Library

Report identifying the important aspects of building design and construction to enable installation of solar photovoltaic and heating systems at some time after the building is constructed.

A research paper exploring the design, installation, repair and maintenance of solar water and pool heating technologies.

Website describing how solar water heaters -- also called solar domestic hot water systems -- can be a cost-effective way to generate hot water for your home.

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.

Outlines the minimum criteria for a solar water heating system installed by a Solar Water Heating Program trade ally under Energy Trust of Oregon’s Solar Water Heating Program.

Webpage describing the basics of solar plus storage operations on homes.

California Energy Commission report presenting the concept of cool walls and providing guidelines for their building- and climate-appropriate use to conserve energy and reduce emissions.

Handheld solar site analysis tool capturing whole-horizon images for a site and generating shading analysis reports.

Report providing information based on research and case studies, to remodelers and consumers about opportunities to increase home energy performance.

Report describing the equipment selection of a split system air conditioner and furnace for an example house in Chicago, Illinois, as well as a heat pump system for an example house in Orlando, Florida.

Report about proper water heater selection developed to provide step-by-step procedures for evaluating preferred cost-effective options for energy efficient water heater alternatives based on local utility rates, climate, and anticipated loads.

The 2017 publication update to the SEAOC Wind Committee and SEAOC Solar Photovoltaic Systems Sub-Committee's 2012 report.

A research paper discussing the use of foundation heat exchangers for ground source heat pump systems in European climates.

Question and Answer article in Energy Design Update describing the cost and savings benefits of electronically commutated motors (ECMs) for HVAC equipment.

Report providing performance results of a home's heat pump water heater and whole-house dehumidifier over a six-month period.

Document about laboratory testing of five integrated heat pump water heaters (HPWH).

FSEC certification and testing page for solar systems.

DOE-sponsored report describing the experimental design and results of testing the energy performance of Hunter Douglas double-cell cellular shades under various control schemes in the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Lab Homes.

Report describing use of the Energy in Modular (EMOD) method to design, produce, and deliver affordable, net-zero energy, low-carbon, and healthier buildings through industrialized (factory) construction of modular buildings; modeling of whole buildings and subassemblies of components, pods, panels...

Conference paper summarizing the relative performance of currently available Heat Pump Water Heaters (HPWH) models, the energy implications of different installation locations (garage, basement, or conditioned space) and ducting configurations (exhaust ducting, full ducting, or no ducting), as well...

Report about partnership to build three communities of net zero houses.

Presentation report detailing Heat Pump Water Heater (HPWH) interaction with space conditioning systems in real-life test scenarios that explains some of the problems arising from these interaction and information that can be used to make the system more efficient.

Users guide to help contractors and homeowners use the Cold Climate Heat Pump Sizing Support Tools developed by NEEP to size and select the best air source heat pumps for their cold climate location.

Report on investigating the effectiveness of using solar thermal water heaters to address heat losses from piping while recirculating water in multifamily buildings.

Website containing useful resources regarding central heat pump water heater systems.

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.

Web page explaining what a cool exterior wall is and how they work, as well as benefits to their use and links to research studies.

Web page explaining what a cool roof is and how they work, as well as benefits to their use and links to research studies.

Webinar presenting best practices in HVAC design and commissioning

Conference paper presented at the 2020 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings presenting the results of an evaluation of control strategies used when new mini-splits are installed in a home with an existing HVAC system.

Report describing work conducted by the Building Science Corporation (BSC) Building America Research Teams Energy Efficient Housing Research Partnerships project.

DOE presentation describing a project to study window attachments.

Fact sheet providing information on window attachments and their potential for improving energy efficiency.

Research study describing demonstration homes that provided a wealth of information for the building community in terms of the science, effort, and cost of increasing the energy efficiency of our nation's housing stock.

Report detailing retrofit of two existing houses in the Wyandotte Neighborhood program.