Library

Fact sheet providing an overview of the FEMA document Wind Retrofit Guide for Residential Buildings.

Report summarizing the requirements to strenghthen new homes against property damage caused by high wind occurrences per the IBHS Fortified Homes High Wind Standard for New Homes.

Fact sheet summarizing the changes to the flood provisions in the 2012 I-Codes that appear in the 2015 edition.

Florida building code including all the amendments and additions by Florida for the wind-borne debris regions and the high-velocity hurricane zone.

Report summarizing the requirements for strenghtening and protecting the roof, openings in the house, and creating a continuous load path to strengthen walls and foundation per the IBHS Fortified Homes Hurricane Standard for New Homes.

Guide describing the requirements by FORTIFIED Home™ for improving the home's resistance in severe thunderstorms, straight-line wind events, and high winds at the outer edges of tornadoes.

Guide describing the requirements by FORTIFIED Home™ for improving the home's resistance in severe thunderstorms, straight-line wind events, and high winds at the outer edges of tornadoes.

Federal statistics about national energy consumption in residential homes in 2020

Performance rating standards for unitary air-conditioners and unitary air-source heat pumps, including definitions, classifications, testing, rating, and operating requirements, as well as minimum data requirements for published ratings and markings.

Guidebook covering basic principles and data used in the HVAC&R industry. This is the 2023 edition of the handbook, which can be purchased physically or digitally at the reference link in versions using either I-P units of measurement or SI units of measurement.

Article from the Sierra Club explaining 5 steps to take to ensure your home's resistance to wildfires, including site maintenance and roof construction guidelines.

Article describing methods for venting a vented attic and a roof assembly over an unvented attic.

Guide developed to help contractors, building operators, and city officials successfully adopt cool roof and pavement technology.

Energy Star web page providing guidance on attic ventilation.

Website containing commercial information related to air conditioning and heating.

Website homepage for the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA).

Standard covering equipment sizing loads for single-family-detached homes, small multi-unit structures, condo­miniums, town houses and manufactured homes.

Standard covering sizing strategies for all types of cooling and heating equipment, as well as how to use comprehensive manufacturer’s performance data on sensible, latent, or heating capacity for various operating conditions.

Standard providing nationally recognized, manufacturer-endorsed set of inspection tasks for HVAC maintenance.

Standard providing a universally accepted definition for quality installation for residential and commercial heating, ventilating, and air conditioning applications.

Document detailing the requirements, roles, and obligations for participants in an organized effort, ensuring that HVAC installations comply with the ANSI/ACCA 5 QI – 2010 (HVAC Quality Installation Specification) QI Standard.

This is a federal tax credit for complying air source heat pumpe. Units located in the "North" must meet ENERGY STAR's cold climate heat pump criteria.

Document providing step-by-step guidance to sizing air-source heat pumps for a cold climate.

Webpage describing the functionality and benefits of switching to Air Source Heat Pumps, as well as linking to sets of products, rebates, most efficient ASHPs, and providing consumer aid for purchasing an ASHP.

Manual describing best practices or home construction in Alaska and northern climates.

Fact sheet describing the research on energy-efficient strategies for small single-story homes, including manufactured and Habitat for Humanity-built homes, utilizing mini split ductless heat pumps and through-wall transfer fans to achieve a 50% reduction in energy consumption compared to the 2009...

Technical report describing the integration of mini split ductless heat pumps and through-wall transfer fans in small single-story homes, to achieve a 50% reduction in space conditioning energy consumption compared to the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code, while ensuring affordability and...

A publication highlighting recommendations that contribute to improved overall performance in the structural shell and focus on good connection details to tie together exterior walls, roofs and floors.

Report describing a field investigation of failure rates of whole-house mechanical ventilation systems installed in Florida homes.

Webpage providing mapping tool for obtaining ground snow load, based on ASCE 7-10, for any location in the contiguous United States, with the exception of locations requiring a case study due to extreme local variations in ground snow loads. Fee required for some data.

Technical fact sheet describing ways to construct asphalt shingle roofs to be more resistant to high winds and hurricanes; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction: Technical Fact Sheet Series.”

Technical article describing issues and moisture concerns related to weatherization efforts.

SPFA website signup page to access SPFA documents.

Article from California Earthquake Authority on the benefits of retrofitting homes to withstand earthquake forces, with a focus on foundations, walls, and chimneys.

Article describing the common ventilation system types, issues, and solutions in New York City's multifamily residential buildings to improve indoor air quality, occupant health, and building durability.

This directory contains the I=B=R Ratings for cast-iron, steel, aluminum and copper boilers, baseboard and finned tube radiation, indirect-fired water heaters, effective as of the date of this publication.

Code establishing the rules of safety relating only to pressure integrity for the design, fabrication, and inspection of boilers and pressure vessels during construction which was published in the year 2017 and is available to order at the referenced link.

Code establishing the rules of safety relating only to pressure integrity for the design, fabrication, and inspection of boilers and pressure vessels during construction which was published in the year 2021 and is available to order at the referenced link.

Report providing water management details for roof assemblies.

Presentation describing details for installing structural insulated panels (SIPs).

Report comparing a variety of roof insulating strategies to present their advantages and disadvantages according to several comparison criteria.

Article describing the control layers (air, thermal, and vapor barriers) needed to build homes successfully in very cold locations.

Document containing recommendations on how to brace roofs and gable end walls based on lessons learned from analyzing the destruction from hurricane Andrew.

An article discussing how different metal roof materials and attachment methods affect the ability of the roof to thermally expand and contract and the durability of different solutions.

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.

AHRI-hosted directory of residential products meeting CEE's highest tier

News article from SFGate explaining and giving figures on how chimney failure is the most common type of damage to homes during an earthquake.

Part 2 of an article discussing how to maximize two-pipe steam systems for resident space heating.

Report describing strategies to improve the aging steam heating systems in New York City to improve energy efficiency, reduce oil and gas usage, and cut maintenance costs.

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).