Library

Study from Appalachian State University on passive solar design to take advantage of local climate zones for energy conservation.

Power Point PDF presentation on historical architecture in New Mexico

Document focusing on the design and wall components that contribute to a pressure equalized rain screen wall, including the frequency of the weep holes and other brick masonry rain screen wall requirements.

Fact sheet providing background and technical information on Trombe wall design

Web based tool providing decision-making guidance for selecting wall assembly components.

Webpage explaining how to site and orient a house to take advantage of the solar path.

Online tool for thermal comfort calculations and visualizations SoftwareX 12, 100563 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2020.100563

Installation manual for installing metal panel siding.

Climate Consultant is a software tool for helping architects, builders, contractor, homeowners, and students to understand their local climate.

An article illustrating common errors found in fiber cement siding installations. Many of these errors and poor flashing examples apply to siding materials beyond fiber cement siding.

Article about how mortar droppings during the installation of a brick veneer can clog the weep holes in the wall assembly causing moisture damage. The article also illustrates products that can be installed in the ventilated cavity to mitigate this problem.

Website for the U.S. DOE Solar Decathlon competition.

Report covering the rainwater performance of building assemblies.

Study testing the effect of fan cooling on healthy adults at increased ambient temperatures.

Brochure providing information on the design of the EPA Region 8 headquarters in Denver, CO.

Technical report describing the impact of orientation on thermal comfort.

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

Report covering the fire performance of combustible cladding over combustible insulation.

A article about the best practice method of installing fiber cement siding, to install flashing at the butt joints of the siding boards, rather than face caulking the butt joints afterwards.

Article from Washington Post on passive cooling measures for homes during extreme heat.

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

Study evaluating opportunities for reducing cooling energy use in a hot dry climate through the use of shading and window options.

Guide detailing best practices on how to build wall assemblies with absorptive claddings such as brick, stone that drain and dry well.

Report covering reservoir claddings, back ventilation and vapor throttles.

Article providing guidance for installing manufactured stone veneer, including information on rainscreens.

Book detailing passive cooling methods including airflow methods, evaporative cooling, and earth cooling.

Webpage featuring hundreds of illustrations of masonry construction details for brick, congrete, stone, tile, stucco, etc.

Article from Smarter Homes NZ on home building techniques that incorporate passive cooling.

Book describing passive cooling techniques from a technical and academic perspective.

Article from Williams College on the key elements of passive solar design for homes.

Paper summarizing passive and low-energy cooling systems for buildings.

A study on how fires spread through exterior building envelopes with discussion on how fires propagate in a rain screen cavity.

Report providing information on performance of mortars and concrete containing PCMs.

City of Plymouth webpage providing information on the Plymouth Community Center Project.

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.

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...

Data tables on U.S. renewable energy consumption and general trends in the market for renewable energy.

Report describing the testing of various siding materials for their ability to resist bullets from small firearms.

Website providing the pros and cons of different siding materials for home building, including wood, vinyl, fiber cement, stucco, brick, metal, and stone.

Tool determining the most economical and efficient photovoltaic array location and position.

Document providing incident solar radiation data and window overhang sizing guidance for multiple locations across the U.S.

Manual describing the installation process for Craneboard insulated vinyl siding; while installation is similar across insulated vinyl siding products, see manufacturers for specific guidance.

Handheld solar site analysis tool capturing whole-horizon images for a site and generating shading analysis reports.

Specification describing criteria for manufactured polymeric materials used to provide a rainscreen function, a means for the drainage of liquid moisture and the ventilation of vapor moisture that enters an above-grade exterior wall assembly which was published in the year 2019, and is available for...

Article providing fundamental information and recommendations for shading windows for energy savings.

A story about bees building a hive in the drainage plane behind the brick veneer siding. The bees entered the wall through unprotected drainage holes.

Study on the effects of wind, radiation, and pressure on apparent temperature.

Projectile missile testing of various wall panel configuration to understand how the different wall constructions would perform when struck with wind driven debris from a hurricane.

Study comparing the thermal performance of phase change materials to concrete construction during heat waves.