Library

Fact sheet defining a grid-interactive efficient building and its benefits.

Website highlighting the DOE Building Technologies Office Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings Initiative, including technical reports, other publications, resources, and presentations.

Report evaluating lighting and electronic building technologies based on their ability to provide grid services and the type of value provided, including efficiency, load shed, load shift, and modulation.

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

LBNL webpage providing resources and tools related to cool technologies, including the SRI calculator and the DOE Cool Roof Calculator.

Provides consumers with general information on solar water heating systems and how to select a contractor.

Report providing an introduction to current photovoltaic and solar thermal building practices.

Best Practices document providing an introduction to current photovoltaic and solar thermal building practices.

Web article about solar site assessment.

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.

Website with articles on home ventilation and indoor air quality.

Report presenting construction methods, building products, appliances and equipment of four single-family houses that achieve dramatic energy reductions and approach “net zero energy” use.

A structural insulated panel (SIP) roof has no embedded lumber in the structure, and therefore nothing substantial for attaching PV array and solar hot water mounts. Single or double lumber splines could be put into the panels, or I-joists at 4-foot intervals could be added.

Paper providing a comprehensive overview of HVAC system design considerations and challenges specific to multifamily residential buildings, focusing on optimizing performance and addressing common issues.

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 comparison charts and reviews of hybrid inverters for solar power systems.

The study described in this white paper is based on building energy modeling with an important focus on the indoor humidity impacts of ventilation.

Report documenting the results of a NYSERDA-funded research project to demonstrate the costs and benefits of a best practice systems approach to improving exhaust ventilation system performance in five multifamily buildings in New York State.

Fact sheet providing information on how to identify issues and improve performance in central exhaust systems.

Article describing ways home owners can improve ventilation in their kitchens.

Report that describes BSC's Houses That Work II (HTWII) climate-specific technical resource, beginning with an overall HTWII introduction and four sections explaining the four most important hygro-thermal climate regions: Hot-Humid, Mixed-Humid, Cold, and Hot-Dry/Mixed-Dry.

Webpage describing benefits of adding battery storage to homes and an estimation tool.

Report on whole-house and spot ventilation strategies for improved indoor air quality.

Webpage from Boston Solar describing how solar plus storage options can be beneficial for maintaining electricity during power outages.

If your kitchen has a powerful exhaust fan, it may be pulling air down your chimney or water-heater flue.

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.

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

This report requires all elements of rooftop PV panel systems to be designed for component and cladding pressures per ASCE 7-10.

Standard covering overs mounting systems, including mounting devices, clamping devices and ground lugs for use with photovoltaic modules and panels and contains requirements for ground-mounted and roof systems as part of a nonstructural building component.

This Photovoltaic (PV) Installer Resource Guide is an informational resource covering basic requirements for PV installations intended for individuals pursuing the Photovoltaic Installer Certification credential offered by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP).

A document providing guidance on integrating a PV array with a roof system.

Website providing comparison charts and reviews of off-grid inverters for solar power systems.

Report describing a field study to measure pollutant concentrations in 324 homes in California.

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.

Report aiming to "de-mystify" technology and economic considerations of residential PV systems.

Website estimating energy production and cost of energy of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) energy systems throughout the world.

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.

A report presenting alternative approaches for reducing the costs of roof-mounted, grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Data tables on U.S. renewable energy consumption and general trends in the market for renewable energy.

The RERH specifications and checklists take a builder and a project design team through the steps of assessing a home’s solar resource potential and defining the minimum structural and system components needed to support a solar energy system.

Website tool intended to guide home builders in assessing whether a new home has the proper physical orientation to support a future installation of a solar energy system.

Report providing information on mechanical air-cleaning devices for ventilation when conventional methods are not warranted.

Standard covering provisions for electrically operated single- and multiple-station carbon monoxide (CO) alarming devices used in various types of residential occupancies to protect against acute effects of exposure to CO. This version of the standard, originally published in 2001 and revised in...

Brochure with information on residential solar hot water systems.

Brochure detailing the guidelines, recommendations, and preferences of the City of Burnsville for citizens installing solar photovoltaics.

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.