Library

A article about the best practice method of installing fiber cement siding, to install flashing at the butt joints of the siding boards, rather than face caulking the butt joints afterwards.

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

Guidance for achieving safe and healthy indoor environments during home energy retrofits.

LBNL webpage introducing heat island effect and cool materials concepts, and providing links to LBNL pages explaining cool pavements, cool roofs, and cool walls.

Case study of new home construction in the hot-dry and mixed-dry climate zones.

Brochure describing advanced framing techniques.

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

Webpage describing federal regulation related to excess flow valves on residential natural gas lines.

Report that considers a number of promising wall systems that can meet the requirement for better thermal control.

Report providing testing methodology to evaluate structural rim header designs over openings up to 6 ft. wide and applicable to one- and two-story homes.

Report with test results that serve as a baseline of data for further material tests of other high-R wall systems and for comparison to whole-house wind pressure testing.

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

Report covering control of hydrostatic pressure in wall assemblies.

Report providing a collection of fact sheets describing guidance for constructing homes in wildfire zones.

Website describing ways to prevent home house fires.

Website providing certified rating programs to help manufacturers, builders, contractors and homeowners compare performance of ventilation products for air flow, sound, and other performance characteristics.

A starting point for ballparking and comparing the cost of different siding materials and a brief overview of the pros and cons of different siding materials.

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.”

Fact sheet describing effects of planning, siting, and design decisions on coastal home costs, including initial, operating, and long-term costs; risk determination; and the effect on costs of meeting and exceeding code and NFIP design and construction requirements; also published in FEMA P-499...

Website with articles on home ventilation and indoor air quality.

Companion document to the Indoor airPLUS Construction Specifications, providing guidance on identifying compliant products, including industry databases and examples of product labeling.

Checklist for verifying FORTIFIED levels and documentation needed.

Report describing ways to retrofit a home to make it more resistant to earthquakes.

Guide discussing observations, recommendations, and technical guidance as a result of Hurricane Katrina

Code describing the requirements for existing site-built single-family homes to receive roof-to-wall retrofits when re-roofing.

Report describing the hurricane retrofit guide with focus on walls and wooded framed walls.

Standards criteria supporting ICC HVAC duct support standards.

Publication specifying HVI’s prescriptive procedures for testing and rating airflow of residential ventilation products in accordance with ANSI consensus standards.

Publication describing the requirements and procedures for the certified performance ratings program for residential ventilation products administered by the Home Ventilating Institute.

Website providing an online directory of more than 3,600 residential ventilation products lisiting flowrates, sones, watts, and other performance metrics; all listed products have been tested by the Home Ventilating Institute.

Report detailing the design and construction of 10 new houses under the Wyandotte Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2.

Report exploring four questions to determine the level of risk associated with adding drained exterior insulation to the exterior of an existing home during an energy retrofit.

ICC-ES Evaluation Report reviewing proprietary steel shear wall panels developed by Simpson Strong-Tie Company to resist vertical and lateral loads in walls resulting from wind or earthquakes.

An impact test report from projectile missile tests against brick veneer, verifying that brick veneers perform well to resisting hurricane force wind driven debris.

Guide detailing best practices on how to build wall assemblies with absorptive claddings such as brick, stone that drain and dry well.

Standard supporting indoor air quality performance by producers, purchasers and policy makers to improve the environmental performance of products and services.

Document outlining specifications that were developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to recognize new homes equipped with a comprehensive set of indoor air quality (IAQ) features.

Website providing the technical specifications and related documents for home builders, subcontractors, architects, and other housing professionals interested in certifying a home to the EPA's Indoor airPLUS program requirements.

Site showing flame spread ratings and definitions for common building materials.

Article explaining installing cavity insulation.

A guide for users and energy raters of insulated siding as home insulation.

Article describing how insulated siding can save homeowners energy by providing continuous exterior insulation.

Website providing builders with information about meeting RESNET Grade 1 criteria when installing insulation.

Webpage providing all versions of the International Building Code (IBC) which is code for commercial buildings that brings together all structural, plumbing, mechanical, fuel gas, energy and electrical provisions for all buildings except detached one- and two-family residences and townhouses up to...

List of acceptance criteria for the ICC.

Webpage describing current and past versions of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), establishing a baseline for energy efficiency with performance standards for building envelopes, mechanical systems, lighting systems and service water heating systems in homes and commercial...

Webpage with all versions of the International Fire Code (IFC), code establishing regulations involving life and property safety from fires and explosion hazards, including emergency planning, fire department access and water supply, automatic sprinkler systems, fire alarms, and hazardous materials...

Website with all versions of the International Plumbing Code (IPC), code establishing minimum regulations for plumbing facilities, including fixtures, water heaters, water supply and distribution, sanitary drainage, storm drainage, etc.

Webpage providing the latest versions of the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC), code establishing regulations to safeguard life and property from the intrusion of wildland fire and to prevent structure fires from spreading to wildland fuels; regulates defensible space and provides...