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Library

This library contains research reports produced by the Building America program and other building science resources used to support this Solution Center. The materials cover both new construction and existing homes. Use the search box and/or the filters to explore hundreds of residential building resources. Access to some references not produced by Building America may require purchase from the publisher. Documents are listed alphabetically. While we continually update our database, links may have changed since posting. Please contact our webmaster if you find broken links.

Showing results 51 - 100 of 275

Building America Performance Analysis Procedures for Existing Homes

Author(s)
Hendron Robert
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
Publication Date
Report provides a proposed set of guidelines for estimating the energy savings achieved by a package of retrofits or an extensive rehabilitation of an existing home.

Building America Residential System Research Results: Achieving 30% Whole House Energy Savings Level in Hot-Dry and Mixed-Dry Climates

Author(s)
Building Industry Research Alliance,
Building Science Consortium,
Florida Solar Energy Center,
Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,
Davis Energy Group,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
National Association of Home Builders Research Center,
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions
Organization(s)
BIRA,
BSC,
CARB,
DEG,
FSEC,
IBACOS,
NAHBRC,
NREL
Publication Date
Report summarizing research results for the 30% energy savings level and demonstrates that lead builders can successfully provide 30% homes in the Hot-Dry / Mixed-Dry Climate Region on a cost-neutral basis.

Building with Ducts in Conditioned Space

Author(s)
Sullivan Bruce,
Schmiede Angela
Organization(s)
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE,
Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance,
NEEA
Publication Date
Training manual on how to locate ducts within conditioned space and compact design.

CA Energy Commission - HVAC

Author(s)
California Energy Commission
Organization(s)
CEC
Publication Date
Webpage containing California Energy Commission's HVAC design information, including mandatory and prescriptive HVAC requirements for residential and nonresidential buildings following the California Energy Commission's Building Energy Efficiency Standards.

CEE Residential Product Directory

Author(s)
Consortium for Energy Efficiency; Air-Conditioning,
Heating,
and Refrigeration Institute
Organization(s)
CEE; AHRI
Publication Date
AHRI-hosted directory of residential products meeting CEE's highest tier

Central Fan Integrated Ventilation Systems, Info-610

Author(s)
Building Science Corporation
Organization(s)
BSC
Publication Date
Report describing ventilation system design, including a central fan integrated supply (CFIS) system, made up of a 6-inch outdoor air intake duct connected to the return side of the air handler with a fan cycling control to make sure the fan runs a programmed minimum amount of time.

Choosing Thermostatic Radiator Valves

Author(s)
Gifford Henry
Organization(s)
American Boiler Manufacturers Association
Publication Date
Part 2 of an article discussing how to maximize two-pipe steam systems for resident space heating.

Cold Climate Air Source Heat Pump Specification, Version 4.0

Author(s)
Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships
Organization(s)
NEEP
Publication Date
Specification defining performance and reporting requirements to meet the voluntary “Cold Climate Air Source Heat Pump Specification” (ccASHP Specification) for air source heat pumps suited to heat efficiently in cold climates (IECC cz 4 and higher).

Cold Climate DHP Specification

Author(s)
Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance
Organization(s)
NEEA
Publication Date
Webpage outlining how to optimize the installations and performance of mini-split heat pump systems. As well, it discusses a set of design considerations for multi-level homes, low load homes, and heat distribution to rooms without a heat source.

Combined Space and Water Heating: Next Steps to Improved Performance

Author(s)
Bohac Dave,
Schoenbauer Ben,
Huelman Patrick H
Organization(s)
University of Minnesota,
UMN,
NothernSTAR,
NSTAR,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Report describing combined space- and water-heating (combi) systems using a high-efficiency direct-vent burner.

Comfort and HVAC Performance for a New Construction Occupied Test House in Roseville, California

Author(s)
Burdick Arlan
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Report summarizing one year of monitoring and analysis of the effectiveness of a space conditioning system at maintaining temperature and relative humidity levels in a test home, as well as room-to-room differences and the actual measured energy consumption by the space conditioning system.

Comfort in High-Performance Homes in a Hot-Humid Climate

Author(s)
Beach Robert,
Poerschke Andrew
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Report describing how space-conditioning systems are operating in the field and if these systems are meeting required standards.

Comparison of Measured and Calculated Residential Cooling Loads

Author(s)
Barnaby Charles S,
Wilcox Bruce A
Organization(s)
American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers,
ASHRAE
Publication Date
Technical report detailing a study in which actual cooling loads are compared to modeled cooling loads.

Construction Instruction

Author(s)
Construction Instruction Experience Center
Organization(s)
CIEC
Publication Date
Website providing building science based guidance and training for residential construction.

Controls and Safety Devices for Automatically Fired Boilers, CSD-1 - 2012

Author(s)
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Organization(s)
ASME
Publication Date
Standard covering requirements for the assembly, installation, maintenance, and operation of controls and safety devices on automatically operated boilers directly fired with gas, oil, gas-oil, or electricity, having fuel input ratings under 12,500,000 Btu/hr.

Cooling and Heating Season Impacts of Right-Sizing of Fixed- and Variable-Capacity Heat Pumps With Attic and Indoor Ductwork

Author(s)
Cummings James B,
Withers Charles R,
Kono Jamie E
Organization(s)
Florida Solar Energy Center,
FSEC,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE,
Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction,
BA-PIRC
Publication Date
Report on experiments comparing the cooling and heating seasonal and peak demand performance of different variable-capacity air conditioning and heat pump units.

Deep Energy Retrofits - Source Energy and Carbon Decisions

Author(s)
Less Brennan,
Walker Iain S
Organization(s)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
LBNL
Publication Date
Part of a larger LBNL report (Deep Energy Retrofit Guidance for the Building America Solutions Center), the Source Energy and Carbon Decisions chapter helps users carefully assess the impacts of switching from gas to electricity for heating end-uses, using source energy and/or carbon emissions...

Designing Forced-Air HVAC Systems

Author(s)
Puttagunta Srikanth
Organization(s)
Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings,
CARB,
Steven Winter Associates,
SWA
Publication Date
Document providing design guidance and software tool information for forced-air HVAC systems.

Development and Validation of Algorithms That Analyze Communicating Thermostat Data to Identify Enclosure Retrofit Opportunities

Author(s)
Zeifman Michael,
Roth Kurt
Organization(s)
Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Technical report describing algorithms that use communicating thermostat heating data and that were developed to optimize customer adoption of energy conservation measures, enhancing the identification of retrofit opportunities, estimating post-retrofit energy savings, and enabling home-specific...

Development and Validation of Home Comfort System for Total Performance Deficiency/ Fault Detection and Optimal Comfort Control

Author(s)
Jiang Yilin,
Wang Junke,
Song Li,
Tang Choon Yik,
Wang Gang,
Brambley Michael,
Ejenakevwe Kevwe
Organization(s)
University of Oklahoma,
University of Miami,
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
PNNL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Report examining the use of smart thermostat data to detect performance degradation and optimize comfort control in home AC systems.

Distribution and Room Air Mixing Risks to Retrofitted Homes

Author(s)
Burdick Arlan
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS
Publication Date
Report outlining the issues with using existing ducts with a new low-load HVAC system, which reduces throw at supply registers causing decreased mixing of supply and room air, leading to potential thermal comfort complaints.

Duct and HVAC Insulation

Author(s)
North American Insulation Manufacturers Association
Organization(s)
NAIMA
Publication Date
Information sheet with HVAC duct insulation, testing, maintenance and performance information.

Duct System Flammability and Air Sealing Fire Separation Assemblies in the International Residential Code

Author(s)
Prahl Duncan,
Rudd Armin
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Report identifying two barriers that limit the ability of builders to explore opportunities for higher levels of energy efficiency in housing: the use of duct system materials that inherently achieve airtightness and are right-sized for low-load houses, and, the ability to air seal fire separation...

Ductless Mini-Split Air Conditioners

Author(s)
Energy Saver
Organization(s)
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Webpage describing the advantages and disadvantages of ductless mini-split air conditioner.

ECA HVAC Units

Author(s)
National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program,
Federal Emergency Management Agency,
California Governor's Office of Emergency Services,
Southern California Earthquake Center,
Earthquake Country Alliance
Organization(s)
NEHRP,
FEMA,
Cal OES,
SCEC,
ECA
Publication Date
Factsheet describing methods for securing HVAC units to avoid damage during an earthquake.

ECM Motors: An Energy Saving Opportunity

Author(s)
Office of Research Facilities
Organization(s)
ORF
Publication Date
Bulletin describing the components of ECM motors and comparing their efficiency with PSC motors.

Emergencies and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

Author(s)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Organization(s)
EPA
Publication Date
Website that lists references that can help you determine how to control you indoor air quality while combating an emergency.

Energy Impacts of Nonlinear Behavior of PCM When Applied into Building Envelope

Author(s)
Tabares-Velasco Paulo Cesar
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Research study analyzing the effects a nonlinear enthalpy profile has on thermal performance and expected energy benefits for PCM-enhanced insulation.

Energy Impacts of Various Residential Mechanical Ventilation Strategies

Author(s)
Parker Danny S,
Gu Lixing,
Wichers Michael,
Vieira Robin K
Organization(s)
Florida Solar Energy Center,
FSEC
Publication Date
Document comparing simulation results from a modified version of the EnergyGauge program to include various HVAC runtime strategies.

Energy Saver

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Organization(s)
DOE
Publication Date
Website from the U.S. Department of Energy providing consumers with information on saving energy and using renewable energy technologies.

Energy Saver: Thermostats

Author(s)
Energy Saver
Organization(s)
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Article by Energy Saver on how to save energy with your thermostat.

Energy Savings and Peak Demand Reduction of a SEER 21 Heat Pump vs. a SEER 13 Heat Pump with Attic and Indoor Duct Systems

Author(s)
Cummings James B,
Withers Charles R
Organization(s)
Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction,
BA-PIRC,
Florida Solar Energy Center,
FSEC
Publication Date
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.

ENERGY STAR Certified Ventilating Fans

Author(s)
ENERGY STAR
Organization(s)
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE,
ENERGY STAR
Publication Date
Factsheet describing the benefits of purchasing and installing ENERGY STAR rated fans and ventilation products.

ENERGY STAR Most Efficient 2021 Criteria Development

Author(s)
ENERGY STAR
Organization(s)
ENERGY STAR,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
EPA
Publication Date
Webpage recognizing the most efficient products among those that are ENERGY STAR certified.

ENERGY STAR® Certified Mini Split Heat Pumps

Author(s)
ENERGY STAR
Organization(s)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
EPA,
ENERGY STAR
Publication Date
Factsheet describing mini split heat pumps and their benefits for consumers.

Evaluation of Humidity Control Options in Hot-Humid Climate Homes

Author(s)
Winkler Jon,
Christensen Dane,
Fang Xia
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Research study that utilizes EnergyPlus equipped with the moisture capacitance model to analyze the indoor relative humidity in three home types.