Library

A guidebook helping builders in hot-humid climates design and construct homes for energy efficiency, durability, health, safety, and comfort.

Report providing builders in marine 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.

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.

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...

Report summarizing systems research activities for new housing in hot-humid climates, including NightCool, interior duct systems in manufactured housing, ventilation and dehumidification, plug load reduction and solar and conventional hot water.

Report on adding insulation to load-bearing mass masonry buildings.

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.

Report covering moisture and leakage issues associated with spray foam insulation application to the underside of roof sheathing.

Report describing partner approaches to achieving the Building America goal of 30% whole-house source energy savings using packages adopted at the community scale, using building projects in Florida as a reference.

Report about a project that examines implementation of advanced retrofit measures in the context of a large-scale weatherization program and the archetypal Chicago, Illinois, brick bungalow.

Research study discussing how housewraps restrict or permit the passage of water molecules based on size, but cannot control the direction in which the water vapor molecules move.

Brochure providing information about flashing in all cimates.

Article describing selecting insulation for minimizing condensation risks.

Guide describing measures that builders in the cold and very cold climates can take to build homes that have whole-house energy savings of 40% over the Building America benchmark with no added overall costs for consumers.

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.

Report on improving passive design adoption rates.

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...

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

Study describing efforts and outcomes in developing color-pigmented roofing products with coatings to increase solar reflectance.

Report describing the analytical study of renewable energy retrofits to homes built before 1980 and whether it is cost efficient or not.

Part of a larger LBNL report (Deep Energy Retrofit Guidance for the Building America Solutions Center), the Occupant Behavior chapter discusses how to assess homeowner behavior patterns and use these patterns to enhance overall energy savings.

Part of a larger LBNL report (Deep Energy Retrofit Guidance for the Building America Solutions Center), the Over Time, Phased Guidance chapter presents a phased approach to deep energy retrofits.

Part of a larger LBNL report (Deep Energy Retrofit Guidance for the Building America Solutions Center), the Reducing costs and Increasing Cost-Effectiveness chapter provides suggestions for controlling deep retrofit costs, including both 'do's' and 'don'ts'.

Part of a larger LBNL report (Deep Energy Retrofit Guidance for the Building America Solutions Center), the Source Energy and Carbon Decisions chapter helps users carefully assess the impacts of switching from gas to electricity for heating end-uses, using source energy and/or carbon emissions...

Report evaluating the accuracy of the regression technique used in 2006 by using the same least-squares regression analysis on data created from hourly energy simulation software.

Report presenting the process of a residential retrofit project for houses in the states of Florida and Alabama, including findings at the time of reporting and highlights of the first home to meet the target HERS Index of 70.

Report on the field evaluation of whole-building approaches and estimation of the relative contributions of select technologies toward reducing energy use related to space conditioning in new manufactured homes.

Report to understand the long-term moisture performance of unvented roof assemblies with fibrous insulation.

Brochure on specifications for PV systems.

Information sheet about groundwater control.

Report identifying Building America and 2021 International Energy Conservation Code climate zone designations for every county in the United States; where a county's climate zone designation has changed since the 2018 IECC, that change is indicated as well.

Guide providing information on using exterior foam insulating sheathing in building wall assemblies to enhance thermal performance.

Article from NREL on wall construction guidelines for homes in hot climate zones.

Factsheet profiling a simple modification that can be made to window air-conditioners to improve their energy efficiency.

Website providing information on low-energy and standard cooling systems, with a focus on saving energy.

Report documenting short-term test results of the Shift House and compares the results of Passive House Planning Package and Building Energy Optimization modeling of the project.

Report with guidance for installing windows with foam sheathing on wood-frame walls.

Guide describing sound mitigation measures to lower building natural disaster vulnerability to assist local officials and community decision makers in coastal areas.

This Measure Guideline provides design and construction information for a deep energy enclosure retrofit solution of a flat roof assembly.

Measure Guideline research report providing simple, long term, and durable solutions when using tapes and flashing membranes in conjunction with the exterior face of rigid polymeric foam sheathing to create the drainage plane of a wall system.

Guideline describing information and specifications relevant to air-seal existing attics.

Fact sheet poster describing an online tool offered within the Building America Solution Center which provides construction guidance for builders and contractors in building and renovating homes to be more resistant to natural disasters such as hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes and wildfires, etc.

Fact sheet describing analysis of potential heating and cooling savings from radiant barriers in attics.

Report covering the reconstruction of flood damaged homes.

Research study identifying the best performing, most energy-efficient and cost- effective techniques to provide controlled mechanical ventilation and humidity control in hot- humid climates with thermally efficient building envelopes.

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.

Report on air-sealing programs for energy-efficiency retrofits.

Report covering non-combustible continuous exterior insulation and non-combustible roof venting.

Report on hybrid ventilation methods for insulated and sealed crawl spaces.

Website describing how solar water heaters -- also called solar domestic hot water systems -- can be a cost-effective way to generate hot water for your home.