Library

Report describing research conducted to support California’s Title 24, Part 6 Building Energy Efficiency Standards by analyzing the impact of installation location and ventilation on heat pump water heater (HPWH) performance, emphasizing the need for proper installation to maximize efficiency...

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.

News article describing the state of the residential battery storage market.

This webpage provides an interactive walk-through of the installation of a heat pump water heater in a home in Maine, including how-to videos of the installation, video interviews with the homeowners, installer, and utility program partners, and visual tours of the home before and after installation...

Guidebook providing useful examples of high performance retrofit techniques for the building enclosure of wood frame residential construction in a cold and somewhat wet climate.

Document pertaining to design and application guidance for combination space and tankless domestic hot water heating systems used in residential buildings, based on field evaluation, testing, and industry meetings.

Report describing the installation and operation of forced-air heating and domestic hot water combi systems in residential homes.

Document developed to help residential builders and retrofitters transition from tank-type water heaters to tankless water heaters.

Study investigating measured cooling energy savings in homes across the U.S. from the installation of roofing with higher solar reflectance.

Study investigating measured cooling energy savings from the installation of wall finishes with higher solar reflectance.

Web resource that lays out the pre-work considerations, methods and finishes for installing mechanical insulation.

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

This paper discusses model validation using data from three thermosiphon systems.

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.

DOE Energy Saver webpage providing a brief summary of natural ventilation for houses.

Database compiling extended capacity data for numerous cold climate heat pump manufacturers and models.

Report discussing the benefits of modern evaporative cooling systems for use in hot dry climate zones.

Document describing recommended modeling rules, potential compliance credits, and eligibility criteria for residential night ventilation cooling systems for California’s Title 24 energy efficiency standards.

Report describing the experimentally evaluated potential of a novel residential night cooling concept.

Report providing information to researchers, utility program managers, and building owners interested in controlling heating energy waste and improving resident comfort.

Book describing passive cooling techniques from a technical and academic perspective.

This study evaluated 11 measures for passive cooling using four heat resilience metrics with and without grid power in Fresno CA and found the two most effective measures were installing solar-control window films and adding roof insulation; natural ventilation also helped reduce overheating in...

Website providing guidance on passive heating, cooling, and lighting methods.

Paper summarizing passive and low-energy cooling systems for buildings.

Article investigating how a linear input/output relationship can be used as a simple model of the performance of a combination hydronic heating system over heating only, DHW only, and combined loads.

Blog article describing considerations for how to use trees for shading to reduce cooling energy demand.

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 describing a laboratory assessment on the performance of Rheem 120-volt heat pump water heaters (HPWH), aimed at identifying optimal installation locations for these new "plug-in" models based on comprehensive testing under various conditions.

Large scale simulation study investigating the effects of cool roofs and walls on buildings of various vintages across the U.S., with special attention given to California.

Searchable database of over 3,000 roofing products that have undergone solar reflectance and thermal emittance testing.

Searchable database of wall cladding and coating products that have undergone solar reflectance and thermal emittance testing.

Research project aimed to verify whether homes in the New Jersey HPwES program achieved 30% source energy savings, and if so, what measures were implemented to achieve them.

This study used an advanced airflow, energy and humidity modeling tool to evaluate the potential for residential mechanical pre-scooling strategies to reduce peak electriciy demand.

Report describing information from DOE about rules and standards for residential air conditioners and heat pumps.

Webpage describing a DOE Cold Climate Heat Pump Challenge. The challenge engages industry partners and focuses around the Cold Climate Heat Pumps, a more environmental and efficient heating alternative to traditional heating.

Paper covering a parametric study of foundation heat exchanger-based ground source heat pump systems for several house configurations in a range of European locations, with an emphasis on determining feasible combinations.

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.

Website with information and research about residential hot water distribution systems.

Report evaluating mechanical AC precooling strategies in homes as a method for improving the load factor by shifting cooling operation from on-peak to off-peak hours.

Brochure with information on residential solar hot water systems.

DOE report characterizing the installed base of windows and window coverings, and how users operate window coverings in order to enable precise quantification of energy savings.

A retrofit sheet providing information on elevating and securing water heaters to protect against damage during a flood.

Report presenting results of a laboratory experiment studying combi systems as a mode to eliminate safety issues associated with natural draft appliances.

Information sheet describing tankless hot water heating systems in existing homes.

Document discussing changes in testing the annual performance ratings for solar water heaters.

Web page providing an overview of room-level air conditioning systems such as window units and mini-splits.

Webpage discussing the characteristics of sunlight and how cool roofs work to reduce solar heat gain.

A fact sheet providing homeowners with guidance on properly securing water heaters to prevent them from tipping in an earthquake.

Report comparing the performance of seven differing types of residential water heating systems in a side-by-side test configuration over a full year period.

Document about testing of seven water heating systems in the Hot Water Systems laboratory in central Florida.