy upgrade package implemented in Ft. Benning, GA, Indianhead Townhomes project and the findings of the Southface Energy Institute's post-renovation analysis.

Serenbe Nest Cottages

Author(s)

Butler Tom,

Curtis O,

Kim E,

Roberts S,

Stephenson R

Organization(s)

NAHB Research Center,

Home Innovation Research Labs,

HIRL,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL,

Southface

Publication Date

December, 2012

Report describing construction of test homes in Atlanta, GA meeting Building America savings targets and serving as a basis of design for other homes Martin Dodson plans to build within the Serenbe community.

Retrofit Audits and Cost Estimates: A Look at Quality and Consistency

Author(s)

Eisenberg Liz,

Shapiro Carl,

Fleischer Wendy

Organization(s)

Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,

CARB,

Steven Winter Associates,

SWA,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL

Publication Date

October, 2012

Report describing research efforts focused on examining the audit reports for quality, comprehensiveness, and consistency.

Winchester/Camberley Homes New Construction Test House Design, Construction, and Short-Term Testing in a Mixed-Humid Climate

Author(s)

Wiehagen Joseph,

Mallay David,

Wood Amber

Organization(s)

NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL,

U.S. Department of Energy,

DOE

Publication Date

October, 2012

Report outlining the features of a test house built in Silver Spring , Maryland, and discussing the implementation of the energy efficient design, and reports on the short-term testing results.

Residential Ground Source Heat Pumps with Integrated Domestic Hot Water Generation: Performance Results from Long-Term Monitoring

Author(s)

Stecher Dave,

Allison Katherine

Organization(s)

Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,

IBACOS,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL,

American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers,

ASHRAE

Publication Date

January, 2012

Report discussing instrumentation methods and field operation characteristics of two GSHPs in test houses, including a comparison between the manufacturers listed COP values and the COPs calculated from field data.

Strategy Guideline: Quality Management in Existing Homes

Author(s)

Taggart Jim,

Sikora Jeannie,

Wiehagen Joseph,

Wood Amber

Organization(s)

NAHB Research Center,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL,

U.S. Department of Energy,

DOE

Publication Date

December, 2011

Research study providing a comparison of selected retrofit activity typically done, versus that same retrofit activity approached from an integrated high performance remodeling and quality management perspective.

Hathaway "Solar Patriot" House: A Case Study in Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Author(s)

Norton Paul,

Hancock Ed,

Barker Greg M,

Reeves Paul

Organization(s)

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL,

Mountain Energy Partnership,

Partnership for Resource Conservation

Publication Date

May, 2005

Report detailing the monitored and modeled performance of a solar home outside of Washington DC.

Strategies for Energy Efficient Remodeling: SEER 2003 Case Study Report

Author(s)

Drumheller S Craig,

Wiehagen Joseph

Organization(s)

NAHB Research Center,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL

Publication Date

November, 2004

Report providing information based on research and case studies, to remodelers and consumers about opportunities to increase home energy performance.

IBACOS Builder System Performance Packages: January 2003--December 2003

Author(s)

Broniek John

Organization(s)

Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,

IBACOS,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

NREL

Publication Date

July, 2004

Report presenting system design packages for cold and mixed-humid climates.

Introduction to Buildings Systems Performance: Houses that Work II

Author(s)

Building Science Corporation,

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Organization(s)

BSC,

NREL

Publication Date

April, 2004

Report that describes BSC's Houses That Work II (HTWII) climate-specific technical resource, beginning with an overall HTWII introduction and four sections explaining the four most important hygro-thermal climate regions: Hot-Humid, Mixed-Humid, Cold, and Hot-Dry/Mixed-Dry.