Library

Report presenting long-term evaluation results from a hot-dry climate project that examines thermal and HVAC performance in a highly efficient home.

Document presenting a cost effective method that was used by four builders in the Gainesville, FL area to construct interior ducts in over a dozen site built homes.

A webpage outlining CAL FIRE’s recommendations for creating defensible space.

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

Report focusing on managing the driving forces that move air and water vapor across the building envelope.

Standard technical manual with information about HVAC balancing, testing air and hydronic systems.

Guidebook providing useful examples of high performance retrofit techniques for the building enclosure of wood frame residential construction in a cold and somewhat wet climate.

Document providing information on the impact of various defects and the potential energy savings that can result from proper maintenance, and describing a two-step process for diagnosing and correcting faults. This document is targeted towards home performance contractors who are relatively...

Document covering two fundamental retrofit strategies for air sealing around air handling systems that are located within the living space in an enclosed closet.

Project discussing buried or encapsulated ducts and their pros and cons.

Report describing the installation and operation of forced-air heating and domestic hot water combi systems in residential homes.

Report providing step-by-step instructions for heating contractors and hydronic designers for selecting the proper control settings to maximize system performance and improve response time when using a thermostat setback.

Report about evaporative condensers, to provide information on a cost-effective solution for energy and demand savings in homes with cooling loads.

Document covering installation of high efficiency gas furnaces, including when to install a high efficiency gas furnace as a retrofit measure, how to identify and address risks, and steps to follow for the selection and installation process.

Report providing guidance on how to implement a compact duct system inside a plenum truss bulkhead of a one-story, slab-on-grade home.

Report describing the use of passive vents as a source of outdoor air in multifamily buildings.

Document covering the technical aspects of buried and insulated ducts (BEDs), as well as the advantages, disadvantages, and risks of BEDs compared to alternative strategies.

Report describing the sealing and insulating of HVAC duct systems in existing homes.

This document addresses adding—or improving—mechanical ventilation systems to existing homes. The purpose of ventilation is to remove contaminants from homes either directly or by dilution. This report discusses where, when, and how much ventilation is appropriate in a home, including some...

Document intending to put some context and structure around the process of balancing and tuning one-pipe steam systems to help practitioners begin to garner the potential in energy savings that this measure presents.

Document illustrating guidelines for efficient installation of interior duct systems in new housing.

Guide describing proper application, design, and installation of mechanical ventilation cooling systems for homes located in hot-dry and cold-dry climates, as well as a means of understanding the benefits, costs, and tradeoffs of these systems.

Report describing the most cost-effective ventilation and indoor air quality solutions for multifamily homes that meet ASHRAE 62.2-2016.

Research study analyzing measured energy savings from a moderate retrofit by comparing post-retrofit performance with measured pre-retrofit monitored data.

Paper describing energy savings in space cooling from shading condenser units.

Research study outlining results of monitoring a low temperature heat pump.

Web resource that lays out the pre-work considerations, methods and finishes for installing mechanical insulation.

Standard that prescribes a testing method to determine the efficiency of space heating and/or cooling thermal distribution systems under seasonal and design conditions. This version of the standard was published in the year 2014, and is available for preview and purchase at the reference link. The...

Standard establishing a test procedure for evaluating the performance of air-cleaning devices as a function of particle size. This is the current version of the standard, which was published in the year 2017, and is available for preview and purchase at the reference link. The ASHRAE bookstore also...

Book with indepth information about hydronic systems for residential and commercial buildings.

Conference paper making the case that moving ducts to conditioned space saves energy, is practical for production builders (when accompanied by careful pre-planning), and creates significant andmarketable energy savings for homebuyers.

Article describing mulch requirements and benefits.

Article describing mulching with lawn clippings.

Pamphlet describing different types of mulches and their benefits.

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

This report is designed to meet ASHRAE 62.2-2010/2013 and ANSI/ACCA’s 5 QI-2015 protocol, thereby improving the performance of HVAC equipment in new homes when compared to homes built to minimum code.

Database compiling extended capacity data for numerous cold climate heat pump manufacturers and models.

Report discussing the benefits of modern evaporative cooling systems for use in hot dry climate zones.

Report for local governments, planners, emergency managers, developers, insurers, and property owners describing ways to improve the wildfire resistance of buildings, infrastructure and communities in the wildland urban interface.

An NFPA Standard that identifies a method for determining the minimum water supply necessary for structural fire-fighting purposes in areas where it has been determined that there is no water or inadequate water for fire fighting.

An NFPA standards document that provides minimum requirements for the design, construction, installation, and maintenance of tanks and accessory equipment that supply water for private fire protection.

Document on the development of two simple in-home efficiency test methods that can be used by technicians, researchers, or interested homeowners to verify the correct operation and energy efficiency of a homes air conditioning and heating equipment.

Document about development of recommendations to help residential HVAC designers select optimal supply inlet size and system operating conditions to maintain good thermal comfort in low heating and cooling load homes.

Research study using modeling to determine optimal combination(s) of components/pumps, high efficiency heat sources, plumbing configurations and controls that result in the highest overall efficiency for a hydronic system.

Report providing information to researchers, utility program managers, and building owners interested in controlling heating energy waste and improving resident comfort.

Paper describing a study on savings in peak power and cooling energy for homes with shade trees.

Article investigating how a linear input/output relationship can be used as a simple model of the performance of a combination hydronic heating system over heating only, DHW only, and combined loads.

Brochure describing what permeable pavement is, where to install it, and how to maintain it.

Information sheet providing guidance about the placement of ventilation approaches.