Library

Report covering exterior energy retrofits of masonry buildings.

Conference paper describing the use of engineered rainscreen products to provide air flow and water drainage space in wall assemblies in residential and commercial buildings.

Article from The Home Energy Community of Practice on designing energy efficient homes in hot climate zones, including home orientation, window location, and roof design considerations.

Guide informing architects and engineers about designing buildings to be constructed with structural insulated panels.

Information about dense pack, cellulose insulation.

Information sheet providing information about investigating the thermal effect of staggering the inner and outer wall studs on double walls in new construction.

Report covering the rainwater performance of building assemblies.

Information sheet with HVAC duct insulation, testing, maintenance and performance information.

Report on how airtighness changes as houses age.

Case study describing foundation wall moisture studies at a research facility in Minnesota run by Building America team NorthernSTAR.

Guide provides homeowners ways to prepare for an earthquake and protect a home against earthquake damage.

The objective of this research was to quantify the field performance of wood-frame walls clad with a variety of common claddings in a mixed-humid climate.

Webpage from U.S. Department of Energy describing using Earth-Sheltered home building techniques in hot climate zones.

Report on problems and solutions with EIFS stucco wall cladding systems.

Presentation about results from an insulating concrete form energy efficiency study in Knoxville, TN.

Report outlining the steps of translating a new home construction scope of work (SOW) to SOW for retrofit.

Website describing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR New Homes and Apartments program with links to builder and homeowner resources.

Document providing descriptions of the many insulation options available to homeowners, along with guidance on where, when, and how to install insulation throughout your house.

Research study examining efficiency retrofit opportunities, typical renovation practices, and pathways for achieving U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) goals for existing homes in Florida.

Report investigating performance and energy savings potential of heat pump water heaters.

Document presenting a simple starting point to determine the most cost-effective Energy Savings Measure Packages (ESMP) for existing homes to achieve 15% and 30% savings in 37 locations across the United States.

Homebuilding’s simple payback estimator for an insulation upgrade – the type and amount of insulation, square footage of the area, recent utility bill, and a quote from insulation contractor.

Information sheet with details on a building enclosure designed for Albuquerque, NM, as an example for building enclosures built for hot-dry and mixed-dry climates.

Information sheet briefly summarizing double stud wall construction including the advantages and disadvantages of this construction strategy.

Information sheet briefly summarizing double stud with spray foam wall construction including the advantages and disadvantages of this construction strategy.

Information sheet that summarizes Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) construction including advantages and disadvantages of this construction strategy.

Information sheet briefly summarizing truss wall construction including the advantages and disadvantages of this construction strategy.

Report exploring feasibility of designing prescriptive retrofit measure packages for typical Chicago region multifamily buildings in order to achieve 25% source energy savings.

Report analyzing results in crawlspace retrofits in multifamily buildings.

Report summarizing post-retrofit results for 13 existing homes in a deep energy retrofit pilot program.

Report evaluating opportunities to improve and streamline delivery of residential retrofit measures.

Research study documenting market-ready energy solutions to improve the efficiency of new affordable housing in the marine climate of Washington State.

Report examining implementation of an exterior insulation and over-clad strategy for brick masonry buildings in Chicago.

Case study describing novel technique for installing exterior spray foam on foundation walls that uses high-pressure water sprayer and a “hydro vac” to remove dirt along the foundation wall.

Report about the Advanced Envelope Research effort will provide factory homebuilders with urgently-needed, cost effective methods for meeting emerging energy code requirements.

Report about an expert meeting focused on issues surrounding cladding attachment and performance of walls with exterior insulating sheathing.

Expert meeting report describing the need for greater understanding of foundation systems including moisture and insulation issues.

Expert Meeting about interior insulation retrofit of mass masonry wall assemblies held on July 30, 2011.

Report presenting the process of a residential retrofit project for houses in the states of Florida and Alabama, including findings at the time of reporting and highlights of the first home to meet the target HERS Index of 70.

Report that demonstrates the durability, constructability, and cost-effectiveness of the extended plate and beam (EP&B) wall system for new construction housing projects in compliance with the International Energy Conservation Code, addressing moisture risk management and high-performance envelope...

Report on high-R wall design called extended plate and beam that uses foam sheathing insulation with wall framing.

Fact sheet describing the Extended Plate Wall (EPW) a system that incorporates a 2-inch layer of foam plastic insulative sheathing within the framing for top and bottom plates, streamlining air sealing, window and door installation, weather resistive barrier application, and cladding attachment for...

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.

Research study developing baseline engineering analysis to support the installation of thick layers of exterior insulation (2 in. to 8 in.) on existing masonry walls and wood framed walls.

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

Webpage from LSU AgCenter answering frequently asked questions after gutting a flooded home, including mitigation strategies for future floods.

Information sheet about what length screws should be used, and how closely to space the screws when fastening furring strips to a foam-sheathed wall.

An example of a commercially available thermally expansive fire stopping product for controlling the spread of fires in a rainscreen cavity.

Article explaining what a continuous load path is and the key connection points that make it up.

Research study evaluating the dynamic heat transmission characteristics through two identical Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) wall assemblies in Ottawa, Canada.