Library

Report providing guidance on wet floodproofing crawlspaces, unfinished basements, and garages.

Report providing guidance to homeowners and business owners on protecting crawlspaces from flood damage.

Fact sheet poster describing how to add exterior, continuous, rigid insulation to the exterior walls when replacing siding on an existing home.

A publication highlighting recommendations that contribute to improved overall performance in the structural shell and focus on good connection details to tie together exterior walls, roofs and floors.

Document focusing on the design and wall components that contribute to a pressure equalized rain screen wall, including the frequency of the weep holes and other brick masonry rain screen wall requirements.

Information sheet about insulating slabs.

Web based tool providing decision-making guidance for selecting wall assembly components.

Information sheet containing images and descriptions of cantilevers.

Carpet and Rug Institute website homepage.

Installation manual for installing metal panel siding.

Report aimed to quantify the impact of closed crawlspaces in new homes, and investigate modeling software to ensure accuracy of energy consumption predictions in these homes.

Guide about designing and installing closed crawlspaces in the Southeast.

Article describing how closed crawlspaces can do "double duty" by controlling moisture and providing energy savings.

Website discussing building foundation problems caused by settling soil in Colorado.

An article illustrating common errors found in fiber cement siding installations. Many of these errors and poor flashing examples apply to siding materials beyond fiber cement siding.

Information guide describing issues with concrete floors, in multiple climate zones.

Document discussing moisture considerations and testing techniques for concrete floors.

Report outlining how conditioned crawlspaces perform better than vented crawlspaces in terms of safety, health, comfort, durability and energy consumption.

Article about how mortar droppings during the installation of a brick veneer can clog the weep holes in the wall assembly causing moisture damage. The article also illustrates products that can be installed in the ventilated cavity to mitigate this problem.

Information sheet about crawlspace insulation, including installation details.

Article discussing whether or not to seal and insulate crawlspaces.

Report covering the rainwater performance of building assemblies.

Guide provides homeowners ways to prepare for an earthquake and protect a home against earthquake damage.

Report analyzing results in crawlspace retrofits in multifamily buildings.

Report about an experimental evaluation conducted on a night sky cooling system designed to substantially reduce space cooling needs in homes in North American climates.

An example of a commercially available thermally expansive fire stopping product for controlling the spread of fires in a rainscreen cavity.

Article explaining what a continuous load path is and the key connection points that make it up.

Article describing methods to manage moisture, rainwater, and vapor in basements and crawlspaces.

Link to all versions of ASCE/SEI 24, a standard describing the minimum requirements and expected performance for the siting and design and construction of buildings and structures in flood hazard areas that are subject to building code requirements.

Handbook providing guidance on the design and construction of foundations for homes, including insulation, air sealing, and water management details for basements, crawlspaces, and slabs.

Article describing what the building codes say about frost-protected shallow foundations as a cost-saving alternative to conventional concrete foundations.

Guides describing frost-protected shallow foundations as an alternative method for building an energy-efficient foundation for a house in a cold climate that uses less concrete and saves on labor.

Article describing frost-protected shallow foundations with construction drawing details.

Document describing the emissions criteria for carpets, cushions, and adhesives to qualify as those with low volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions under the Carpet and Rug Institute's Green Label Plus Indoor Air Quality Testing Program.

Report covering the fire performance of combustible cladding over combustible insulation.

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.

Factsheet describing re-siding retrofits containing exterior insulation and window upgrades aimed at improved energy savings and comfort.

Report outlining results from a 2005 hygrothermal pilot study in the South.

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

Video describing how a frost-protected shallow foundation (FPSF) is constructed and including use of a stay-in-place EPS (expanded polystyrene) footing form that provides insulation and simplifies the installation of frost-protected monolithic concrete slab foundations.

Video describing how a frost-protected shallow foundation (FPSF) is constructed and including use of a stay-in-place EPS (expanded polystyrene) footing form that provides insulation and simplifies the installation of frost-protected monolithic concrete slab foundations.

Report covering reservoir claddings, back ventilation and vapor throttles.

Information sheet providing links and resources for insulating basements in cold climates.

Article providing guidance for installing manufactured stone veneer, including information on rainscreens.

Fact sheet defining “lowest floor,” identifying common construction practices that are violations of NFIP regulations, and discussing benefits of exceeding the NFIP minimum building elevation requirements; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction: Technical Fact...

Webpage featuring hundreds of illustrations of masonry construction details for brick, congrete, stone, tile, stucco, etc.

Report providing extensive guidance on controlling moisture in building envelopes through proper selection and installation on air, water, thermal, and vapor barriers.

Glossary of terms used by the National Flood Insurance Program

Building science insight into crawlspaces.

Document describing guidance and requirements for flood openings in walls at and below grade.