Library

Report following the evolution of the construction quality process from its development for new homes to its application construction of a HPH with enhanced specifications, and its application in a crawlspace renovation.

Report intending to provide useful information as the DOE/BA develops and implements comprehensive communications and outreach strategies for demonstration homes.

Document targeting retrofit program managers, retrofit contractors, policy makers, academic researchers, and non-governmental organizations that work to realize energy savings from home energy upgrades (HEUs).

Document serving as a starting point that features initial tools and resources for teams to start collaborating to continually improve the energy efficiency and durability of new houses.

A report describing methods for constructing homes and treating soils to reduce the risk of termites in buildings.

Report evaluating a test home built in Atlanta, GA in the mixed-humid climate zone. The report outlines the features of the house, discusses the implementation of the energy efficient design, and presents the results of short-term characterization testing.

Document about NREL's repository of residential building characteristics and historical energy use data, used to improve accuracy of residential energy analysis tools.

Brochure describing insulation approaches for homes with slab-on-grade floors.

Fact sheet describing water management in a residential building.

Research study exploring retrofit procedures and simulated post-occupancy data for three homes in an effort to determine the effectiveness of retrofit packages.

Report using data from various sources to characterize the impact on human health and property damage from indoor environmental quality and other hazards.

Report outlining a case study about a building project in the hot-humid climate zone.

Article from Texas A&M University and the University of Maryland analyzing why and how urban flooding happens and what can be done to mitigate damage.

Fact sheet poster describing a series of fact sheets and checklists for homeowners to share with contractors to help achieve cost-effective, energy-efficient retrofits for dozens of common home renovation projects.

Report providing a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis inherent to different models as a way of thinking about the transition from traditional business models into a viable model for delivering deep energy retrofits.

Report about seeking a 30% source energy savings targets over a comparable 2009 International Energy Conservation Code-built home in the cold climate zone, using simple measures.

Report developed for Habitat for Humanity about lessons learned from demonstration retrofit projects undertaken by Habitat for Humanity affiliates in New York, Maryland, and Pennsylvania; with building systems consulting and technical assistance provided by Steven Winter Associates.

Research study identifying barriers, industry status, critical obstacles to documenting added value from energy efficiency improvements, current opportunities to support reporting about energy efficiency, and next steps toward enabling energy efficiency financing market transformation.

Even as the worst housing market correction in more than 60 years appeared to turn a corner in 2009, the fallout from sharply lower home prices and high unemployment continued.

Paper describing testing for the first of a series of six near net-zero-energy test houses, using the results to work towards the construction of a true net-zero-energy house.

Report discussing Building America whole house systems research within the broad effort to reduce or eliminate the environmental impact of building and provides specific recommendations for future Building America research based on Building Science Corporations experience with several recent...

Case study about affordable housing in a mixed, humid climate.

Information sheet with methods for constructing or retrofitting basements to reduce moisture issues.

Report addressing the ever increasing percentage of whole house energy use that is attributable to miscellaneous electricity loads (MELs) and major appliances.

Presentation describing the challenges of insulating an existing basement, presented to the Building America residential energy-efficiency stakeholder meeting.

Technical fact sheet highlighting important building connections and illustrating the proper use of various types of connection hardware; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction: Technical Fact Sheet Series.”

Document presenting analysis results, focusing on relative humidity (RH) excursions, which are defined as unique events of indoor RH above a threshold.

Document providing a case study of commissioned performance measures that justify costs for these demonstration and "live" show homes.

This report describes how twenty homes were tested and monitored in the Zone 2 climate of Houston, Texas, U.S.A., to evaluate the humidity control performance and operating cost of six different integrated dehumidification and ventilation systems that could be applied by production homebuilders.

Document describing the measured annual performance data from 12 recent-vintage very low energy homes in the US.

A builder checklist guide for the water management of properties with appropriately-designed building technologies.

AIA CEU course covering design considerations for below-grade waterproofing for new construction, the types of below-grade systems available, and specific concerns associated with waterproofing deep foundations.

Fact sheet describing the home certification organization, Home Innovation Research Labs and their requirements for whole house water management in a checklist format as well their compliance with certified Water Rating Index (WRI), organization scope, and information verifiers.

Webpage describing the home certification organization, 24/7 Certifications and their requirements for whole house water management in a checklist format.

Webpage describing the home certification program, Home Innovation Research Labs' requirements for whole house water management.

Webpage describing the home certification organization, RESNET and its requirements for whole house water management in a checklist format as well as the scope, information verifiers, and partners of the program.

Fact sheet describing how the Environmental Protection Agency ensures labeled homes meet the WaterSense efficiency requirements for whole house water management including a list of requirements and a data chart.

Fact sheet describing four different efficient hot water delivery (HWD) systems, the trunk-and branch, core, whole-house manifold, and recirculation, with emphasis on system schematics, piping materials, and regulations to design and verify the systems.

Document on the EPA WaterSense webpage describing the technical evaluation process used by EPA WaterSense to authorize home certification organizations to certify homes through the WaterSense program.

Report assessing the performance and cost-effectiveness of a zero net energy community project in Davis, CA.

An article describing a way to protect drain and ventilation holes in brick veneer siding against pests. Selecting a fine screen mesh opening (1/55-inch or 0.5-mm) is important to guard against small insects such as subterranean termites.

Information sheet discussing the differences between homeowner energy consumption trends in highly efficient homes.

Conference paper presented at the 8th International Conference on Thermal Performance of Exterior Envelopes of Whole Buildings describing moisture from basements and crawlspaces as a source of indoor humidity and providing recommendations for finishing below-grade spaces to limit potential indoor...

Article describing ways to design and construct a building to resist wildfires.

A list of exterior building products and materials approved for use in wildland urban interface zoned homes. These products are non-combustible or ignition-resistant.

Report providing guidance on how to improve the wind resistance of existing residential buildings in Mississippi and across the Gulf Coast.

Tax credit for ENERGY STAR certified windows, doors and skylights.

Webpage from American Red Cross describing how to stay safe and prepare homes for severe winter weather such as blizzards.

Webpage describing steps to take to prepare homes for winter weather as well as safety information for after storms have passed.