Library

Website describing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR New Homes and Apartments program with links to builder and homeowner resources.

Document providing descriptions of the many insulation options available to homeowners, along with guidance on where, when, and how to install insulation throughout your house.

Research study examining efficiency retrofit opportunities, typical renovation practices, and pathways for achieving U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) goals for existing homes in Florida.

Website with consumer information about residential heat pump systems.

Online reference containing general information about geothermal heat pumps.

Report investigating performance and energy savings potential of heat pump water heaters.

Research study describing experiments run in an unoccupied 1600 square foot house to evaluate the delivered performance as well as the relative performance of a SEER 21 variable capacity heat pump versus a SEER 13 heat pump.

Document presenting a simple starting point to determine the most cost-effective Energy Savings Measure Packages (ESMP) for existing homes to achieve 15% and 30% savings in 37 locations across the United States.

Searchable list of heat pumps that meet ENERGY STAR criteria.

Webpage recognizing the most efficient products among those that are ENERGY STAR certified.

Program criteria for central air conditioner and heat pump equipment.

Informational guide describing the benefits, functionality, and cost savings of ENERGY STAR® certified heat pump water heaters, addressing common misconceptions and highlighting incentives.

Factsheet describing mini split heat pumps and their benefits for consumers.

Homebuilding’s simple payback estimator for an insulation upgrade – the type and amount of insulation, square footage of the area, recent utility bill, and a quote from insulation contractor.

Information sheet briefly summarizing double stud with spray foam wall construction including the advantages and disadvantages of this construction strategy.

Information sheet that summarizes Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) construction including advantages and disadvantages of this construction strategy.

This report evaluates the performance of variable-capacity comfort systems, with a focus on inverter-driven, variable-capacity systems, as well as proposed system enhancements.

Report exploring feasibility of designing prescriptive retrofit measure packages for typical Chicago region multifamily buildings in order to achieve 25% source energy savings.

Report analyzing results in crawlspace retrofits in multifamily buildings.

Report summarizing post-retrofit results for 13 existing homes in a deep energy retrofit pilot program.

Technical report presenting the results of an evaluation of homes using high-efficiency mini-split heat pumps to supplement the primary heating and cooling systems.

Report evaluating opportunities to improve and streamline delivery of residential retrofit measures.

Research study documenting market-ready energy solutions to improve the efficiency of new affordable housing in the marine climate of Washington State.

Report examining implementation of an exterior insulation and over-clad strategy for brick masonry buildings in Chicago.

Report describing the performance, cost, and carbon impacts of unitary heat pump water heaters with load-shifting controls in a shared configuration for a multi-family project, highlighting significant savings in energy usage, CO2 emissions, and utility costs.

Article describing a study of the potential to use heat pumps to heat and cool homes across the United States, including cold climate locations like Alaska.

Case study describing novel technique for installing exterior spray foam on foundation walls that uses high-pressure water sprayer and a “hydro vac” to remove dirt along the foundation wall.

Report about an expert meeting focused on issues surrounding cladding attachment and performance of walls with exterior insulating sheathing.

Expert meeting report describing the need for greater understanding of foundation systems including moisture and insulation issues.

Expert Meeting about interior insulation retrofit of mass masonry wall assemblies held on July 30, 2011.

Report presenting the process of a residential retrofit project for houses in the states of Florida and Alabama, including findings at the time of reporting and highlights of the first home to meet the target HERS Index of 70.

Fact sheet describing the Extended Plate Wall (EPW) a system that incorporates a 2-inch layer of foam plastic insulative sheathing within the framing for top and bottom plates, streamlining air sealing, window and door installation, weather resistive barrier application, and cladding attachment for...

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is interested in finding cost-effective solutions for deep energy retrofits (DERs) related to exterior wall insulation in a cold climate, with targets of 50% peak load reduction and 50% space conditioning energy savings.

Research study developing baseline engineering analysis to support the installation of thick layers of exterior insulation (2 in. to 8 in.) on existing masonry walls and wood framed walls.

Article from Building Science Corporation on construction techniques for extreme heat conditions in Dubai and Las Vegas.

Study characterizing how foundation heat exchangers (FHXs) used in residential ground source heat pump systems represent a potential cost savings due to their lesser first cost over other types of heat exchangers.

Report of a field evaluation of four novel roof designs to see how each design would reduce space-conditioned energy use so that the knowledge gained could be applied to the design of new manufactured homes.

Information sheet with an analysis of mini split heat pump systems.

Report describing the in situ performance evaluation of newly released heat pump water heaters (HPWHs), highlighting their energy and cost savings potential compared to conventional electric resistance water heaters and other alternatives, based on data collected from installations in Massachusetts...

Report on field monitoring of inverter-driven ASHPs in cold-climate homes.

Article discussing flow-through assemblies of walls.

Journal article describing lessons learned from updating a 16-year-old deep-energy retrofit.

Article describing the effective R-values of various subslab insulation products, including foil bubble pack.

Report outlining the energy upgrade package implemented in Ft. Benning, GA, Indianhead Townhomes project and the findings of the Southface Energy Institute's post-renovation analysis.

Report about development of effective strategies to reduce the overall building energy use in line with Building America goals in this modestly priced market rate project.

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.

Report describing a project aimed at developing validated models and design tools for foundation heat exchangers.

Article describing a numerical model that can be used to size foundation heat exchanger (FHX) systems.

A guideline containing fire sprinkler insulation requirements from the Prescott, Arizona Fire Department.

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