Library

Report providing builders in the hot-dry and mixed-dry 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.

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

Research study estimating potential energy savings relative to conventional ducted air distribution, and identifying equipment requirements, costs, and barriers.

Specifications for water heating systems designed to advance higher performing electric and gas heat pump water heaters.

Report about two test home evaluations that provided valuable data about the true in-field performance of various building mechanical systems and LAMELs.

Report about a building project in the marine climate.

Report summarizing commissioning, short-term testing, utility bill data analysis, and results of on-site monitoring of a deep energy retrofit.

Webinar answering code-related questions on duct leakage tests, moisture levels in attics and crawlspaces, combustion equipment in conditioned attics, ventilation in multifamily buildings, and continuous insulation in residential construction.

Information sheet offering general recommendations on supplemental humidity control and outlines viable system configurations.

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.

Training module describing the operation, efficiency, consumer and seller benefits, and cost comparison of Heat Pump Water Heaters (HPWH) against conventional gas, oil, or electric water heaters.

Design guide providing solutions and tools for designing central heat pump water heater systems in multifamily and other commercial buildings.

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...

Report on experiments comparing the cooling and heating seasonal and peak demand performance of different variable-capacity air conditioning and heat pump units.

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

Fact sheet poster describing benefits and qualification of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) certified Zero Energy Ready Homes and providing eight examples of certified homes.

Report identifying two barriers that limit the ability of builders to explore opportunities for higher levels of energy efficiency in housing: the use of duct system materials that inherently achieve airtightness and are right-sized for low-load houses, and, the ability to air seal fire separation...

Research report with results from field tests in two homes in Austin, Texas, from October 2011 to June 2012 to evaluate the comfort performance of ductless mini-split heat pumps

Report demonstrating how the initiative achieves Building America (BA) goals of 30%-50% energy savings in multifamily dwellings in the hot-humid climate zone.

Report investigating performance and energy savings potential of heat pump water heaters.

Research study describing experiments run in an unoccupied 1600 square foot house to evaluate the delivered performance as well as the relative performance of a SEER 21 variable capacity heat pump versus a SEER 13 heat pump.

This report evaluates the performance of variable-capacity comfort systems, with a focus on inverter-driven, variable-capacity systems, as well as proposed system enhancements.

Report describing the performance, cost, and carbon impacts of unitary heat pump water heaters with load-shifting controls in a shared configuration for a multi-family project, highlighting significant savings in energy usage, CO2 emissions, and utility costs.

Information sheet with an analysis of mini split heat pump systems.

Report on field monitoring of inverter-driven ASHPs in cold-climate homes.

Report presenting a cold climate project examining and alternative approach to ground source heat pump ground loop design.

Report describing the ground-source IHP (GS-IHP) design and includes the lessons learned and best practices revealed by the research and development (R&D) effort throughout.

Document providing supplemental information for code enforcement professionals about header hangers in bearing walls.

Report describing the various heat pump retrofit options for multifamily buildings in the U.S., segmented by building typology and heating system, to support better environmental, economic, and health outcomes.

Informational guide describing the design, installation, and maintenance best practices and technical considerations for integrated Heat Pump Water Heaters in single-family and multifamily new construction.

Report describing the significant potential for energy use reductions through heat pump water heaters, which have been a crucial part of Northwest power plans for decades and have recently achieved substantial savings with new integrated models and climate specifications.

Presentation about heat pump water heater modeling using EnergyPlus.

Fact sheet describing the function of housewrap, its attributes, and common problems associated with its use, including housewrap vs. building paper and housewrap installation; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction: Technical Fact Sheet Series.”

Report presenting improved air conditioner (AC) and heat pump (HP) modeling methods in the context of whole-building simulation tools.

Presentation on Improving Air-Conditioner and Heat Pump Modeling.

Report describing the objective evaluation of space conditioning interactions between heat pump water heaters and home heating systems during winter 2016-2017, revealing a smaller than anticipated impact on space conditioning loads.

Report presenting lab evaluation of five heat pump water heaters available in the US market today.

Report proposing mini-split heat pumps as a new retrofit option to replace resistance heating in the Pacific Northwest.

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

Report on the long-term performance of mini-split heat pumps.

Report identifying the target market for solar water heaters and potential pathways and cost/performance targets that must be met for these systems to realize large energy savings.

Document with evaluation of 14 heat pump water heaters (including three recently released HPWH products) installed in existing homes in the northeast region of the United States.

Research study outlining results of monitoring a low temperature heat pump.

This report investigates whether mini-split heat pumps can live up to their potential for one market segment: multifamily retrofits.

Study in which a central heat pump water heater system was monitored in detail and used to create a model for assessing similar systems in various climates.

Document providing supplemental information for code enforcement professionals about headers in nonbearing walls.

Document on the development of two simple in-home efficiency test methods that can be used by technicians, researchers, or interested homeowners to verify the correct operation and energy efficiency of a homes air conditioning and heating equipment.

Report describing the key findings from the first third-party field validation of 120-volt heat pump water heater (HPWH) technology, addressing the significant barriers to their adoption and emphasizing their potential role in reducing carbon emissions from residential water heating.

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

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.