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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 - 31 of 31

Author(s)
Cold Climate Housing Research Center
Organization(s)
CCHRC
Publication Date
Description
Webpage describing how different amounts and types of snow loads affect the structural integrity of roofs and homes.
Author(s)
Kochkin Vladimir,
Wiehagen Joseph
Organization(s)
Home Innovation Research Labs,
HIRL
Publication Date
Description
The Guide addresses walls constructed with 2x4 wood frame studs, wood structural panel (WSP) sheathing as wall bracing and added backing for foam sheathing, a layer of rigid foam sheathing insulation up to 1.5 in. thick over the WSP, and a cladding system installed over the foam sheathing in low...
Author(s)
Kochkin Vladimir,
Wiehagen Joseph
Organization(s)
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE,
Home Innovation Research Labs,
HIRL
Publication Date
Description
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.
Author(s)
Lyons James,
Moore Mike,
Thompson Margo
Organization(s)
Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction,
BA-PIRC,
Newport Ventures,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Report summarizing commissioning, short-term testing, utility bill data analysis, and results of on-site monitoring of a deep energy retrofit.
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
Description
Report describing evaluation of several configurations of wall assemblies to determine the accuracy of moisture modeling and make recommendations to ensure durable, efficient assemblies.
Author(s)
Butler Tom,
Curtis O,
Kim E,
Roberts S,
Stephenson R
Organization(s)
NAHB Research Center,
Home Innovation Research Labs,
HIRL,
Southface,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Report evaluating a test home built in Atlanta, GA in the mixed-humid climate zone. The report outlines the features of the house, discusses the implementation of the energy efficient design, and presents the results of short-term characterization testing.
Author(s)
Wiehagen Joseph,
Del Bianco Marie,
Wood Amber
Organization(s)
NAHB Research Center,
Home Innovation Research Labs,
HIRL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Report detailing field walk-through evaluations, energy simulations for projected savings with exterior insulation upgrades, building envelope energy improvement cost estimates, and installation and maintenance of monitoring equipment and data.
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
Description
Report outlining the steps of translating a new home construction scope of work (SOW) to SOW for retrofit.
Author(s)
Lyons James
Organization(s)
Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction,
BA-PIRC,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
Publication Date
Description
Report summarizing commissioning, short-term testing, and analysis that occurred before, during, and just after the actual retrofit of the Bay Ridge project.
Author(s)
Wiehagen Joseph,
Kochkin Vladimir
Organization(s)
NAHB Research Center,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
Publication Date
Description
Research study presenting results of an existing home monitoring project designed to measure wall cavity moisture characteristics.
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
Description
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.
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
Description
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.
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
Description
Report describing research efforts focused on examining the audit reports for quality, comprehensiveness, and consistency.
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
Description
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.
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
Description
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.
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
Description
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.
Author(s)
Baechler Michael C,
Gilbride Theresa L,
Hefty Marye G,
Cole Pam C,
Adams Karen T,
Butner Ryan S,
Ortiz S J,
Love Pat M
Organization(s)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
ORNL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Report describing measures that builders in mixed-humid climates can use to build homes that have whole-house energy savings of 40% over the Building America benchmark with no added overall costs for consumers.
Author(s)
Rudd Armin,
Hodgson Alfred T,
Beal David,
Chandra Subrato
Organization(s)
Building Science Corporation,
BSC,
Florida Solar Energy Center,
FSEC
Publication Date
Description
Report describing concentrations of 54 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ventilation rates that were measured in four new manufactured houses over 2 - 9.5 months following installation and in seven new site built houses 1 - 2 months after completion.
Author(s)
Christian Jeffrey E,
Bonar Jacob
Organization(s)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Publication Date
Description
Presentation about building highly efficient, affordable homes that will achieve 40% whole-house energy savings in mixed-humid climates.
Author(s)
Puttagunta Srikanth,
Aldrich Robb,
Owens Douglas,
Vijayakumar Gayathri
Organization(s)
Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,
CARB,
Steven Winter Associates,
SWA
Publication Date
Description
Report presenting results from whole-house monitoring efforts in hope that they may be useful for others moving towards zero energy homes.
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,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
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.
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
Description
Report detailing the monitored and modeled performance of a solar home outside of Washington DC.
Author(s)
Baechler Michael C,
Love Pat M
Organization(s)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
ORNL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
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 and humid climate.
Author(s)
Drumheller S Craig,
Wiehagen Joseph
Organization(s)
NAHB Research Center,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
Publication Date
Description
Report providing information based on research and case studies, to remodelers and consumers about opportunities to increase home energy performance.
Author(s)
Building Science Corporation,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Organization(s)
BSC,
NREL
Publication Date
Description
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.
Author(s)
Minnesota Department of Commerce Energy Information Center
Organization(s)
Minnesota Department of Commerce
Publication Date
Description
Article describing the causes that form ice dams, as well as solutions for preventing future ice dams on roofs, focusing on air sealing to prevent hot air leakage.