Library

Research report describing study of exterior retrofit approach for air sealing, insulating, and water management conducted by the NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership team run by University of Minnesota.

This page provides important information on how to protect yourself and your family if you suspect that you might have vermiculite insulation from Libby, Montana.

Report covering reducing risk from flooding.

List of recommendations from IBHS on how to protect homes from ice dam formation.

Brochure describing multiple earthquake safety measures for homeowners to take, including home reinforcement, evacuation tips, and electrical and appliance tips.

Brochure describing multiple flood safety measures for homeowners to take, including home renovation suggestions, yard maintenance, and additional resources.

Brochure describing multiple storm surge (coastal flooding) safety measures for homeowners to take, including home renovation suggestions, yard maintenance, and recovery advice.

Report providing wildfire protection guidance for homeowners in California.

Brochure describing multiple earthquake safety measures for homeowners to take, including home reinforcement, exterior maintenance, and recovery tips.

Guide describing flood protection measures for utility systems, including mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fuel.

Recovery Advisory document provide guidance related to the use and installation of opening protection systems to protect glazed openings (windows) from wind-borne debris during high-wind events.

Webpage describing how to elevate major appliances in case of a flood.

Information sheet about how to reduce thermal bridging in walls.

Article describing how structural screws can be used to provide resistance to wind uplift in buildings.

Fact sheet describing analysis of potential heating and cooling savings from radiant barriers in attics.

Worker guidance from EPA, HUD, NIH, and OSHA for radon issues following a natural disaster.

Fact sheet describing design and construction practices to reduce the likelihood of water intrusion in walls and foundations in residential construction.

An example of a form a building codes department created to ensure builders are fully aware and have taken steps to provide drainage so that water doesn’t accumulate behind siding. This example is from the city of Newberg, Oregon.

Report covering the performance of residential buildings during three hurricanes impacting Florida in 2004.

Flyer describing reasons and best practices for raising electrical systems above flood-levels.

Information sheet with the definition and uses for a raised truss.

Illustrations of range tip-over outcomes with and without door locking mechanism.

Report showing how to identify, inventory, and screen buildings that are potentially hazardous because of seismic hazards.

Searchable database of over 3,000 roofing products that have undergone solar reflectance and thermal emittance testing.

Searchable database of wall cladding and coating products that have undergone solar reflectance and thermal emittance testing.

Technical report describing the Re-Side Right initiative by the New Jersey Institute of Technology's Building America research team that proposes enhancing home efficiency during the re-siding process by incorporating an insulating layer that acts as both an air barrier and water resistive barrier...

Research study about two test homes that are examined with the goal of providing case studies that could be applied to other similar New England homes.

Report providing strategies to support occupant behavior changes for enhancing resilience, and to reduce a building's vulnerability to extreme weather, climate change, and loss of power.

Website serving as a national public service campaign designed to educate and empower the American people to prepare for, respond to and mitigate emergencies, including natural and man-made disasters.

A fact sheet providing tips on how to assemble a kit of food, water and other disaster supplies in the event of an emergency.

Article describing key takeaways from two symposia held during Building Innovation 2016: The National Institute of Building Sciences Fourth Annual Conference and Expo, including that resilience can be affordable and cost-effective.

Guide addressing immediate responses for cleaning up after natural disasters, including a list of construction retrofit guidance for natural disasters.

Fact sheet describing conditions for wildfire, how a home catches fire, how to create a survivable space, the ideal fire resistant home.

Report covering the reconstruction of flood damaged homes.

Report providing recommended designs and guidance for rebuilding homes destroyed by hurricanes in the Gulf Coast.

Report describing the REDi™ Rating System, which is a framework for implementing “resilience-based earthquake design,” a holistic “beyond-code” design, planning and assessment approach for achieving earthquake resilience.

Website describing wildfire related research conducted by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety at the IBHS Research Center.

Webpage explaining how to mitigate heat loss through roofs for ice dam prevention.

Guide describing ways builders can block off entry points and otherwise make homes inhospitable to all manner of pests.

Report from FEMA on how to reduce damage from localized flooding including planning, drainage, building codes and retrofits, and regulations.

A report presenting alternative approaches for reducing the costs of roof-mounted, grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Field manual describing measures to reduce potential hazards and damages caused by and to nonstructural components of a building such as HVAC, appliances, lighting, windows, and furniture during an earthquake.

An EPA guide describing the causes and impacts of summertime urban heat islands, promoting strategies for lowering temperatures in U.S. communities.

Guidance document describing urban heat islands, what they are, how they form, why we care, and including some strategies to reduce them.

Free Online Training in Reducing Wildfire Risks to People and Property for Home and Business Owners.

Guide providing information for professional builders and contractors rehabbing flooded single-family houses with emphasis on safe practices and the most important activities in the rehab process.

A user forum discussing ways to reinforce a gable overhand that was framed using the ladder method by Mike Mahan.

Website describing the RELi rating system and leadership standard that takes a holistic approach to resilient design.

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.

Webpage from FEMA describing how to properly reconstruct masonry fireplace chimneys damages by earthquakes.