Library

Web article describing the evolution of evaporative coolers, water usage of evaporative coolers, and links to information on selecting an evaporative cooler.

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.

Article describing benefits of ECM motors and how they can be installed as retrofit motors in HVAC equipment.

Flyer from the City of Ellensburg WA describing what an excess flow valve is, how they work, and associated costs.

Utility webpage describing the monetary costs associated with excess flow valves for TECO in Florida.

Expert meeting identifying installation practices that provide the best installed efficiency for residential gas furnaces, explain how AFUE and field efficiency can differ, and investigate the impact of installation practices on the efficiency and long-term durability of the furnace.

Expert meeting held to discuss simplified space conditioning systems in low load homes, including the relationship between advanced thermal enclosures, space conditioning systems and comfort.

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.

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

Factsheet for home and business owners describing ways to anchor fuel tanks to avoid displacement in floods.

Fact sheet describing how to prepare for hurricane season and mitigate damage from floods and high winds.

Summary document describing flood resistant building materials and some tips for building flood resistant walls.

Factsheet describing the flood-resistant provisions of the 2021 International Codes and American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 24-14, Flood Resistant Design and Construction, that are “higher standards” and that are more specific than the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) requirements.

FEMA document defining key coastal and flood hazard terms.

Document describing commonly used terms in the context of levees and what they mean.

Documents describing the similarities and differences between the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) minimum requirements and the requirements of the International Codes® (I-Codes®) and ASCE 24, Flood Resistant Design and Construction, a standard referenced by the I-Codes., and illustrating...

Online geospatial map with interactive viewer showing flood risk areas and base flood elevations

Website describing the national flood insurance program and how to purchase flood insurance.

A address searchable geographic information system for visualizing the flood hazard of an address and its surrounding area.

Website describing and providing links to FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center, which home owners and builders can use to determine the flood risk of their location.

Documents describing Flood Resistant Provisions of the international codes (including the international building, residential, exiting building, mechanical, plumbing, fuel gas, fire, swimming pool and spa, private sewage disposal, and code council performance codes) and summaries of changes from the...

Activity sheets describing questions and preparedness action items for a variety of disasters including floods, fires, earthquakes, and winter weather.

Factsheet describing backflow valve benefits and tips.

Website describing and providing a map showing the tsunami risk index for the United States, which home owners and builders can use to determine the tsunami risk of their location.

FEMA guidance for flood damage in areas prone to flooding.

Information sheet providing detail about hand fabrication of a one-piece straight duct from a 48" x 120" x 1" thick (1.22 m x 3.05 m x 25 mm) sheet where the total inside duct dimensions equals 112" (2.84 m) or less.

Report outlining how Smart ventilation controls (SVC) balance energy consumption, comfort, and IAQ by optimizing mechanical ventilation operation to reduce the heating and/or cooling loads, improve management of indoor moisture, and maintain IAQ equivalence according to ASHRAE 62.2.

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.

Report providing guidelines and procedures to determine whether damaged or potentially damaged buildings are safe for use after wind storms or floods, or if entry should be restricted or prohibited.

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

Report about field testing that characterizes the uniformity of room-to-room ventilation air distribution under various operating conditions by examining multi-zone tracer gas decay curves and calculating local age-of-air.

Technical report on a field validation study that utilizes low-cost indoor air quality sensors to assess a smart ventilation system's effectiveness in maintaining acceptable indoor humidity in low-load homes in humid environments, revealing that while the smart ventilation algorithm demonstrated...

ASHRAE Q&A addressing HVAC filtration and disinfection for reducing the spread of COVID-19.

Article describing five fundamental changes to building construction from the last 50 years and their modern construction consequences.

Website containing resources from the nonprofit FLASH, which "is the country’s leading consumer advocate for strengthening homes and safeguarding families from natural and manmade disasters."

Standard providing a comprehensive approach to evaluating, selecting, specifying and installing flexible duct in HVAC systems.

Research study outlining savings from reducing air infiltration, with and without the addition of mechanical ventilation, using two identical laboratory homes designed to model existing Florida building stock.

Guide from Building Science Corporation on how to construct a flood and hurricane resistant home.

This document includes tips for safely and effectively cleaning up a home after a flood. It is available in several languages.

Page describing in detail four important actions you should consider to protect your health and indoor air quality (IAQ) when cleaning up after a flood.

This five-page brochure contains basic information on flood cleanup with illustrations and links to more detailed information.

Website providing information to the public about preparing for floods and floods related to fires.

Website providing series of short how-to videos, infographics and more resources on cleaning up a home after a flood.

Report describing dry floodproofing technologies for non-residential buildings, including information about regulatory requirements, design considerations, and descriptions of floodproofing methods and equipment.

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.

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

Website describing wet floodproofing measures to prevent against structural damage, internal damage and damage to electrical components.

Guide describing how and where to install flashings in order to weatherproof a roof.

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

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