Library

Article from CAL FIRE on fire-resistant landscaping to mitigate ignition of homes.

List of guidelines for plants and their fire resistance from FIRESafe Marin.

Five step plan from the Tahoe Fire & Fuels team outlining how to create an effective defensible space for wildfire protection. Recommendations include siting for homes on slopes.

Journal article describing energy impacts from shade trees and forests and solar heating and air infiltration.

Article describing a numerical model that can be used to size foundation heat exchanger (FHX) systems.

Document describing living shoreline techniques for shoreline stabilization.

Article describing tree preservation during the construction process.

Web article about solar site assessment.

Report presenting seismic design and construction guidance for one- and two-family houses for homebuilders, knowledgeable homeowners, and other non-engineers.

Report presenting construction methods, building products, appliances and equipment of four single-family houses that achieve dramatic energy reductions and approach “net zero energy” use.

Article from The Earthbound Report on passive cooling design strategies for homes located in hot climates.

Report providing the results of an analysis of humidity control and variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system efficiency in three new multifamily buildings in New York, NY.

Wildfire guidance for homes located in the wildland urban interface, focused on site design and individual pieces of the home.

Ignition resistant residential construction and landscaping guidelines from FireSafe Montana.

Article from University of Arizona on keeping homes cool during extreme heat, both personal and system changes.

Guide describing landscaping tips for healthy and regionally-based gardens, including maintenance, mulching, water efficiency, and plant resources.

Paper describing vegetation impacts on cooling load for buildings.

Guide for homeowners describing actions they can take to modify their home and the surrounding site to create a survivable space to reduce the amount of damage a home would likely experience during a wildfire.

Report on whole-house and spot ventilation strategies for improved indoor air quality.

Report on the long-term performance of mini-split heat pumps.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Pamphlet describing proper mulching around trees and problems and benefits associated with mulching.

Report providing wildfire protection guidance for homeowners in California.

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

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

Report evaluating mechanical AC precooling strategies in homes as a method for improving the load factor by shifting cooling operation from on-peak to off-peak hours.

Report providing architects, designers, and homeowners with information to make house plans useful for constructing a more wind resilient structure.

Article describing how replacing permanent split capacitor (PSC) motors with electronically commutated motors (ECM) can boost bottom line for HVAC contractors as well as improve customer comfort and satisfaction.

Website tool that can search for trees by name or characteristics and retrieve data describing tree attributes including site preferences and general characteristics and considerations.

A research paper exploring the design, installation, repair and maintenance of solar water and pool heating technologies.

Standard that defines the roles of and minimum requirements for mechanical and natural ventilation systems and the building envelope intended to provide acceptable indoor air quality in low-rise residential buildings. This version of the standard was published in the year 2016, and is available for...

Document describing correct construction of swales, designed to trap particulate pollutants (suspended solids and trace metals), promote infiltration, and reduce the flow velocity of storm water runoff.

Paper describing landscaping influences on heat gain through shading, infiltration shielding, and microclimate creation for nearby buildings.

Paper describing case studies on urban vegetation and greenways and their impacts on city climate and building performance.

Document describing the impacts of tree cover on property values.

Paper that illustrates a performance check between the thermal performance of a Massive Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) wall system mocked up and Whole Building Performance criteria such as total space heating and cooling loads (thermal comfort).

Paper describing the effects of shade trees and their location on residential summertime electricity usage.